The Dinosaur Project (2012) User Reviews (59)

" FATAL FLAW 😱 "

[Radio-1s_Mr-MovieMad-Ami_104-1FM · 6/10 · 12 July 2019]

A ( - M I C R O - ) REVIEW

This is a Vivid, Exciting, Suspenseful, tremendously-Engaging & to a certain extent " S p r a w l i n g ( ⭐ ! ) ", EVEN... PRODUCTION. Sadly, it is also a { " TRAGICALLY PERFECT :'( :'( :'( " } example of how a COLLOSSALLY-SIGNIFICANT "Error-in-scripting" can cost an otherwise entirely enjoyable film..... practically 'HALF it's weight in REVIEWS-&-REVENUE', ALIKE .

So here are a Group of "True-Believers", who go out on an ( essentially ) 'Blair-Witch style' DINOSAUR-revealing expedition in DEEP, unexplored Congo ->- ' GET THIS ' ->- " ⭐ WITH HARDLY A WEAPON TO BOOT ! ! ⭐ " . THE CLOSEST THING to a weapon seen over the course of the ENTIRE picture is ->- now get T H I S ->- " A..... B O O M - M I C ( D: ! ) . But Other-than-that, these 'EXPLORER-researcher-thrillseekers' are THOROUGHLY, THOROUGHLY, THOROUGHLY unprepared for any manner of DANGER..... { & in This-particular-instance : danger of the most OMINOUS KIND ( :O ! ! ) IMAGINABLE, no-less } .

" ⭐ SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF ⭐ " : When it comes to films, "Suspension Of Disbelief" tends to be a ~ P A R T I C U L A R L Y ~ delicate thing. You, as the esteemed-Director, could have EVERY SINGLE ONE of the pieces of your STORY in place, i.e enough of your "Ducks-In-A-Row" to COMFORTABLY ( - ! ) give your movie its proverbial "Wings". But then just N E G L E C T ->- { for WHATEVER reason ( ..& the reason was ENTIRELY beyond my comprehension in the case of this particular cinematic endeavour... ) } ->- THAT "ONE VITAL PIECE; & all of a sudden you now have a veritable 'House-Of-Cards', ...( instead ⭐ ! ).. of a SOLID, ENDURING MOVIE .

Not great, but actually quite fun

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 16 May 2014]

There are better dinosaur movies out there than The Dinosaur Project(naming them though will be unfair) but there are definitely far worse like almost every dino movie released by SyFy or The Asylum. The Dinosaur Project is far from perfect or great, but it was entertaining and did have some things it did well. Is it better than the IMDb and what has been said about it? I think so. Some of the camera work did have a dizzying effect with some shakiness that at times didn't add anything. The acting is a case of it being acceptable in parts, Richard Dillane is very good actually and while underused so is Natasha Loring, most of the time actually it was the case, but being rather cheesy in other parts especially the last act. Matt Kane does look wooden and Peter Brooke wildly overplays. The villain was not written at all well, there was no real point to him(the dinosaurs were conflict enough) and some of his scenes belonged somewhere else altogether, while the last act got far too silly and stretched credibility to the limit. However, the scenery is beautiful and made good use of and the dinosaur effects are surprisingly good. The dinosaurs themselves are very believable and creepy and have more colourful personalities than the human characters, agreed about that lovely moment with the baby Ceratosaurussen. Wish we could have seen more of them. Some camera work is inventive, the music is jaunty and the movie does have a snappy script that doesn't pad things out too much and has some light-hearted humour that sounds easy rather than awkward. The story goes at breakneck speed and is mostly enjoyably fun with the attacks having some genuine tension. On the whole, a fun film that could have been executed better but is nowhere near as bad as some have cited to be. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Not Bad

[noosence · 6/10 · 7 September 2012]

"The Dinosaur Project" ...........

