Dinosaurs Alive! Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Dinosaurs Alive! Blu-ray Movie Review

It should probably be called “Paleontologists at Work!”

Reviewed by Casey Broadwater September 22, 2009

When it came to dinosaurs, I was one of those kids—the kind who could recite a string of facts, who had amassed a small library of dino-related books, and who would carefully scrape the caked mud off of the fake bones in his dorky junior paleontologist kit. Once, when my parents took me to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum to see a new dinosaur exhibit, I actually complained— about supposed factual errors I noticed—to a TV news reporter who was interviewing kids about what they thought of the museum. Yeah, I was a nerd. If I was still ten years old, Dinosaurs Alive! would be right up my nebbish alley. As a piece of IMAX edu-tainment, it caters to kids (and adults too, I guess) who are interested in paleontology—not just angry prehistoric beasties duking it out dino-style. The name Dinosaurs Alive! is a bit of a misnomer—yes, dinosaurs have been brought to life here via the wonders of CGI, but the focus is more on the work of the researchers who piece together the lives of these fantastic creatures.

Exciting stuff!

Like Sea Monsters—a similar IMAX film that landed on Blu-ray a few weeks ago—Dinosaurs Alive! juxtaposes footage of paleontologists doing their thing at dig sites with short vignettes, starring CGI dinosaurs, that explore the lives of the animals being studied. We follow preeminent paleontologists Mike Novacek and Mark Norell, along with their team of hopeful grad students, as they unearth both ancient behemoths, like the 120ft. long Seismosaurus, and more diminutive creatures like Effigia, a new species recently discovered by PhD candidate Sterling Nesbitt (I bet this dude has his thesis in the bag). From the so-called “Flaming Cliffs” of China’s Gobi desert to New Mexico’s renowned Ghost Ranch, we witness the more exciting elements of field work, namely, the discoveries and the bag ‘n tag plaster casting process. Periodically, we jump back in time to the 1920s to hear testimony from famed dino hunter Roy Chapman Andrews—purportedly the inspiration for Indiana Jones—who brought a Hollywood cinematographer along to document his digs. Actor Michael Douglas narrates the proceedings with a kind of laconic, matter-of-fact lack of enthusiasm, but I appreciate that he never gushes or sounds over-awed.

For a forty minute IMAX production—meant to be shown at museums to harried tourists—the back and forth narrative through-line of the film seems a bit unfocused. It’s almost as if the film wants to hone in solely on the work of the paleontologists, but it knows that museum-goers and their ADHD kids want to get straight to the goods—the CGI dinosaurs. The ten or so minutes of dino action, then, are fun and well composed, but it won’t be enough to capture the attention of most kids weaned on CGI spectacle. Though they’re good for a fairly low budget undertaking, the computer graphics aren’t up to Pixar’s snuff, and you’ll notice some strange phenomena—like dinosaurs fighting on loose sand without ever leaving so much as a paw print. Kids who are more actively interested in digging up dry bones will get more enjoyment out of the production, as the film is basically the paleontology equivalent of those Army recruitment ads that show soldiers having a blast in their newfound military careers. You too can discover new species of dinosaurs and give them awesome Latin names!

Whenever the scientists are allowed to speak, though, their line readings come off as incredibly stilted, making them sound like dino-obsessed idiot savants. Part of the problem is that the digs are overly scripted. Instead of a fly-on-the-wall, documentary-like approach, the film’s excavation and laboratory scenes have a distinctly stagy, mock-up quality that is also readily apparent in Sea Monsters. Thankfully, the chatter amongst researchers is kept to a minimum. In most other respects, Dinosaurs Alive! is a fantastic production. The orchestral score is bold and engaging, the sound design is better than you’d expect, and, as always, the IMAX cinematography is excellent, affording us sharp and stunning views of storm clouds gathering over the desert, sand dunes humping all the way to the horizon, and scientists being absolutely dwarfed by their surroundings. If your kid just wants to see dinosaurs do battle, I’d think twice about picking this one up, but if you’ve got a future paleontologist in your household, Dinosaurs Alive! makes a great, educational gift.

