Dinosaurus! in '60s Horror and Sci-Fi Forum

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paleoguy	Dinosaurus!	Lead	[-]
Sep 1 04 12:30 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I just recently re-watched this 1960 Universal-International prehistoric epic on DVD. I love this goofy movie and probably had more fun with it than I did even with JURASSIC PARK. This little sci-fi thriller has it all, including genuine stop motion animation,plus some nice rod puppet models, (the dinosaurs are actually brimming with personality), and a very cool Cave Man who just isn't on screen enough. There's a pretty tolerable little kid who's into dinosaurs (I related with him perfectly when I first watched the movie at that same age), a likable hero, a heinous villain, and one really hot red-headed leading lady. As a kid I can remember feeling really sad for the Brontosaurus (Apatosaurus) and especially the Cave Man when they met their demise. I always hoped for a sequel. Anyway, I'm wondering if I'm the only one who's crazy about DINOSAURUS...??? "See anything out there, Dumpty?" Martin
blackbiped	Re: DINOSAURUS	#1	[-]
Sep 1 04 12:46 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I've never seen it but I always wanted to because of the pictures in FM. Legend, oh legend, the third wheel legend...always in the way.
Laughing Gravy	Re: DINOSAURUS	#2	[-]
Sep 1 04 1:35 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I've never seen it either, although I have the DVD.
SFfilmfan	DINOSAURUS	#3	[-]
Sep 1 04 3:41 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I too enjoyed the film as a kid, and it's a not bad kiddie flick from the maker of THE BLOB! Still, the dinosaurs crafted by Marcel Delgado were deployed before Delgado had finished putting their outer skins on, leaving them looking rather shabby. The caveman "comedy" antics are silly sixties sitcom in tone. The narrative isn't particularly strong once the premise is made clear, though the face-off between a tyrannosaur and a steam shovel is at least inventive.
JimPV	Re: DINOSAURUS	#4	[-]
Sep 1 04 4:14 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* ...the dinosaurs crafted by Marcel Delgado were deployed before Delgado had finished putting their outer skins on, leaving them looking rather shabby. Huh, that's interesting, SFfilmfan. Where'd you hear this? That would certainly explain why they look so shabby, despite being done by the great Delgado. The actual animation is pretty durn poor, too, which don't help. I thought the caveman hi-jinx in this were actually humorous, which surprised me. "If I had a hidden microphone inside of my heart, I would turn the power on..."
blackbiped	Re: DINOSAURUS	#5	[-]
Sep 1 04 5:16 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* The actual animation is pretty durn poor, too, which don't help. Is it as bad as the animation in THE BEAST FROM HOLLOW MOUNTAIN? That was pretty awful, although I have a fascination for all stop-motion monsters no matter how bad the animation may be. Legend, oh legend, the third wheel legend...always in the way.
SFfilmfan	DINOSAURUS	#6	[-]
Sep 1 04 6:47 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I got that information from Jerry Neeley who was good friends with Marcel and his widow. No, the animation (largely replacement animation) in BEAST FROM HOLLOW MOUNTAIN was even worse, which confused me as it was often attributed to Willis O'Brien, but O'Brien had merely come up with the story idea that the film was based on. It was one of his Mexican Science Fiction trilogy (along with THE BLACK SCORPION and VALLEY OF GWANGI).
n0s4a2	Re: DINOSAURUS	#7	[-]
Sep 2 04 4:06 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I had a Dell Gold Key comic book of the movie as a kid, and it was fascinating, because they had a few stills from the movie on the inside covers. I didn't see the movie until I was an adult, and the dinosaures sure didn't move in the movie like they did in my imagination! The caveman was great, though. He looked exactly like the drawings of Neanderthals by artist/paleontologist Charles R. Knight. I don't know where they got him, but he was authentic.
JimPV	Re: DINOSAURUS	#8	[-]
Sep 2 04 6:47 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* Is it as bad as the animation in THE BEAST FROM HOLLOW MOUNTAIN? That was pretty awful, although I have a fascination for all stop-motion monsters no matter how bad the animation may be. Been years since I've seen Beast from Hollow Mountain, but the stuff in Dinosaurus! is either jerky and crude, or very mechanistic looking (such as in shots with the boy riding the bronto--he looks like he's on a treadmill or something). It almost looks like the animator(s) were having difficulty with the puppets--their movements are unexpressive and limited. Not good; and like I say, the models are poor to boot. The movie itself is kinda' fun overall, though, and definitely worth seeing (plus I thought the female lead was something of a babe!). Definitely worth seeing. *Quote:* I got that information from Jerry Neeley who was good friends with Marcel and his widow. Cool. Is Marcel's widow still living? "If I had a hidden microphone inside of my heart, I would turn the power on..."
SFfilmfan	Re: DINOSAURUS	#9	[-]
Sep 2 04 8:16 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Don't know. Haven't tried to talk with her lately.
