| Overall Grade: |
B+ |
|
| Story: |
B+ |
|
|
| Acting: |
A |
|
|
| Direction: |
N/A |
|
|
| Visuals: |
B |
|
|
Finally! Not a phenomenal movie, but VERY good
by Hoa (movies profile)
Apr 16, 2006
4
of
6 people found this review helpful
I know that I have been spoiled by the CGI effects of the Star Wars Episodes I, II, and III, so the hokey computer animation in the beginning of the movie really deserves an "A for Effort, but C- for believability"
For any of the fans of the Ray Bradbury short, this is (FINALLY) a competent, esthetically-delightful reincarnation of that.
Some thought WAS put into the extrapolation of how the Earth's history and evolutionary path would/may have changed had it been for a seemingly simple occurrence.
Strangely, though, for all its forethought, the film had some historical inaccuracies that are glaring to any fan of dinosaurs.
I know what you're saying - you're saying "oh, he was fine with the possibility of established and controllable temporal distortion, but he has a problem with the dinosaurs"
Well, the movie goes back to the Cretaceous and the Time Safari Inc. participants hunt a "5-ton allosaurus"
As almost everyone who knows ANYTHING about dinosaurs knows, Allosaurs were Jurassic Dinosaurs and an evolutionary dead end that terminated near the end of the Jurassic (so they were only about 135 million years off) - also, Allosaurs probably did not get any larger than 1 ton - it was the Tyrannosaurs that got to be 5 and 6 ton creatures (and only then, in the end of the Cretaceous).
In a nutshell, the movie goes back to the Cretaceous to hunt Allosaurs - which did not exist then.
ANYWAY, Ben Kingsley's character is well worth the cost of the movie. The character is manipulative, creative, and personifies a salesman about as well as Shakespeare's Iago personifies pure evil.
The visual effects and storyline were satisfactory, especially for those of us that were fans of the all-too-short-lived TV show "Sliders" - the idea of jumping to another time/place is still quite attractive to any of us who have made a "mistake" in our past.
Wholly, the movie was not as cerebral as it could have been or needed to be. It depended more on visual effects than a convoluted storyline, my guess would be so that it was attractive to the masses.
I don't know why the movie company didn't release this back in March when it was originally supposed to be released. That, and the SEVERE lack of promotion/advertising, are going to kill this movie before it even gets off the ground.
I would recommend seeing this before it leaves the big screen. There are a few scenes that will probably not lend well to its being viewed at home on DVD and the scenery is definitely worth seeing on a grand scale.
To tell the truth, I have been WAITING for months for this movie to come out. Some of you readers may remember that this short story was made into a 1/2 hour (or less) "Tales From the Darkside" (or other type freaky show in the 80's) where the hunters come back from the Cretaceous to find that the Third Reich is in charge of the Time-traveling company (and apparently, the world) and no one can figure out why until one of the hunters notices the squashed butterfly on his companion's boot.
The 80's short ends there, but the movie goes much farther. PLEASE don't let this movie die. It is not going to receive the respect it deserves
We gave an "A" for acting performance solely based on Kingsly's character - the credibility in his portrayal of his character was superb (Hackman or Hoffman-esque)
I have NO idea how to rate Direction, so I won't. |
My Public Profile 