Putting all the bad reviews aside i decided to take the time to watch this film and i actually found it pretty good. The story was interesting, the acting was good, the direction and camera work(for "found footage") were all fine. I'm not sure why everyone dislikes it so much but People who enjoy Watching the "Found Footage" Genre will definitely find this one entertaining. It reminded me of "Troll Hunter" (2010) and "The Tunnel"(2011) meets "jurassic park 3". All in all this is a pretty good effort, If you want to pick holes, check out the latest Hollywood blockbuster at you local cinema, even then you get crap movies sometimes.

Predictable and Lame Lost World

[claudio_carvalho · 3/10 · 23 July 2013]

A British expedition formed by the lead researcher Jonathan Marchant (Richard Dillane), his assistant, a doctor and a TV crew, travels to Congo to seek evidence of a dinosaur. A local guide and the helicopter pilot join the team and the group heads to the jungle. During their trip, they find a stowaway in the helicopter, the son of Jonathan. Soon the helicopter is attacked by flying creatures and crashes in the jungle in the beginning of the last journey of Jonathan Marchant and his team.

"The Dinosaur Project" is a predictable and lame dinosaur movie, a combination of the clichés of "The Lost World" with the exhausted style of the "reality" of "The Blair Witch Project". It is amazing that the viewer can predict what is going to happen on the next scene, and most of the dialogs are ridiculous. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "Projeto Dinossauro" ("Dinosaur Project")

I don't know how anyone can dislike this film

[chuckm76 · 5/10 · 30 September 2012]

Let me start by saying that this isn't the greatest movie of all time, but it's a long long way from being anywhere near the worst. I was really expecting a pile of trash, the kind of SYFY nonsense that seems to be everywhere these days but it's really not.

Great story, great twists, more than adequate effects (I'd say better than Dr Who for example) and a really good open ending. Sure I could pick a holes in it, the acting was a bit hit and miss, it wasn't always so well paced and maybe the whole concept is a bit far fetched but the main thing is that it's just really enjoyable, good old fashioned fun that made me feel 12 again. In fact I'd have adored this film when I was a 12 I'm sure.

It reminded me of Jurassic Park 3 but it gets more into the heart of the subject minus the huge horror Scares

I really want to rate it higher but that would only be because it made me feel like a kid again, I think 6 would be fair but I'll keep it at 5.

To the morons who were expecting Jurassic Park and rated it 1, you are doing this film a massive disservice.

One star because....

[bilejo · 1/10 · 6 March 2013]

I imagine there are some who may like this movie however I found it to be uninteresting. It reminds me of Cloverfield and the Blair Witch Project and the only thing impressive was the computer generated images. In my opinion the acting was mediocre to good (by most of the cast) but I felt it lacking in many aspects. It had scenes that I felt took away rather than added to the 'suspense' factor. I thought this production was disappointing for the most part. I guess I was expecting more due to the catchy title. Luckily I got it from Red Box and didn't spend too much on it. I'd do the same to preview it before buying it just to see if I would want to invest the money.

More script, kick the bad guy, turn it into a TV series and it'll be very good.

[cablooie · 6/10 · 27 September 2012]

Not bad, better than I had expected honestly.

I will give it a 6.

3 points for interesting use of the found footage format crossbred with actual cut,

2 points for decent dinosaurs (not jaw-dropping, decent),

4 points for awesome location,

2 points for credible acting (except for the effin bad guy).

-3 for the effin bad guy acting and hackneyed, fruitless idea of a pointless, mindless serial killer. This was an effective (so far) dinosaur adventure, not a serial killer based horror flick.

-2 for repeated Blair-Witch-style stereotyped nonsensical inflationed closeups of the kid shooting footage of his own nose while supposedly for the first time in the entire history of mankind you have live dinosaurs and a camera to win the damn Pulitzer. Let's take the damn dinosaurs, will ya? Nobody gives a heck about your freakin nose.

Anyway, entertaining to a decent degree and all in all worth a go.