Count Gamula	Re: DINOSAURUS	#10	[-]
Sep 8 04 12:07 AM Burgomaster Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I have a real soft spot for DINOSAURUS! I saw it at the drive-in with KING KONG VS. GODZILLA when I was about eight and it really made an impression on me. Yeah, seeing it today the animation is well below par, but I think the cave man was a great character and having the T-Rex fight a steam shovel was a pretty novel idea, as well as the boy riding the Bronto. Great kids' entertainment. I got a nice surprise once when I was at Bob Burns' house and saw that he had a new item in his collection. It was the large T-Rex head used for the scene where the heroes throw flaming bottles of gasoline in his mouth. Count Gamula
Doctor X	Re: DINOSAURUS	#11	[-]
Jan 28 05 2:10 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I love this movie as well and can vouch for the R1 DVD. It looks fantastic in all its Scope glory! My favourite scene is the neanderthal exploring the modern house. The bit where he disappears offscreen into the bathroom, there's a pause... then we HEAR the flush of a toilet... and out he comes, running at top speed... wonderful comic timing and direction. I love the fact that it was done offscreen... just makes it funnier somehow. It MAY not have been deliberate, however, as I've heard that showing a toilet onscreen back in those days was considered taboo. Doctor X
Rapfred	Re: DINOSAURUS	#12	[-]
Jan 28 05 6:02 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	>>The bit where he disappears offscreen into the bathroom, there's a pause... then we HEAR the flush of a toilet... and out he comes, running at top speed... wonderful comic timing and direction. >> That gag was a show-stopper at the 1961 kiddie matinee where I first encountered DINOSAURUS. Nowadays the caveman's antics aren't nearly as funny as the film's unintentional yuks, e.g. the Ed Wood-level acting of the yutz playing the villainous Hacker who, in spite of the Anglo surname, sports the silliest foreign accent this side of Mel Welles' Mushnikesque Frenchman in ATTACK OF THE CRAB MONSTERS.
TomWeaver999	Re: DINOSAURUS	#13	[-]
Jan 28 05 11:51 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I've heard that showing a toilet onscreen back in those days was considered taboo. << The same year/same studio PSYCHO showed a toilet, and some of the books will tell you that that was the first one in a Hollywood movie. But you'll find 'em, I think, in older movies; well, the silent classic THE CROWD for one -- there are several scenes in a bathroom in that one. In fact, I think the male lead even stands on the toilet in one shot, to get something off a high shelf (I forget the details).
Rick	Re: DINOSAURUS	#14	[-]
Jan 29 05 3:10 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* PSYCHO showed a toilet, and some of the books will tell you that that was the first one in a Hollywood movie. But you'll find 'em, I think, in older movies There are a few older movies with toilets visible, but I can't name one right now. But, there are lots of old movies with bathrooms without toilets. Whenever somebody in some old black and white comedy or musical enters the john, I always check it out. It's very amusing to see these bathrooms with sinks, tubs, towels, and no toilet. Perhaps human bodily functions were different in those days.
ryanbrennan	Re: DINOSAURUS	#15	[-]
Jan 29 05 3:31 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Perhaps human bodily functions were different in those days. They had outhouses back then. :)
Bill Warren	Re: DINOSAURUS	#16	[-]
Jan 30 05 2:35 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* There are a few older movies with toilets visible, In the movie of NO TIME FOR SERGEANTS, there's a memorable scene in which, as an officer inspects the barracks, PLO (Permanent Latrine Orderly) Will Stockdale causes all the toilet seats in the john to pop up in a salute.
Bill Cooke	Re: DINOSAURUS	#17	[-]
Jan 30 05 1:22 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Whatever your feelings on the special effects, the DVD is astonishingly beautiful, at times exhibiting a look you'd expect from high def rather than 480p. The colorful cinemtaography is by Stanley Cortez, whose career swung from masterpieces like MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS and NIGHT OF THE HUNTER to 'B' genre fare like THE NEANDERTHAL MAN, THE NAVY VS. THE NIGHT MONSTERS and THE GHOST IN THE INVISIBLE BIKINI.
Chesterbelloc	Re: DINOSAURUS	#18	[-]
Jan 30 05 2:21 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I agree that this DVD looks beautiful, and even though I find much of the film boring, I can never get enough of Willis O'Brien's dinosaurs. I wish there were a hundred more movies just like this one.
Bill Warren	Re: DINOSAURUS	#19	[-]
Jan 30 05 3:19 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* I can never get enough of Willis O'Brien's dinosaurs. I, too, love OBie's dinosaurs. But he had nothing at all with DINOSAURUS.
Chesterbelloc	Re: DINOSAURUS	#20	[-]
Jan 30 05 3:21 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Oops. Never mind. But I still like the dinosaurs in this movie.

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