Planet of the Dinosaurs

Starring:Louie Lawless
Studio: Good Times Video
Product Type: DVD

Prehistoric Planet/Allosaurus - A Walking With Dinosaurs Special

Average customer rating:

Really engaged my 12-year-old
Love it!

Prehistoric Planet/Allosaurus - A Walking With Dinosaurs Special
Starring: Kenneth Branagh , and Avery Brooks
Manufacturer: BBC Warner
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

Nature & Wildlife | Special Interests | Genres | DVD | Video

Dinosaurs | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs as Low as $9.49 | The Big DVD Sale | Stores | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( P ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Chased By Dinosaurs
Walking With Prehistoric Beasts
Walking with Monsters - Life Before Dinosaurs
Walking with Dinosaurs
Prehistoric Planet - Complete Set

ASIN: B0000AN4GH
Release Date: 2003-09-16

Amazon.com

Prehistoric Planet
This well-received Discovery Kids television series cleverly cannibalized footage from two hugely popular, BBC primetime programs Walking with Dinosaurs and Walking with Prehistoric Beasts, reworking the CGI-heavy dino-dramas into absorbing (and--shh!--educational) fare. The result was, and is, smashing. Narrated by Ben Stiller and ingeniously scripted, the series delineates epochs, species, and prehistoric environments in an entertaining effort to broaden one's detailed appreciation of ancient creatures of the land, sea, and air. Meet Ornithocheirus, a Cretaceous-period flying pterosaur whose 40-foot wingspan can carry him from the future Florida coast to Europe in a day--yet who could end up as snack food for the 80-foot aquatic monster Liopleurodon. Or the fascinating, 6-foot Leallynasaura, a 106-million-year-old denizen of Antarctica's rainforest (!) who avoids the predatory Koolasuchus (seriously) through clan cooperation. There's more to prehistoric Earth than the stylish raptor and bullying T-Rex; meet their neighbors here. --Tom Keogh

Allosaurus: A Walking with Dinosaurs Special
The phenomenal BBC series Walking with Dinosaurs spawned this 30-minute special. Using the same blend of computer animation, puppetry, and story-driven narration (by Kenneth Branagh), Allosaurus: A Walking with Dinosaurs Special centers on one particular dinosaur dubbed Big Al. Found in Wyoming in the 1980s, Big Al's fossil remains comprise the most complete allosaur skeleton ever found. Enough clues are found in the bones, 145 million years after his death, to tell the story of what might have happened from his birth to his death. The film's naturalistic approach (unlike that used in the Disney film Dinosaur, whose characters could talk) is quite spectacular, with chills (a bog turns out to be a big dinosaur threat), thrills (allosaurs chase a group of giant diplodocus), and humor (a baby allosaur seems to bump into the "camera"). A half-hour companion program, "Big Al Uncovered," illustrates how the "what-if" story of Big Al was constructed using facts uncovered by paleontologists (including the 17 injuries found in the skeleton) and filling in the gaps using the dinosaur's distant cousins (birds and crocodiles). The BBC production does not shy away from the violent world of dinosaurs, including mating and hunting techniques. However, any dinosaur fan age 7 and up should find all the Walking with Dinosaurs specials an exciting and fun education. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews:

Really engaged my 12-year-old.......2007-06-03

My daughter saw part of this DVD and school and was so enthusastic about sharing it with me that we ended up purchasing it when we weren't able to rent it from any local video store. As she had not shown interest in dinosaurs or paleontology before, I was surprised at her insistence that we see it, but when we watched it together, I understood why she found it so compelling.

It is done in the style of a wildlife documentary, and the effects are so realistic that it is easy to "go along for the ride" and believe that you are watching dinosaurs being filmed in their natural habitat. The storytelling is also quite engaging. The best part was my daughter's enjoyment of it; I haven't seen anything but manga have quite the same hold over her imagination!

Love it!.......2007-01-09

Our five-year-old, dinosaur-loving son LOVES this movie. He could watch it everyday if we let him. The graphics are amazing...very realistic. Nigel, the narrator, is his hero!

Average customer rating:

At least it's not "Jurassic Park"
Good B-grade fun, but what's with the "official" description?
One man's trash ...
Worthwhile Grade Z Dinosaur Adventure
Classic Cheese

Planet of the Dinosaurs
Starring: Mary Ann Appleseth , Forman Shane , Michael Thayer , James Whitworth , and Charlotte Speer
Director: James K. Shea
Manufacturer: Good Times Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

Animation | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

Adventure | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

Dinosaurs | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

Science Fiction | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

Animation | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

Space Adventure | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

All Deals | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( P ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

4-for-3 Action & Adventure | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

4-for-3 Kids & Family | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

4-for-3 Science Fiction & Fantasy | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

4-for-3 All DVDs | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Unknown Island
The Lost Continent
The Land That Time Forgot/The People That Time Forgot
Two Lost Worlds
The Valley of Gwangi

ASIN: B00005OSKQ
Release Date: 2001-05-01

Customer Reviews:

At least it's not "Jurassic Park".......2006-08-13

I was relatively enthusiastic about seeing this movie, since I really vdidn't know what to expect from it. Given the plot, I didn't expect many people to die. Well, it's true that not many people died, but more people died than I was expecting.