It would be a good TV series, once you file off the silly Freddy Krueger type moron and bitch slap the kid every time he overdoes with closeups of his own chin.

It couldn't have gotten much worse.

[RaukoOhtar · 1/10 · 7 September 2012]

That really was just a shockingly awful movie. I like to think that i can appreciate the effort and work that has went into most movies but this was just awful. Most B class horror movies are entertaining to watch, and some are even my favourite movies, this wasn't bad because it was a certain genre, it was bad because it was bad.

The acting was appalling, like, i really cannot emphasize enough how poor the quality of the acting was throughout the entire duration of the film, none of the characters were believable or real in the slightest and holy hell were they bad at attempting to look it. The son Luke, was just dreadful throughout the whole thing, he had an annoying voice an annoying face and a crappy script to read from, it was all so unbelievably cliché, and he really was just an awful person. I can honestly say i sympathize more with the viewer for having to put up with him for the whole thing.

The rest of the movie was just dull, nothing exciting happened, the story didn't really make sense, the characters plain didn't make sense, it was full of flaws, and really was one of the worst movies I have ever seen, I don't like saying that a movie is 'Utter ****' because of course everybody has their own opinion, and most movies do have their good points. This on the other hand had nothing.

Don't even waste your time watching this. Not even to see how not to make a movie, because its just common sense to not make something this awful.

Much better than the current low score(!), if you like Dinosaurs check this movie out!

[bcbell79 · 7/10 · 8 January 2013]

A surprisingly fun "found footage" film, "The Dinosaur Project" is great for dinosaur junkies, or anyone that can handle the POV experience. Much better than than some of the super low rated reviews I've read, I was glad I ignored the bad ratings and rented (VOD) it anyway. Although it's no where near the scale (or budget) of Jurassic Park, it's a well made and good looking low budget dino flick.

A group of archeologists, complete with TV film crew, all decked with Go Pro's (mini HD video camera's that you wear to record your POV-many extreme sports athletes are using them now) head into the jungles of South Africa to find Africa's equivalent of the Loch Ness monster. Of course, on the flight into the jungle some pre-historic birds fly into the blades of there helicopter and the team crash lands in the middle of the jungle (right where the sitings have been, luckily). The surviving team must now navigate through the harsh jungle, and prove whether or not there are still dinosaurs hidden in the jungle that locals swear are there...

The dinosaurs look great, surprisingly since it was a low budget indie film. The acting is, for the most part, good and believable. The story was entertaining, but I felt it got a little absurd in the last act (but its a movie with dinosaurs in the jungle so it gets a pass). It is Unrated but is an easy PG-13, so you can watch it with the kids on family night.

The Dinosaur Project is a great rental with good looking dinosaurs and an absurd but fun last act, so check this film out on your next family movie night!

"Oh no... what's that over there...?"

[simoncjurwin-493-398130 · 2/10 · 4 October 2012]

If this film is supposed to have a tongue-in-cheek element to it then it would get a much better rating... but it is supposedly a serious effort at a scary movie which falls very short. To it's credit, and obviously micro-tiny budget, the visual effects and locations are fairly good and quite beautiful. A little ropey in places but not all that bad. The thing that makes this film is the audio - it's quite 'jumpy' in places and fairly suspenseful as a result. The downfall is the bad script and acting :-( The script is so unnecessary in places... "oh, look over there", "Oh no, what's that?!", "Oh, here's a camera that transmits wirelessly, it's 1080p.... oh yes...." - all very unnecessary lines that make this a very cheesy movie as a result. And the wooden and soulless acting really spoils the whole thing. The chemistry (or lack of) between the father and son is awful and I felt no emotion for ANY of the characters sadly. I have to admit I fast-forwarded through bits as I couldn't watch it! So, if you over-look the acting and the over-obvious lines of script... there's a half decent scare movie hidden within!

Really, Whats with the hate for?

