Master Index of Archived Threads


The Land Before Time (1988)

Seismosaurus - *****

1 votes

Apatosaurus - ****1/2

1 votes

Saurolophus - ****

0 votes

Tyrannosaurus Rex - ***1/2

1 votes

Pteranodon - ***

0 votes

Sauropelta - **1/2

1 votes

Stegosaurus - **

0 votes

Pachycephalosaurus -*1/2

1 votes

Triceratops - *

0 votes

Europasaurus - 1/2*

0 votes

Willets Point Jan 29 2011 09:46 PM

Cute baby dinosaurs trek across a barren wasteland in search of the mythical Great Valley and learn a lot about not being prejudiced and working as a team along the way. I found it uneven over all. The animation is absolutely gorgeous at times and then crappy the next scene (the dinosaurs keep changing size!). Are they going for naturalistic-looking animals or cutesy anthropomorphic dino kids? And the plot is lifted from dozens of family films from Bambi to An American Tail (the latter not-coincidentally director Don Bluth's previous film). It ended rather abruptly too as if they needed to meet the running time. I expect kids aren't going to really notice the difference but I think this could have been a much better movie with a little effort. My son liked it. The Sharptooth was pretty scary for him and the death of Mother Longneck prompted lots and lots of questions. Well really everything prompted lots of questions. But he wants to watch it again. PS - Spike, the lazy stegosaurus who eats all the time, totally rules.

Benjamin Grimm Jan 30 2011 05:13 AM Re: The Land Before Time (1988)

My experience has been that kids, when they're little, are not very discriminating about what's good and what isn't. Somehow I managed to avoid ever having to watch this one. Since my youngest is now nine, I seem to have dodged this particular bullet, at least until grandchildren come around.

dgwphotography Jan 30 2011 09:06 AM Re: The Land Before Time (1988)

Oh God - Dinosaurs with eyelashes... Our oldest used to watch all of these over and over and over and over and over and over and over.....

Ceetar Jan 30 2011 09:44 AM Re: The Land Before Time (1988)

Land Before Time is a Classic. I dunno, maybe you had to be there.

Benjamin Grimm Jan 30 2011 09:48 AM Re: The Land Before Time (1988)

I'm about 65 million years too young to have been there.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jan 31 2011 11:45 AM Re: The Land Before Time (1988)

This didn't make me cry or nothin'. (An American Tail was better, though.)

Centerfield Feb 01 2011 08:42 AM Re: The Land Before Time (1988)

What's with the killing of the moms? My wife and I caught this on TV one night and thought "Oh maybe we should get this for the boy." Quickly nixed it after the violent death of Mama Dino.

Benjamin Grimm Feb 01 2011 08:56 AM Re: The Land Before Time (1988)

Maybe they were trying to be like Disney, where almost none of the characters have mothers, and those that do have to endure their deaths. Many instead have step-mothers, who are, of course, evil.

Willets Point Feb 01 2011 10:22 AM Re: The Land Before Time (1988)

Don Bluth was a prominent animator for Disney in the 60's and 70's before splitting off and creating competing company that put out several hits in the 80's. So yeah, he was a spawn of Disney.