Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

thewillt08 After Jurassic Park you would think dinosaurs would look better in TV and movies, unfortunately Dinotopia couldn't raise the bar. Dinotopia is about two brothers who crash on an island that is has humans and dinosaurs living peacefully. The brothers, David and Karl, want to find their missing farther and escape the island. They find an explorer and he brings them into a complicated world of complexity. This is a miniseries and I remember watching it as a young kid and I was amazed. Watching it a second time almost ten years later, I was highly disappointed. This story had so much potential to be great, but the terrible acting and awful special effects made this series pure garbage. Each episode is about an hour and a half, but they all feel like three hours of pain and torture. The main story made sense at first. One brother would do anything to go home while the other would rather stay, causing conflict. Then they both meet a woman that they are attracted to which causes more conflict. Of course the girl is of royalty and importance, and obviously she doesn't want to be important, she just wants to be normal. There is a greedy researcher who appears to be good but is clearly evil and has bad intentions. I would have been OK with that if the acting wasn't so hard to watch. I finished watching this series because I remember loving it as a kid and I always wanted to see it again. I hoped it would get better but it never did. All this series brought was disappointment and made me want to rant about it. Not only is the acting bad but the story eventually made no sense at all. The brothers arrive in Waterfall City and find out they can't leave, predictable but I went with it. Then we discover dinosaurs have their own language and some even speak English. This was just silly. There is a dinosaur language that humans learned and can write down in the form of footprints. Really, that's the best the director could come up with? There are also these things called sunstones and they are of some importance, I still don't even know. There is an archaeologist who searches for them and the truth as well. There is also a dinosaur who wants to explore "the world beneath." I'm not even sure how to describe it any further. The story gets way out of line and to crazy to even follow. This was originally a novel and i can only hope that the novel is better. I don't know what audience the director was going for either. Kids could like dinosaurs but we hardly see any action sequences. The bulk of the story is confusing dialog and some of the worst acting I have ever seen. Adults would be bored and lose interest with this series half way through the first episode. Overall this series is just a fail and should never be seen by anyone. Don't watch it alone, with friends, or even in school. If for some odd reason a school decides to show this series, skip that class, it's worth the F. This series should never see the light of day and gets the WillyT seal of disapproval for cheesy acting, awful special effects, and a miserable storyline.

vip_ebriega My Take: An underrated and pricey blockbuster of a TV miniseries. I really liked this 3-part mini-series. It was really an awe-inspiring and fantastic mini-series. Now I'm not saying this because I'm a dinosaur fan as a kid, but also as an observant movie viewer. I mean, as I can see it, it was one of the more big-budgeted production by TV's Hallmark Channel, mostly known for their adaptations of classic and contemporary tales. The special-effects were great, superb for something that was made for TV. The costumes really suit the environment. The large-scale sets, mostly evident, is really large-scale. It was like it came out of a Cecil B. DeMille's production or from the books by James Gurney, which it was based on. But special-effects and production designs aren't the only elements that elevates it as a large-scale movie. The acting is kinda good to. Although the cast is not as stellar as other Hallmark films/mini-series, but they still perform well. The story is wonderful, which may be nothing if it isn't told well. But it is, providing a dosage of action, adventure, comedy and even a little rarely touched romance. "Prison Break"'s Wentworth Miller co-stars, so most of you fans out there may want to see this. Anyway, this was a really great mini-series. It deserves to be put to the big-screen, but it may loose some things when it would be edited to shorten it. So, it's okay as it is. A fine, very interesting almost-3-hour family entertainment. TV movie rating: ****1/2 out of 5.

