Customer Reviews

Dinosaurs Alive!

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

First things first, make sure you're aware of what you are actually going to be viewing! I completely expected this to be along the lines of Walking With Dinosaurs, where the movie would be largely, if not entirely, composed of CGI dinosaurs and their history. But this is not what we get - sure, there are quite a few clips of different dinosaurs, including my son's favorite, the velociraptor, but this is largely a video following paleontologists, with CGI clips thrown in. This is an interesting viewing, with many pieces of information that I did not know. We have a 3 1/2 year old who is obsessed with dinosaurs, and I felt that he would never want to view this again because of the lack of dinosaurs, but I was wrong. It is now his most highly requested video to view - of course this is over the period of a week - you know how long that lasts!

That being said, if you walk into this knowing that you will see CGI dinosaur clips, as opposed to an entire video of dinos, you will be very happy with this title. I viewed the blu-ray version, and the video is clear and crisp - I like how older videos that would not be in HD are letterboxed into a small portion of the screen, with an HD background filling the rest of the screen. All in all, 3.5 stars is rounded up to 4 - interesting, recommended, but not a MUST own for our family.

Originally created for exhibition in IMAX theaters, Dinosaurs Alive! is a DVD documentary that uses computer animation to bring mankind's discoveries about dinosaurs to life - from the revelation that "Oviraptor" was in fact a good parent who brooded over its eggs rather than a rapacious egg thief, to the story of a real-life "Indiana Jones" archaeology pioneer who braved desert bandits to bring home amazing fossil finds, to the shocking recent discovery that (flightless) velociraptors had feathers! The astonishing and scientifically accurate CGI is sure to thrill dinosaur lovers of all ages and backgrounds. Special features include a widescreen version, a "Making of" documentary shot in HD, and a bonus quiz. Also available in a Blu-ray version, "Dinosaurs Alive" is a treat for dinosaur lovers everywhere and enthusiastically recommended for public library DVD collections. 40 minutes plus special features.

With so many incredible dinosaur dvd's like When Dinosaurs Roamed America and Walking With Dinosaurs, this dinosaur dvd just doesn't cut it. It is not exciting and is missing much key information. Maybe when it was in the IMAX and 3D it was amazing to view, but nothing special for home viewing.

My ratings are based mainly on the QUALITY OF THE 3D, not the video content.

There are about 16 out of screen effects that extend 10% of the way, from the screen to the viewer. Another 7, very brief dino tail whips reached 25%. The best few OOS effects were during the closing credits of dinosaurs' heads protruding through the words.

EXCESS PARALLAX in about 65% of the scenes, (a disturbing amount). This IMAX film should have never been released to the public in this poor state, shame on them.

*** AVOID UNLESS YOU WANT TO SEE 3D GONE WRONG !!! ***

MY 3D RATING = POOR (poor, fair, good, very good, excellent)

Note: As far as the percentages go, everyone's eyes are different. What I see at 25% you may see at 15% or 35%. To fully realize how far something is out of the screen for you, pause on an effect and direct a partner with an extended finger to the tip of what you are seeing. You may be surprised.

Click on `See all my reviews' for the lowdown on other 3Ds

This blu-ray effectively covers most aspects of the dinosaur story, how they live, behave, hunt and be hunted and how their remains became fossilized which are being unearthed even today by paleontologists whose works are documented in this story. The high definition gives us stunningly clear and majestic landscapes of the Gobi desert and the sandstone areas of New Mexico where most of the dinosaur bones are recovered. However, what really sets this dvd apart is the amazing and accurate representations through CGI of the dinosaurs found in the regions. They literally come to life on your screen and if your speakers are set up for DTS-HD, your neighbours will probably hear their primitive roars. There was also the discovery of a fossilized embryo (or is it foetus) and maybe the crew of Jurrasic Park could extract the DNA directly instead of looking for prehistoric mosquitoes! All in, a recommended collection for both dinosaur buffs and the curious homo-sapien. What prevented me from giving this a 5-star is that I felt more dinosaur species (brought to life through CGI)could be covered like Triceratops, Brontosaurus, etc. Also there is a lack of an epic battle, for example, between a Tyrranosaurus rex and perhaps a pack of raptors. This would make the dvd more movie-like without compromising on accuracy and scientific facts.

This Imax documentary is about the works the paleontologists did digging up fossils, with some short animations slotted between scenes. It should have been titled 'Dead Dinosaurs' instead of 'Dinosaurs Alive' because the digging up segments are way longer than the short animations. In short:
(a) The animations were crude and cartoon-like. They don't look real at all.
(b) The Imax perpective is really missing in this one. The wide scenes looked more like the traditional move wides instead of Imax's 'wow' wides.
(c) 3D is ok for some scenes, but horrible for most others.
(d) The segment on digging up fossils is way too long compared to the animations. Title is very misleading.
(e) Michael Douglas sounded uninterested, and was very monotonous.

In conclusion, if my 5-yr old daughter who loves dinosaurs can fall asleep watching this, it's BORING!

The 3D is horrible. Not only that, the story induces sleep upon anyone who attempts to sit through this. Also, how up to date could the information be considering that this was produced 2 years ago. Please, don't waste your money.

We got this movie for our grandson's
birthday. He is an avid dinosaur "fan"
and, autistic. It was, and still is, a
BIG hit. He loves this movie. It is so
good to see him get so involved with what
is going on on the screen. He copies the
actions on screen with his little dinosaurs.

I bought this after reading a few of the reviews and because there is very little 3d content available at the moment. I was hoping to have a few dinosaurs jump out at me but was sadly disappointed. I read the one review where the gentleman raved about how his little boy loved this and watched it over and over. I can now tell you that the little boy is going to be a genious and not a thrill seeker because there is nothing in this video that is thrilling. It is a documentary. 90% of video is in the deserts with research teams. Granted that a few of the desert shots with researchers in the foreground look pretty cool in 3d... it is hardly a show piece for your brand new 3d tv. I would recommend buying a cartoon type 3d video. Monster vs. Aliens is good. Even better is the Motorsport 3d game for Playstation 3.

I was talking to someone about my son wanting to see this movie at the Museum of Science, however they stopped playing it there when she mentioned Amazon sells them. Thought this would be a great present from Santa (this past Xmas). My (5 yr old) son was so thrilled with it, I think he has watched it about 10 times already since getting it. Him and his twin absolutely love dinosaurs, but the other twin will leave the room during what he thinks are scary parts. Love this movie!