[abdallah-eshaq · 8/10 · 23 October 2012]

This movie really had me smiling at the end of it. And thats a good thing, really i could take this over the more recent king Kong any day of the week, this film does not even try to compete with a heavyweight masterpiece like jurasic park and as a result stands up on its own merits.

Forget about the biased cheap scores the review sites have given this film, forget that this film has a cast of relatively unknown cast members, forget that this film isn't scientifically realistic, Just go and watch with an open mind.

Its just so ambitious yet also so modest, one of the few pleasant surprises this year.

Fans of anything dinosaur-related should definitely check this one out!

[gorguruga · 7/10 · 13 September 2012]

Don't let the strangely low rating on IMDb fool you folks. This movie is an entertaining mixture of a dinosaur movie and a "found footage" film. If you liked Jurassic Park and Paranormal Activity then I think you'll enjoy this movie, it's got elements of both intertwined within.

However, don't make the mistake of believing that it's trying to copy either of those movies, it stands out on it's own and is quite unique in many respects. It's highly advisable to not watch The Dinosaur Project with the expectation of seeing Jurassic Park 4, you'll almost certainly be disappointed. Instead, view it as a different twist on the whole dinosaur theme.

It's got moments of humor, moments of horror and 5 different species of satisfying CGI dinosaurs (a few more species would have been nice). There are quite a few great dinosaur shots, including one scene where a dinosaur is filmed from first person perspective while swimming with it's siblings, which I thought was very well done. There are scenes with flying dinosaurs, swimming dinosaurs and land-based dinosaurs, so there's quite a mix of dinosaur material incorporated.

The acting is about average for today's standards, there's a mix of good moments and not so good moments, it's really nowhere near as bad as one of the other reviewers has mentioned, all the actors did an adequate job. I've seen a lot of big budget Hollywood movies with acting that was far, far inferior to this. None of the actors deserve awards for their performances but they all (story-permitting) deserve to be rehired for the sequel.

And one thing to mention is the camera work, I thought it was filmed exceptionally well with some very inventive usage of the first-person perspective, nicely mixed with third-person shots. I was actually hugely impressed at how well it was filmed for the constraints that a "found footage" film puts on the director. From a technical point of view, it's probably one of the best examples of the genre in my opinion. I'm not really a fan of "found footage" film as such, but this movie is a brilliant example of how to use it effectively. And there are a number of people with cameras in the movie, so we get to see different camera angles too.

By no means is it perfect though, there are moments in the movie which are implausible and the scripting could have been improved in places. But I could say the same for a lot of movies I've seen, and many of them are, again, big budget Hollywood blockbusters. This movie isn't trying to teach you about dinosaurs, it's not scientifically precise, it's not trying to emulate the epic nature of the Jurassic Park franchise. All it's trying to do is entertain you, in a sort of pop-corn flick fashion. At the same time however, it's unique, absorbing and well-directed.

With a somewhat open-ending, I'd definitely be interested in watching part 2 if it ever gets produced. Remember, it's not Jurassic Park, it's a different spin on the dinosaur theme but with understandably similar consequences of human and dinosaur coexistence.

If you're a fan of anything dinosaur-related then this is a movie you don't want to miss. Just go into it with low expectations (like I did after seeing the low IMDb score) and you'll probably be pleasantly surprised. I give this one a 6.5.

You probably shouldn't watch this movie.

[davidmrawlins · 3/10 · 1 March 2013]

This movie is bad. If you don't mind the whole "home footage" style of cinematography then you might like a little more then me, but that won't change the fact that the plot is terrible and the characters are horribly written. (They seem almost inhumanly dispassionate about the tragedy that befalls other members of their party.)

The only plus is that the CG is not too bad. So kudos to the people in charge of that... but that's about the only good thing I can think to say about the film.

I could go into further detail, but really, I'm trying to save you time here. So just trust me. It's not worth it. I watched this for free while we had some downtime at work and I still want my 83 minutes back. Save yourself!