Dinosaurs Alive! Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Originally screened in both 2-D and 3-D at IMAX theaters, Dinosaurs Alive! arrives on Blu-ray with a terrific 1080p/VC-1 transfer that boasts all the clarity we're accustomed to with IMAX releases. Filmed with an IMAX 3-D camera—the largest motion picture camera in the world —Dinosaurs Alive! is sourced from a 65mm negative, allowing a stunning amount of fine detail. You'll notice the smallest fissures on rocks, catch every hangnail and bit of grime on the paleontologists' fingers, and see individual grains of sand as they're blown by the wind. Long landscape shots have an excellent sense of depth and the picture overall has a strong dimensional presence. Color-wise, the film goes for a mostly realistic representation, although contrast is slightly overheated in some scenes. I really dug the look, if you'll pardon the pun, and found few issues at all to report. While black levels are nicely weighted throughout, here and there you'll find some crushed details in the shadows—barely worth mentioning—and there's a bit of contrast wavering in a couple of wide shots. Compression issues like banding and macroblocking are thankfully absent—we are talking about a 40 min. film on a BD-25, after all— and aside from one or two scattered white flecks, the print itself looks pristine. Some may complain that this release doesn't contain the 3-D cut of the film, but after the somewhat lackluster anaglyphic display of the recent IMAX Sea Monsters Blu-ray, I'm not too bothered by the absence.

Dinosaurs Alive! Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Sporting not one, but three DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks—one each for English, Spanish, and French speaking audiences—Dinosaurs Alive! is well equipped in the audio department. I was actually surprised by how much sonic oomph the film manages to muster in its brief 40 minutes. Bellowing dino growls activate the LFE channel, and the orchestral score— courtesy of the Prague Symphony Orchestra—gives a good indication of the track's more-than- adequate dynamic range. The surround speakers may not get the whiz-bang-pow treatment, but you will notice rain and wind, thunderclaps ripping across channels, the panning of helicopter rotors, and even a great front-to-back effect as one researcher tosses a shovelful of dirt at the camera. The narration by Michael Douglas sounded a little thin to me at first, but after some initial volume tweaking, I found the mix to be relatively well balanced. I did have to reach for my remote during a few especially loud scenes, but I wasn't too put out by the discrepancies in volume levels. I'm not sure the tweener target audience will notice, but the film sounds better than you might expect.

Dinosaurs Alive! Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Making Of (1080i, 26:41)
Clocking in at over half the length of the film itself, this making of featurette is a comprehensive look at what it takes to film an IMAX movie. You'll see four crew members manhandling the massive, 250lb. 3-D camera up steep Gobi desert terrain. You'll learn that each 1000 ft. roll of 65mm film—which lasts a little over three minutes—costs $1000. And with plenty of on-set, behind-the-scenes footage from the film's locations, you'll realize that there's no such thing as a simple shot when dealing with IMAX 3-D technology. The last half of the documentary focuses on the film's visual effects, and we're taken inside the computer graphics company in Montreal that rendered the film—a process that took 7,000,000 minutes of computer time. Well worth watching, especially for IMAX fanatics.

Film Trivia Quiz
I answered 9 out of 10 questions correctly on this short, multiple choice, remote control-operated quiz.

Meet the Creatures
Click on this feature to view stats and watch a brief clip of each dinosaur presented in the film.

Trailers
Includes trailers for Wild Ocean (1080p, 1:46), Ride Around the World (SD, 2:08), Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs (1080p, 1:54), and Dinosaurs Alive! (1080p, 1:22).

Dinosaurs Alive! Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Not every child will be enraptured by Dinosaurs Alive! The CGI is nowhere near the uncanny valley and the action scenes are few and far between. That said, fact-collecting kids with dinosaurs on the brain will probably be glued to the TV. And if you're one of those parents who demand the best audio/video quality for your children, rest assured that the film comes with a superb transfer and a more-than-capable lossless audio track. Recommended.