26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect Dinosaur and Spaceship Genre Film, April 16, 2004
This review is from: Planet of the Dinosaurs (DVD)
'Planet of the Dinosaurs' is a typical sci-fi cheapie from 1979 starring nobody of any note. A spaceship explodes (in a visually amusing 'special' effect) and the survivors end up on a hostile planet ruled by dinosaurs, hence the title. The acting is fairly awful (particularly among male cast members) and the spaceship effects are fairly laughable, but the dinosaurs are done with stop motion (by Douglas Beswick), and are actually amazingly well done. In fact, they are about as good as stop motion dinosaurs can be done. For that alone the movie is worth seeing, but the interplay with the humans is priceless (wait till you see some of the human vs. dinosaur battle scenes.) In fact the humans are as bad as the dinosaurs are good. Interestingly everyone is wearing hideous 1970s one piece disco survival ensemble uniforms, which make the downright homely cast appear even dowdier. The only remotely attractive human in the film is the gorgeous Mary Appleseth, who is, unfortunately, eaten by creatures early on.
This film is also a favorite of mine for a totally different reason. Footage of the spaceship and dinosaurs was bought for $500 and used in the appallingly hilarious 'Galaxy of the Dinosaurs' in 1992, with additional footage shot on location in Mogadore, Ohio (behind the producer's parents house, if memory serves me correctly.) It is available in the "Bad Movie Police" series on DVD from Amazon, and it is highly recommended as well as this, the original.
This is a type of movie not seen anymore. Bad acting and varying quality scenery and effects combine to make this a quintessential low budget sci-fi film from the 1970s. It's good in its own unique way, so go ahead and check it out.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic Cheese, January 14, 2005
This review is from: Planet of the Dinosaurs (DVD)
I'm going to start by saying this- if you don't like really, really cheesy, bad movies, then you're not going to like "Planet of the Dinosaurs".
On the other hand, if you can appreciate a really bad movie for how good it is underneath all the cheese, terrible acting, and hideous special effects, then this movie is probably the penultimate late 1970's cheesy sci-fi horror pic.
The intrepid crew of "The Odyssey" (played by an ensemble cast of nobody you've ever heard of) crash lands on distant planet populated by fierce dinosaurs. Armed only with a few lasers (with are terribly ineffective against dinosaurs) and their wits, they must learn to survive on this harsh new world.
The special effects in this movie are actually not that bad for the genre. The stop-motion dinosaurs are a little silly sometimes, but overall the stop-motion is pretty good. The movie actually won a "Best Special Effects" award at a Science Fiction festival for it's special effects, so you know that at one time they were pretty good.
The acting is horrible. But not horrible in a "Matt Damon" kind of way... more like horrible in a "this is the best movie I've ever seen" way. You'll probably have to pause the movie after a few choice lines, to give yourself time to laugh the tears out of your eyes.
The music is... interesting. It fits the movie pretty well, but it's not really music so much as unpleasant noises strung together to form basic melodies. Granted, it's perfect for the movie, but if you ever heard it somewhere else, you'd be convinced there was a dying cat nearby.
I don't know if you've ever seen "Mystery Science Theater 3000", but this movie is basically like one of the ones they watch on that show. If you like that show (and those types of movies), you'll probably love "Planet of the Dinosaurs". Personally, as someone with a great deal of experience in bad B-movies from the late 1970's, I am firm in my belief that "Planet of the Dinosaurs" is and shall remain the best bad movie ever made.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not so special after all. . ., September 29, 2007
I've loved this film ever since I was a kid and, after some good press, was really looking forward to this DVD. Retromedia drops the ball again, however, in providing an artifacty interlaced transfer crudely blown up to fit the extra resolution of a 16:9 enhanced frame.
Even worse, new digital special effects have been added in at random and for no discernible purpose. The audio commentary is a wonderful asset, but it isn't worth paying $13 - stick to the old Goodtimes DVD. It was sub-par, sure, but at least it kept the film intact.
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