A copycat of the 'Jurassic Park' trilogy, and vastly inferior.

[jefflouvre-435-77367 · 1/10 · 24 August 2012]

NINETEEN years after Jurassic Park hit the screens and frightened the hell out of viewers with its realistic portrayal of dinosaurs, we have a lame copycat called The Dinosaur Project. It's been a bad week for movies in Malaysia, with flicks such as Saya Amat Mencintaimu, Seram Sejuk, Premium Rush and Diva stealing RM10 (US$3) per ticket from the pockets of moviegoers.

There have been three Jurassic Park movies, so I don't know what else writer-director Sid Bennett could have added to the mix.

He must have seen Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, because the themes in both movies are similar.

In Journey 2, the stepfather and stepson must face an adventure to bond. In Dinosaur, the father, famed adventurer Marchant (Richard Dillane), must overcome the doubts and snide comments of his tech-savvy teen son Luke (Matt Kane) to bond.

The story is mostly told from Luke's point of view, or more accurately, his pocket cameras that transmit images at incredible distances and even in water.

Thus, the editing and photography are similar to that in Redacted and the one about dinosaurs invading New York.

Soon, the expeditionary team gets chewed up one by one while on the trip in Africa. A cute team member, Liz (Natasha Loring), gets killed off early on. How boring, as Luke's camera was just beginning to study her more closely.

But every movie needs a baddie, so there's Marchant's friend, Charlie (Peter Brooke), who's jealous of the attention given to the former. He even attempts to kill Luke so that he can claim credit for discovering the dinosaurs' hideout. He will get what he deserves.

It's just too bad flicks like Dinosaur Project didn't experience a natural evolutionary death.

Movie Magic With Jeff Lee (blogspot and Facebook)

The Dinosaur Project (2012)

[SnakesOnAnAfricanPlain · 2/10 · 8 September 2012]

What an absolute let down. The makers of this film should seriously feel ashamed of themselves. They fail to create an interesting narrative or make a believable found footage film. The Dinosaur Project follows a group of documentary filmmakers and explorers as they travel into deep dark Africa to investigate a reported dinosaur sighting. They soon find a whole society of dinosaurs roaming free. The film fails because it seems as though it wanted to have a conventional narrative, but chose the found footage genre to save some money. This leads to painful dialogue and the most obvious characters you could think of. They even try shoehorning in a typical villain, which makes no sense given the danger everybody is in. The film doesn't seem to care too much about sticking to its premise, as camera shots appear from anywhere and all the action is captured perfectly. We'll see somebody with a camera being filmed, and when it cuts to their perspective the person filming them has vanished. Is the main cameraman a Predator with a cloaking device, because I swear you manage to see him once. We also have magical sound, where even when characters are standing far away from the camera we can pick up what they are saying perfectly. This is very much a kids film, in that we have a 'cool' young protagonist who is an exceptionally useful tech whiz. He can even afford and operate devices the professional TV crew haven't even heard of. The film tries to be too good, when poor sound, lazy framing, and inconsistent lighting would have been a huge benefit. The dinosaurs do look fantastic though and all credit should be given to those behind these creatures. It's such a shame that the film surrounding the effects had to be so poor.

Not very good, but not bad either

[nenad-jones · 5/10 · 11 October 2012]

Seeing this on IMDb and the low rating it has I was expecting another piece of trash movie to just pass a few hours of the day, and man was I taken by surprise - It wasn't actually all that bad!

Considering the low budget the CGI dinos are very well done - most high budget movies have similar if not even worse CGI, and the acting was dull at times but not that bad either. As for the story that was OK at first, there were a few laughs like when the camera guy charged into the forest for no reason and got killed, but all in all the movie is not the piece of crap people say it is - far from it!