One weird thing is that people turn their back on some kind of Brachiosaur and within about two minutes they see a half-eaten Brachiosaur. I'm not sure if its supposed to be the same one, but if it is that's really stupid.

There's conflict between two central chracters, but surprisingly, they both live through the whole thing, and there's an "epilouge" scene where there's no tension between them. However, IT IS NEVER EXPLAINED WHY THERE'S NO TENSION BETWEEN THEM. There's no scene at any point in the movie explaning what happened.

In an amazing feat of inconsistancy, high-technology ray guns can't harm very small dinosaurs, but spears have no trouble peircing them.

Did I mention that this movie features a T-Rex (or possibly an Allosaurus) with a lower IQ than most inanimate objects?

Overall, it wasn't really a waste of time, but it was kind of on the edge of being disappointing. It's still not as bad as RAPTOR or the original JURASSIC PARK

Good B-grade fun, but what's with the "official" description?.......2006-08-08

My sister and I have long had a soft place in our hearts for this late-70's sci-fi effort. The back of the DVD hypes it as a bold space adventure with spectacular effects and a gripping plot. I don't know what movie they were watching when they wrote that, but it wasn't Planet of Dinosaurs. It tries so hard to be deep and profound, following its sad little band of stranded astronauts as they try to survive on a prehistoric world, that you have to feel sorry for it. Nice dino FX (for the time) aside, this is a B-grade work all the way, with terrible acting, lousy lines, pointless characters who mostly exist to provide the local wildlife with ample fodder, and hilariously lame music. If, like us, you enjoy laughing at a good bad movie, this is a great pick. If only MST3K had taken a crack at this one...

One man's trash ..........2006-03-13

A cast of unknowns in dodgy spandex jumpsuits fight off a medley of prehistoric beasties on a planet that looks surprisingly like Earth. Yes, the acting, dialogue, costumes and music are straight out of a bad 70s porno, BUT this forgotten nugget offers cool stop-motion dino action aplenty, and it's fairly fast-paced, as well. This isn't one of those movies where you hardly ever see the monster (and when you do, it's a total letdown). The critters here get quite a lot of screen time, and they're pretty well-animated to boot. Pity the filmmakers only spent about $1.50 on the rest of the movie, but hey, you've gotta give 'em an A for effort. This movie took me back to the TV shows and movies I loved as a kid growing up in the 70s, when production values were lower but the fun quotient was higher. Good stuff. If you're into vintage stop-motion monster flicks, you should switch your brain off and check this out.

Worthwhile Grade Z Dinosaur Adventure.......2005-10-14

Remember the first 40 minutes of the original "Planet of the Apes" in which the surviving team of a spacecraft explore the desert-like environment of the mysterious planet wherein they crash? (It was the best part of the movie, except for the very end). Okay, imagine that scenario for an entire 84 minute flick, albeit WITHOUT notable actors, great soundtrack and first-rate filmmaking; not to mention replace the apes with dinosaurs. If you can picture that, and it sounds like your cup of java, you might want to pick up "Planet of the Dinosaurs."

This flim is so amateurishly done on most levels that the average person would likely view it as a 2-Star flick. I grant it 3-Stars, however, for five notable reasons:

-- The picture was filmed at Vasquez Rocks, Northeast of Los Angeles (I visited this park in July of 2003). If you're not in the know, this location is where many of the original Star Trek episodes where filmed, such as "Arena" wherein Captain Kirk fights the Lizardman.
-- The stop-motion dinosaur animation is very good for the time period and, I hear, won some kind of an award when the film was released in the late '70s. It's pretty much on a par with "One Million Years B.C."
-- There are four (count 'em, four) female survivors of the space wreck and two of them are babes (the other two aren't that bad either, that is, if you're stranded on a deserted planet). One beauty unfortunately gets eaten almost immediately, but the other survives for quite awhile. The latter, by the way, appears to be of Native American ancestry and her tight outfit shows off her midrift and bellybutton the entire stint she appears in the film. And, trust me, if you have any doubt that American Indian women can be truly beautiful, you need to see this fine piece of womanhood.
-- After the first 20-30 minutes I was able to mentally adjust and accept the film's limitations; I strangely started to get into the story at this point and even care about the characters.
-- Lastly, this is definitely not a kiddy flick, nor is it goofy, comedic or even campy. It's a serious sci-fi story.

