As weird as this list may sound, there is a legitimate genre of movies that deals exclusively in dinosaurs. This genre existed much before Steven Spielberg debuted the T-Rex chasing a jeep in the rain, it’s just that it exploded in our faces in the mid 90’s, and then disappeared. With Jurassic World and a certain Pixar movie of the same genre out in the same year, the genre has truly been revived. Here are five of the best:
Theodore Rex (1996)
Largely regarded as one of the worst movies of all time, this is a film that is in fact so bad that it’s amazing. The film arrived right in the middle of the 90’s when three elements dominated pop culture – Whoopi Goldberg, dinosaurs and Buddy Cop action movies. And this gem of a movie combined all three elements into a film that made Ed Wood look like a genius. Goldberg plays a cop assigned on a case with another cop, a wisecracking T-Rex to find a mysterious killer of dinosaurs. It was supposed to release in theaters but someone in the studio realised its quality and sent it straight for a DVD release, only for your guilty viewing pleasure.
Dinosaur (2000)
One of the most underrated Disney films, Dinosaur combined the usage of live action photography with computer-generated dinosaurs, much like in Stuart Little and the recent Paddington. It was supposed to be a big event movie that somehow slipped under the radar because of the barrage of bad CGI-heavy movies that began cropping up at the beginning of the millennium. The most surprising aspect of the film was how scary it was, despite being packaged as a children’s film. Fifteen years later, the terrific visuals still hold up.
The Good Dinosaur (2015)
If Jurassic World made the current generation of children fascinated with dinosaurs because they’re scary, then Pixar’s film will make them love dinosaurs because they can be so darn lovable. A much simpler grassroots story than Inside Out, The Good Dinosaur proved that no one but Pixar can tap into human emotion with genuine warmth. There are life lessons to be learned, but there’s also so much fun to be had and it’s the best repeat value animated film since the first Kung Fu Panda.
Jurassic Park (1993)
Quaking water cups. Quivering jelly on a spoon. A man hiding in a toilet and being scooped up by a T-Rex. Yup, Jurassic Park still looks as good as it did when it released twenty years ago. It is also the film that brought us the modern blockbuster – that is films that feature screaming and running, without much of a plot. The only downside to this was that most movies that have copied the formula seem to replicate the scream and run process, but fail to incorporate the likeable characters and good music. Even Jurassic World fell into the same trap.
Super Mario Bros (1993)
As shocking as it is to believe, there is a dinosaur movie that is actually more awesome than Jurassic Park. Super Mario Bros is the result of many wrong studio decisions and utter lack of creativity colliding together to form a monster of a movie as memorable as a holiday trip where you fell violently sick but manage to laugh about it years later. This is a film where Mario and Luigi, the characters from the famous video game discover an alternate dimension full of half-men-half-dinosaurs ruled by a king named Koopa who wants to cross over and rule the Earth. Dennis Hopper hamming in a bad wig while shooting flame-throwers at Mario and Luigi who are simultaneously dodging dinosaur teeth is one of the subtler moments in the film.
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