I'll give it a solid 3 for the very good CGI of the dinos, another 2 for the solid acting and very good shots of the jungle and rainforest, and 1 for my surprise since I was expecting a very bad B movie.

Pretty surprised by all the negative reviews...

[alexmarmalade · 6/10 · 22 September 2012]

After reading the negative reviews online I decided to give this film a go anyway after my plans for the weekend were cancelled... And what a surprise it was after expecting another Syfy B movie type film, although not exactly mind-blowing the CGI dinosaurs were fairly convincing if not impressive! And while I've seen better acting out there Kane's performance although rusty at times played out well especially in the "alone with the camera" scenes. I found the story rather silly at times but once I looked past the Sci-Fi genre and looked at the story from a more fantasy perspective I found myself enjoying the movie throughout. This movie has definitely earned my respect and although some scenes failed to live up its' title of "The best dino movie since Jurassic Park" I look forward to watching this title again along with my dino-enthusiast friend. Nice one!

Boring.

[cereza1000 · 1/10 · 10 August 2013]

I just watched the movie and I have to say that it disappointed me, first of all, the moving camera, the shooting style of the film is total dizziness like "Monstruoso"(spanish title), the characters are the typical ones,not developed,in two words, nothing new, the relationship between father and son is unbelievable, similar to "Sanctuary" but worse developed than Sanctuary, another laughable and lacking sense scene was the boy find a baby dinosaur and then it defend the boy from the bad guy, an awful bad guy because he was very foreseeable, I don't know what is worse, the dinosaur defending the boy or the bad guy,the film is a joke itself, poor script with a lot of holes and a bad acting.

Not that bad!

[fluffset · 7/10 · 26 September 2012]

This movie should get approximately 6 rating above I thought but it just get 4.3 (27/9/12)?? Its not that bad, its a dinosaur movie actually and that dinosaur looks real for me.

Maybe everyone will compare with blair witch project or anything but this movie have its own status,it try to be like a snuff movie but nobody will believe them. Whats so funny about this movie is they got no idea how to shoot a shaky-cam movie so they just stick the camera on their body and its totally fun because every character have it.

Its storyline maybe sounds cliché but interesting. I tell you the story, its about an expedition team gotta go to Congo to find the, what they call... African Loch Ness! During their trip, some dinosaur-like creatures attack their heli and they crash. Then, more will come. Worth watching!

Found-footage movie with dinosaurs. What's next ?

[peterp-450-298716 · 3/10 · 11 March 2014]

Dino's Candid Camera

Found footage movies ... I'll never be a big fan of that. Those back and forth wobbling images all the time. The blurry image that goes into focus just to create the illusion someone is fiddling with the camera. And always that beeping sound of the camera. The latter was heard frequently in this movie.

Besides those annoyements the movie wasn't that baffling poor (Not like "Dino Shark" I've recently seen). At times I found the dinosaurs convincingly and brilliantly portrayed. Especially when the three small Ceratosaurussen were splashing in the water and started spewing water around as a joke. Personally I thought this was the best moment in this movie.

The performances on the other hand were sometimes laughable and terribly amateurish. Some things were incredible and ludicrous. Feeding a Cerataurus Smarties ... yeah right. And then it becomes almost a cute puppy sitting on your lap, that also has the brains to use his stinking spit as a protection against the scary big mommy and daddy, so they won't hurt you .... hehehehe. Of course, the drifting boat was accidentally sucked into that cave. And repairing a satellite phone with a little tweezer while walking in the middle of the jungle ... give that boy a Nobel Prize.

A movie for in between ... but no way it can be compared with "Jurasic Park" when it's about the dinosaurs. And when you talk about found-footage-movie, then surely don't compare it with "The Blair Witch Project". Unfortunately Natasha Loring disappeared real soon out of the picture, because she looked very appetizing in her tropical suit. I bet that's what the dinosaur suddenly thought : "njammie fresh meat ...."

