Customer Reviews

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

5 star:		(91)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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

There are a large number of out of screen effects that extend 10% of the way, from the screen to the viewer. 6 OOS effects reached 25%. The best two for Longevity & Depth are Skrat and his lady friend in tar bubbles reaching 25%, lasting for about a minute and very short lived anteater punching bag reaching an impressive 40%.

*** Funny with an enjoyable story line. Excellent graphics add to the 3D ***

MY 3D RATING = EXCELLENT (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

Took my nephew to see it and he loved it. I thought it was hilarious as well. Why can't some of you people just enjoy the movie for its entertainment? Is there a need to pick everything apart? Wahhh waahhh just another sequel to make more money. Ok? Who cares. I thought the dinosaurs were extinct in the first one. Again who cares!! Enjoy the freakin movie!

I have to disagree with reviewers who try to "see" too many things in a movie made mainly for (young) kids. This movie made my child and me laugh many,many times. In fact I think it is even funnier than Ice Age 1+2. It is just "clean" family fun. In this age of over-hyped animation from Walt Disney and Pixar, how refreshing to watch something without too many pretensions and not too much relation to today's world. Let the kids be kids,please.

This movie is still cute and fun even with the third installment. My husband and I saw it in 3D at the theater just for fun and also to screen it before taking our grandkids. We think it is the kind of movie you can enjoy with your children at the theater. We will buy the DVD because we know our grandkids will want to watch it over and over again like the previous two movies. The 3D is interesting but not necessarily worth the extra cost. Just have fun and enjoy it like a child does. Yes, Scrat and his acorn stole the show again.

The only way I can tell you about this film, is that I really love it! The movie has solid animation, great characters, and plenty of action & comedy! In my opinion, it is the best out of the Ice Age Trilogy.

I especially love the one eyed weasel Buck (Simon Pegg) and the Tyrannosaur family, who adopt Sid as one of their own. I have written out the plot below, but be warned, it contains spoilers!

Ellie (Queen Latifah) and Manny (Ray Romano) are expecting their first child, and Manny is obsessed with making life perfect and safe for the family, since his first experiences as a husband and father went bad when his family was killed by hunters. At the same time, Diego (Denis Leary) finds himself unable to catch a cocky gazelle (Bill Hader) he has been stalking and decides to leave the herd, believing that he is losing his predatory nature as a tiger. Sid (John Leguizamo) grows jealous of Manny and Ellie and "adopts" three apparently abandoned eggs that he finds in an icy underground cavern and call them Eggbert, Shelly, and Yoko. Manny tells him to put them back, but Sid instead looks after the eggs, which hatch into baby Tyrannosaurus the next morning.

Although Sid tries his best to raise the three dinosaurs, their rambunctious behavior scares away all the other animals' young and ruins a playground Manny built for Ellie's baby. A female Tyrannosaurus, Momma, whose eggs Sid stole, soon returns and carries both Sid and her young underground, with Diego in pursuit.

Manny, Ellie, Crash, and Eddie (Seann William Scott, Josh Peck) follow as well and discover that the icy cavern leads to a vast jungle populated by dinosaurs thought to be extinct. Here, an Ankylosaurus threatens the herd despite Diego's efforts to fend it off; they are saved from a further crowd of angry reptiles by an insane, one-eyed weasel named Buckminster, or Buck (Simon Pegg).

Buck has been living in this jungle for some time and is chasing Rudy (a huge albino Baryonyx), intending to avenge the eye he lost to it. He agrees to lead the herd through the jungle's perils to Lava Falls, where Momma has taken Sid and her babies.

In the meantime, Sid and Momma try to outdo each other in feeding the offspring; he loses this contest, but is soon welcomed into the family regardless. The next day, however, Sid is separated from the family and attacked by Rudy. Sid is knocked onto a loose rock slab that is floating on a river of lava and about to plummet over the falls.

As the herd moves toward Lava Falls, Ellie goes into labor and a Guanlong pack strikes, causing a rock slide that separates her from Manny and Diego. Manny doubles back to protect her and Diego fends off further attacks, while Buck takes Crash and Eddie ahead to rescue Sid. Just as he goes over the falls, the trio swoops in on a commandeered Pteranodon only to been chased by a flock of Quetzalcoatlus on the way and saves his life.

Manny reaches Ellie, and there is suddenly a reaction, the cry of a newborn baby, then he sees that it is a girl. He wants to name her Ellie, or Little Ellie, but Ellie instead names her Peaches after the fruit (and the codeword they had chosen for Ellie to use if she went into labor during the trip). Sid is saddened at the fact that he never had a chance to say goodbye to "his" children as he returns to the herd and learns of Peaches' birth.

Before they can exit the jungle, Rudy attacks at full force; Buck lures Rudy away from the group and is nearly eaten himself, before Diego saves him at the last second. They then ensnare him briefly, but he escapes and resumes his onslaught. The herd is saved by the timely arrival of Momma, who charges at Rudy and knocks him off a cliff before roaring her victory. As she and her children wish Sid well, Buck - now without a purpose in life since Rudy is gone - decides to join the herd and live on the surface.

