5.7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Rico Sarno, a museum curator, enters a forbidden temple in South America, and discovers a nest of five eggs. He steals them and brings them back to his museum. Frank Taylor, a farmer, sells fossils to Rico and in a mix up, the Taylor's dog takes a cooler, which has the eggs. The kids, Monica and Jerry discover the dinosaurs when they hatch and try to keep it a secret, until their father finds out. Rico finds out the Taylors have them and hires two robbers to help him get the dinosaurs back.
Starring: Brett Cullen, Colleen Morris, Samantha Mills, Austin O'Brien, Tony LongoFamily | 100% |
Comedy | 57% |
Fantasy | Insignificant |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
English: Dolby Digital 2.0 (192 kbps)
BDInfo verified. There is also a 2.0 Stereo track.
None
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
A couple of kind of interesting changes to network broadcast schedules and programming occurred in the 1970s, one of which may have presaged a similar strategy in the halcyon days of VHS and the growing popularity of home theater. Some older readers of this review may remember when the (three and three only) broadcast television networks had to “give back” a half hour of their network schedules courtesy of 1970’s Prime Time Access Rule, meaning that their nightly programming lost either the 6:30 to 7:00 or 7:30 to 8:00 half hour block, depending on when local markets aired evening network schedules (the first season to be impacted was the 1971-72 season). In 1975 another move which some may have felt was a kind of stricture, the so-called Family Viewing Hour, was also implemented, meaning that the first hour of evening network broadcast material (either 7:00 to 8:00 or 8:00 to 9:00, again depending on each local market) had to be “family friendly”. That whole “family friendly” strategy may have been noble in intent, but it was often a kind of murky line, with (to cite examples only from that first impacted season, 1971-72) more kid friendly offerings like Bewitched and edgier fare like All in the Family or Sanford and Son qualifying for “first hour” status. In that regard, it’s kind of interesting to look at a perhaps little remembered outfit called Moonbeam Entertainment, the brainchild of Charles Band. Band wanted to create a line of “family friendly” features that parents could enjoy renting at their local Blockbuster (remember those?) without fear of seeing any “dodgy” content. What makes this kind of ironically humorous, and something which plays into “who is to say what’s family friendly and what isn’t?”, is the fact that Band was also the mastermind behind Moonbeam’s parent company, Full Moon Features, another company that often dealt in straight to video outings, but with arguably less “family friendly” titles like Puppet Master and its many follow-ups its chief stock in trade.
Prehysteria! is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Full Moon Features with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Both the back cover and Charles Band's comments on the commentary track indicate this was sourced from the "original 35mm camera negative", and for the most part this is a really fantastic looking release. The palette is nicely suffused throughout, with generally excellent contrast and consistent densities. The grain field is just slightly variable, perhaps due at least in part to the vagaries of stop motion, and just a time or two can look a bit clumped or splotchy. Detail and fine detail is typically excellent, revealing the textures of the hides of the adorable (?) little dinosaurs, or more "mundane" items like human hair and facial pores. I probably would have graded this somewhat higher if it weren't for a few rather oddly ragged looking moments that just crop up and don't have any obvious causes like opticals (see screenshot 19 for just one example). On the whole, though, my hunch is any Prehysteria! fans out there will probably be thrilled with the appearance of this release. My score is 4.25.
While perfectly fine on their own merits, the Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 tracks on this release may leave some audiophiles wanting the increased
"oomph" of lossless audio. This is especially true of the surround track, which some may feel lacks low end energy which might have helped propel a
film that kind of cheekily refers to a bunch of iconic rock stars like Elvis and Madonna. That said, surround activity is noticeable with regard to the
placement of ambient environmental effects, and dialogue is always rendered cleanly and clearly. Some of the goofy sound effects are on the hokey
side, but are typically well placed and are obviously designed to be whimsical.
Note: Full Moon doesn't provide an Audio Menu on this release, and the disc defaults to the Dolby Digital 5.1 track. There is a second Dolby
Digital 2.0 track accessible via the Audio button on your remote.
In the wild and wooly world of cable television, quaint ideas like "Family Viewing Hour" seem like a throwback almost to the Dark Ages, and at least somewhat similarly, the glut of home entertainment options may make "family friendly" fare seem awfully old fashioned itself. That said, Prehysteria! does in fact offer "safe" viewing, even if some may feel that "safe" ends up being just a tad on the bland side. The best part of this film is the charming stop motion animation, which helps to bring the miniature dinosaurs sweetly to life. Full Moon offers a release with nice looking video, but they might want to up the high definition ante by providing lossless audio the next time. At least for families with younger children, Prehysteria! comes Recommended.
Collector's Series
1989
Collector's Edition
1987
1992
Limited Edition - 2,000 copies
1985
2022
1987
Limited Edition to 3000
1960
1989
1959
Collector's Edition
2022
Collector's Edition
1987
1964-1966
1992
1985
1981
1991
1991
1962
Slipcover in Original Pressing
2023
Collector's Edition
1988