More reviews at http://opinion-as-a-moviefreak.blogspot.be/

My Review Of "The Dinosaur Project"

[ASouthernHorrorFan · 8/10 · 12 December 2012]

"The Dinosaur Project" is a strange blend of found footage and science fiction that takes Jules Verne into the realm of nightmare. It is a more intense film than I was expecting with an slight atmosphere of hopelessness polluting the air of adventure. The film is directed by Sid Bennett and follows a group of scientist on a quest to search for the mysterious prehistoric creatures said to be terrorizing the locals deep in the jungle of central Africa. It is a tragic story that plays out through video recordings of the journey that is orchestrated by the lead scientist's stowaway son who has his mind set to record the journey to discovery. This movie manages to be refreshing, dark and thrilling. It stars Natasha Loring, Richard Dillane, Matt Kane and Peter Brooke.

The film keeps a constant feeling of watching tragedy unfold scene by scene as camera roulettes between camcorder and digital clips thanks to the various small wireless camera's the young boy brings with him. This film doesn't give you a moment to be bored with the usual camera tricks that are common with found footage film due to the intense action and total fatality of the characters story lines. The movie feels like a complete misadventure that is believable. I almost forgot the this was a fictional account due to the back and forth between choppy footage and hand held camcorder style the movie uses. The dinosaurs in this film are vicious, unnatural predators that bring the nightmare home and yet there are small moments when the story shows a playful excitement of new discovery of a species thought to be extinct for millions of years. This isn't a fun carefree film like Jurassic Park but it isn't suppose to be that kind of film. "The Dinosaur Project" is a pleasant surprise as far as being intense and chilling. This movie was an intense little story that was entertaining and pretty dark. A very cool dinosaur picture.

Another Viewer Surprised by negative reviews

[yopopsitsyourboy · 7/10 · 27 June 2019]

Not at all the best Story plot ever told, but by no means is this a Bad Film, no means is it boring or slow or uneventful. I was generally surprised how well produced, filmed, and directed it was. The CGI previously stated from another review i agree with. Whatever used to create the Animals seemed well designed and crafted from the looks to the movements, honestly one of the best portrayals of dinosaurs I've seen. Only reason i give it a 7 is because again its not the best story plot, but i believe this movie was well produced considering the plot. A few predictable moments, but again i very much enjoyed this film and definitely deserves better appreciation of a 4 star rating.

Not bad for a lower budget Dinosaur film.

[Strider-100 · 5/10 · 20 December 2022]

A British expedition formed by the lead researcher Jonathan Marchant (Richard Dillane), his assistant Charley Rutherford (Peter Brooke), a doctor named Liz Draper (Natasha Loring) and a TV crew consisting of Dave Moore (Stephen Jennings) and Pete Van Aarde (Andre Weideman), travels to the Congo to seek evidence of a dinosaur. A local guide named Amara (Abena Ayifor) and the helicopter pilot named Etienne (Sivu Nobongoza) join the team and the group heads to the jungle. During their trip, they find a stowaway in the helicopter, the son of Jonathan named Luke Marchant (Matt Kane). Soon the helicopter is attacked by flying creatures and crashes in the jungle in the beginning of the last journey of Jonathan Marchant and his team,

This is a found footage type film so you are tipped off there are no survivors. The CGI was pretty good. Not a great movie but an entertaining film after a long day of NFL football. Scenery was fantastic, the actors weren't too bad.

I was a bit frustrated to see the pretty actress, Natasha Loring, who plays Liz, killed off so quickly. Movie implied there might be a romance between her and Luke but that love connection was destroyed by a flying dinosaur tearing Liz to pieces.

Jurassic Park as a found footage movie

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 27 May 2014]

THE DINOSAUR PROJECT is (somewhat surprisingly) a British B-movie that charts a group of explorers and documentary film-makers as they venture deep into the Congo in search of a legendary dinosaur said to exist somewhere within the jungle swamps. It's low budget and badly written, with some moments that are frankly boring given the material, but it's not the worst of this genre.