However, a distant roar tells him that Rudy is still alive; he changes his mind and sends the herd home, blocking off the path to the underground jungle at the same time so that no one else can go down there. Manny and Ellie welcome Peaches into their frozen world and admit that Sid did a good job looking after Momma's children (though Manny tells Diego that he will never let Sid babysit Peaches). Diego decides to remain with the herd, while Buck stays where he wants to be: underground, battling it out with Rudy.

The storyline is great, the characters are awesome, and the pace of the film is very fast. Basically, it is a film that you shouldn't miss out on. So far, its the best animated film of 2009 (that I've seen).

My advice, buy this DVD. It's a great movie that is sure to please both young and old alike. So, what are you waiting for? It's time to go prehistoric with Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs!

REVIEW FROM KIDS' FLIX (DAD'S PICKS) BY TOM LAMARR, [...]

What does comedian Denis Leary have in common with a visit from Uncle Rick? At least when bringing saber-toothed Diego to life in any of his three Ice Age movies, Leary manages to be likable, funny, and caustic, without once swearing in front of the kids. Not a single "WTF?" or any of the other phrases familiar to fans of Leary--and Uncle Rick. It's an impressive feat by any measure, one seriously deserving of its own WTF.

The rest of the recurring cast--headed by Ray Romanof, John Leguizamo, and starting with the sophomore Meltdown, Queen Latifah--also turn out to be welcome houseguests for both parents and children. Yet with so many comedians on the bill, it is Scratte, the beleaguered prehistoric squirrel-rat, who gets the biggest laughs from grownups and kids alike, and this entirely through physical humor. Even as animated characters go, Scratte is very animated.

Meeting the definition of true family entertainment, Ice Age has something for everyone. With the third installment due soon on DVD, it might be worth seeing winter's first snowy weekend as an excuse to hold an Ice Age film fest. But don't forget to invite Uncle Rick. He's a big Leary fan, and he'll want to be there when your twelve year old proclaims, "Now, that was [expletive deleted] great."

[...]

This movie was really great,i just went to see it last night.diego was awesome in it.i really liked Buck,he was really silly.some of the scenes actually made me shead some tears.but other than all that,if i were to give it my own rating i would say 10/10.this is the best Ice Age movie i have ever seen out of all 3 of them.Ice Age 3:Dawn Of The Dinosaurs FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!

It is hard to find movies for younger kids. My daughter is almost four, and my step daughters are eight and twelve. It is near impossible to find a movie for all of us to agree on. I took my nearly four year old to see this first in the theaters and she loved it. She gets scared a bit easily and this was no problem for her. She also didn't mind sitting through the whole thing and we all cracked up.

When we took the older two girls they also loved this film, it appeals to all ages but isn't inappropriate for younger kids. GREAT MOVIE! I pre-ordered it on Amazon as soon as I could and look forward to getting all our girls together again and again for this film.

I don't understand, why adults have so many complaints in their reviews of this movie. This movie is meant for children, so let them speak out! I have 8, 6 and 4 year old boys and they really truly loved this film. If an adult wanted to yawn during watching it, it was just his problem. Kids enjoyed it and that's all what matters, or not? Little boys love playing with the dinosaurs, they love to watch them in movies (from Land Before Times to Jurassic Park), so when this movie was supposed to come out during summer, we were among first its viewers. Oh, we laughed, it was amazing to see my kids enjoying movie so much. The whole story is cute and very original. Scrat again delivers and his "girlfriend" is remarkable! I can't wait for DVD to come out, so we can be again among its first buyers.

"Ice Age 3" when I saw it kept the kids in the audience enthralled and screaming with delight every time characters were speeding downhill or falling into chasms. Adults will find the sound track imaginative and hilarious at times with variations on "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine" (one a fun tango version) including the dynamic vocal rendition by Lou Rawls himself. The "Adagio from Spartacus" by Khachaturian and Chad Fischer's "Alone Again (Naturally)" will also seem clever by their juxtaposition at the oddest moments.
Two prehistoric Ice Age squirrels, Scrat and Srattè, turn up in frequent episodes independent of the main plot fighting over a giant acorn. They'll remind old timers of the short cartoons of yesteryear like Roadrunner and Woody the Woodpecker. Free falls from extreme heights, splats, flattenings, catapults into space, chases, and flirtations make the whole thing wacky fun.
Familiar characters from previous Ice Age outings show up in this "Dawn of the Dinosaurs" sequel including the two mammoths Manny (voice of Ray Romano) and expectant mother Ellie (voice of Queen Latifah), Sid, the sloth (voice of John Leguizamo), Diego, the saber-tooth tiger, and assorted smaller animals. A new character, Buck, a pirate weasel with a leaf as an eye-patch, shows up, and he's on a quest to kill the giant raptor dinosaur who has blinded him in one eye. (Captain Ahab, anyone?).
The main character is Sid the Sloth who is lonely and "adopts" three dinosaur eggs that hatch and become his babies. From that point on there are all kinds of scary adventures with teetering rock platforms, red hot lava, falling off cliffs--these hair-raisers come up as the animal family tries to rescue Sid from the clutches of the T-Rex.
The movie is full of funny situations, gags, and some adult humor that will go over the heads of little kids. Breakneck speed is an important element in the action sequences, and there are plenty of death-defying falls and enemies to contend with. The computer animation is well done. The walk and gait of the mammoths is particularly effective. This is a film that youngsters will enjoy, and it won't be a chore for adults to see with them or on their own.