Anna Konda This comment contains spoilers on the dinotopian society and the storyline.I borrowed the 'Dinotopia'-DVD from a friend and watched all of the three parts last night. Somehow the show didn't turn out to be that gripping I could sit along for 4,5 hours without taking my eyes off the screen. I moved around rather a lot, returning to the TV when dramatic music or some line caught my attention. Signs that I got occasionally bored.What has been so boring has already been named in other comments, such as the lousy acting, the incredibly silly lines and the tiring, predictable 'immature teens learn to take their responsibilities'-story line.The CGIs were quite good for a TV Show, although in some scenes you could clearly see that the dinos were added to the film later, especially in most of the Zippo-scenes. Zippo's colour was far too light to fit the rest of the scene.Zippo himself indeed reminded me of Jar-Jar Binks, but I noted that he wasn't half that annoying as this babbling dope. Poor Zippo didn't have a clear part, in fact he wasn't much more than the usual funny sidekick, as it is common use in Disney movies.The portrayal of the dinotopian way of life made me a bit uncomfortable. Although it would be most welcome if mankind would get closer to Nature again, the social structure appeared to be quite dictatorial to me. One single person, the 'Matriarch', decides where people will work and how they will live. The Senate decides which saurian partner one will have to live with. Every decision concerning your very life is taken by the authorities. And not a single Dinotopian appears to question this? Where is the right of the free will? What if someone doesn't want to work at the place he has been chosen to? Will he be placed under house arrest for the rest of his life? It may be forbidden for Dinotopians to make use of violence and weapons but there can be psychological violence as well.Even the dinotopian teenagers seem to know exactly their one and only destiny (and everyone knows that teenagers rarely do), such as Marion and Romana. But what if Romana, who dreamed being a skybax rider since her childhood, would have been chosen to work in the hatchery? Eh? Would she still answer 'Fly high' when someone addresses her with 'Breath deep', or wouldn't it rather be 'Go to hell'?As I don't know the books of James Gurney I cannot tell if the description of this society is the same in the original or if it has just been simplified for the TV show.It intrigues me that no one seems to argue at any time (except the villain of course). Even the children appear to be the most wellbehaving. I expected them to poke fun at their nearly adult classmates David and Karl, but – no. Nowhere on earth, in any society, you have such every time sunny, patient, friendly and peaceful people. Everyone (except the villain of course) seems to be brainwashed since his childhood. What do those people do for fun? Watching sectlike ceremonies and listening to incantations of the Ten Rules? Didn't one of the Rules read 'Sing Every Day'? I never heard anyone sing during those 4,5 hours. But this may come because they are all vegetarians (no offense to the vegetarian community ;-) – I hardly eat meat myself). As I understood, they only eat fruit, vegetables, and cereals and they didn't propose cheese or eggs for meal, which makes them more vegans than vegetarians. But if they are, where do they take the leather from to make their saddles (it clearly was leather, no cloth)? I can hardly believe they skin the dinos after they die! When you live together with a saurian partner, aren't you supposed to bury it decently after it dies? You don't make a pair of shoes out of your dead grandma's skin, do you? Besides, isn't it strange that there is no other kind of animal to be seen on the island apart from the dinosaurs? No dogs, cats, pigs or chicken. It is quite unlikely that the shipwrecked ancestors of the Dinotopians never had any animals aboard. But strangely, Marion knows exactly that a chicken is a bird when Karl asks for a chicken burger. Being Dinotopian in the 20th generation, her knowledge seems rather implausible on a chickenless island.Sometimes I felt sorry for poor Sirus Crabb, a villain for sure, but he appeared to be the only one to question the 'paradise' he lives in. And if you question Paradise, as is proved by Adam and Eve, you must be get rid off – in one way or another…As a conclusion, let me state that besides my comments on this weird society, 'Dinotopia' is far away from being the worst movie I ever saw. It can offer a nice TV evening with friends and even a very catching discussion afterwards about how mankind should or shouldn't live and if you liked to live in Dinotopia yourself or not.I gave it a rating 6/10.

iguana1500 *may contain potential spoilers*Dinotopia was slated to be a big budget and big hit movie. After its release on ABC in 2002, it became something of a failure in the sense that it was not a smash hit. Rather, it falls into history as a unique movie based off of a memorable childhood book. It has its strengths that make it overall worth watching. Running at over four hours, it has some good plot, acceptable acting, very rich settings, comical characters, and a different ending than one would expect.The main theme that is explored in the movie offers something to think about. The idea of utopia is not a new one; adding dinos into the mix definitely makes it unique. Although we all expect every movie about utopia to have the same conclusion that all utopias fail, this one does not have the same outcome. Perhaps it is the effect of the "scalies" that minimizes the human tendency of self destruction. Still, the gravity of the theme rapidly tappers off way before the movie actually ends. Really, very few people actually care by the end of the movie whether or not the dinotopians fail in their "perfectly" created society. Still, it is something of a childish "happy" ending that will probably please younger audiences who do not wish to see all the dinos and humans perish.Children will probably find the dinosaurs amusing and fun. Yet the animation of the dinosaurs leaves something to be desired for anyone over the age of 10. Still, the character "Zippo" is one of the best computer animated characters in any movie. Although sometimes borderline dumb, he is much more comical and interesting than "Ja ja" from you know what. Oh, and little kids will inevitably find "26" cute. Dinotopia offers a solid soundtrack. Its music is memorable but not very varied in flavor. The music does fit the movie well and adds an added element that makes it more watchable. What really makes Dinotopia unique is the grand nature of the movie itself: four hours of dino and human utopia exploration. Dino lovers and enthusiasts will probably have this DVD in their collection. It has enough pluses to outweigh the sometimes egregious minuses. One of the worst parts of the movie: The mayor's hat. What was anyone thinking when they decided on a pointy hat with several red fuzzy balls hanging off the top?One of the best parts of the movie: The messenger (mail) birds. Very good animation and very comical. Overall, a fun family movie. 6.5 out of 10.