The biggest problem with the movie is the decision to go for a family-friendly rating. Thus any deaths or attacks by dinosaurs are kept off-screen, robbing the movie of suspense and entertainment value. It's clear that the producers were going for a 'JURASSIC PARK as found footage' vibe, but it's not really all that successful.

The no-name cast don't really contribute any decent performances of note, and the characters are weak. At times, like with the introduction of a friendly dinosaur, this feels more like BABY: SECRET OF THE LOST LEGEND than a proper adult film. I can't imagine many people sitting through it are likely to enjoy that sort of stuff. The effects are workable rather than remarkable and there's a twist or two of sorts to keep you going, but it's all rather predictable and the ending just sort of fizzes out. Not very memorable.

i want my pound back.

[jay20091907 · 2/10 · 15 April 2014]

where to start with this one? okay, i like dinosaurs and i like films, inevitably the two would cross eventually, but when the pinnacle of the Dino-cinema is Jurassic park the bar is set pretty damn high. okay so this one starts and instantly we are introduced to the characters, of course anyone one who see's the films "explorer" dad character will instantly go "how the hell is Allan grant/Indiana Jones in this film?" because thats exactly what he looks like. seriously, hat and all. but the thing is, Jurassic park and Indiana Jones are good films, this one...not so much..wait not at all. okay the main problem i had with this film was its sheer predictability, and trust me i know predictability i watch films 24/7 but when you can watch a film and in the first 15 minutes work out (Without fault) who will live and who will die, there's a problem. and so were introduced to the cast, beardy guy, camera guy, explorer dad, hot blonde, jungle guide and the teenager. but there's the next problem, each of these characters are just cut outs that the director must have stole from the book of "film characters" they are that see through, its like this, beardy guy is a fat arse who in the last part of the film goes all Rambo (trust me its funnier when you see it) camera guy doesn't say much and dies, and thats not a spoiler because who actually cares for these characters, explorer dad is just the generic "adventurer", the guide has a "secret" that you see from a mile off and well it isn't really a secret when you're surrounded by Dino's! and the blonde is well...shes the typical blonde who is the love interest, oh wait she dies early..moving on...there's this other guy, who is the typical over the top manipulative "all for myself" bad guy, and honestly? hes the best character, he overacts to hell but hes the best character he just reminds me of Bruce Campbell, i don't know why, and the worst THE WORST character by far is the teenager, MY GOD is this guy an arse, typical ubertwat who is just in the film to garner it the 12 rating, which quite frankly is a joke, as he either spends half the film arguing with his dad over boring "dad doesn't like me" rubbish or playing with a dinosaur...WHAT?! i came to watch a film where dinosaurs eat people! not a film that plays out like a CBBC special, it really is a joke, and the teenager as annoying as he is is there to make the film child friendly, but you will, i repeat you WILL spend 80% of the film saying "someone please kill him" but to no avail as he obviously survives. the final point for this film i'm going to talk about is the dinosaurs, now i understand that this is low budget, but could you have picked a more boring set of Dino's? they aren't even interesting, at first you go "ooh pterodactyl!" then you realise it isn't its some bat..thing, then you see a raptory thing that isn't even a raptor its the spitty thing from Jurassic park that blinds the fat guy, also there's a water thing you see for all of 5 seconds and a giant spitter, thats another thing with the film being boring and predictable, when something happens you don't see it! they just flail the camera wildly with crackling as to force the audience to go "ooooh dinosaur!" when really nothing is happening at all! shaky cam is getting boring now. okay in all? if you want a good time with dinosaurs watch Jurassic park or play Dino crisis its as simple as that really unless you want to be bored to death with genericness to the core and a character that will make you want to commit suicide, seriously don't watch it, better things can be done with life. 2/10 it gets 2 for nice-ish scenery...what i saw of it that is..