If "Planet of the Dinosaurs" had better actors, sound, music and worked out various other kinks in the story, direction, etc. it would certainly be a 4 or 5-Star film.

BOTTOM LINE: It's worth picking up if (like me) you're a sucker for Sci-fi survival-on-deserted-planet type flicks. Just keep in mind it's strictly Grade Z and mental adjustments will have to be made to appreciate it.

"Planet of the Dinosaurs" has garnered a worthy "guilty pleasure" spot in the cult/independant film section of my video library.

Classic Cheese.......2005-01-15

I'm going to start by saying this- if you don't like really, really cheesy, bad movies, then you're not going to like "Planet of the Dinosaurs".

On the other hand, if you can appreciate a really bad movie for how good it is underneath all the cheese, terrible acting, and hideous special effects, then this movie is probably the penultimate late 1970's cheesy sci-fi horror pic.

The intrepid crew of "The Odyssey" (played by an ensemble cast of nobody you've ever heard of) crash lands on distant planet populated by fierce dinosaurs. Armed only with a few lasers (with are terribly ineffective against dinosaurs) and their wits, they must learn to survive on this harsh new world.

The special effects in this movie are actually not that bad for the genre. The stop-motion dinosaurs are a little silly sometimes, but overall the stop-motion is pretty good. The movie actually won a "Best Special Effects" award at a Science Fiction festival for it's special effects, so you know that at one time they were pretty good.

The acting is horrible. But not horrible in a "Matt Damon" kind of way... more like horrible in a "this is the best movie I've ever seen" way. You'll probably have to pause the movie after a few choice lines, to give yourself time to laugh the tears out of your eyes.

The music is... interesting. It fits the movie pretty well, but it's not really music so much as unpleasant noises strung together to form basic melodies. Granted, it's perfect for the movie, but if you ever heard it somewhere else, you'd be convinced there was a dying cat nearby.

I don't know if you've ever seen "Mystery Science Theater 3000", but this movie is basically like one of the ones they watch on that show. If you like that show (and those types of movies), you'll probably love "Planet of the Dinosaurs". Personally, as someone with a great deal of experience in bad B-movies from the late 1970's, I am firm in my belief that "Planet of the Dinosaurs" is and shall remain the best bad movie ever made.

Average customer rating:

Marsha Is Still In Orbit!
Only a fan...
Vintage Roger Corman, even though most of it isn't even his
Roger Corman, you've done better
Caution: Giant Sand Octopus!

Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet
Starring: Basil Rathbone , Faith Domergue , Marc Shannon , Christopher Brand (II) , and John Bix
Director: Curtis Harrington , and Pavel Klushantsev
Manufacturer: Alpha Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

Classic Sci-Fi | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

Space Adventure | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

Science Fiction | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

4-for-3 Science Fiction & Fantasy | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

4-for-3 All DVDs | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

( V ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

All Deals | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

Voyage to the Planet of the Prehistoric Women
Target Earth
This Island Earth
When Worlds Collide
First Spaceship on Venus

ASIN: B00008ZL5C
Release Date: 2003-06-10

Customer Reviews:

Marsha Is Still In Orbit!.......2007-04-09

In the mid-1960s Roger Corman, who specialized in drive-in drivel, ran across a USSR-made film that was so bad not even the Soviets would watch it. He bought it, cut it, redubbed what what was left, and then coaxed Basil Rathbone and Faith Domergue into shooting a few scenes to provide names for the movie marque. Then he called the thing VOYAGE TO THE PREHISTORIC PLANET.

Now and then a bad movie is SO bad it becomes entertaining--but most bad movies are simply bad, and VOYAGE TO THE PREHISTORIC PLANET is all of that and a side of fries. Dr. Marsha (Faith Domergue) is in orbit around Venus, has the beehive hairdo from hell, and doesn't know what do. She keeps receiving transmissions from Professor Hartman (Basil Rathbone), but he's not much help. So she waits while five explorers and a robot run around the planet looking for each other. What they find are a lot of bad special effects.

There are exactly two things of interest in this movie. The first is Dr. Marsha's beehive hairdo, which is beyond description. The second is the robot, which is a little like Robbie from FORBIDDEN PLANET but with less personality, fewer skills, and really big toenails. Unfortunately, neither hairdo nor robot are enough to elevate this flick above the emphatically dire. The print is poor and the color is worse. Do Faith and Basil a favor and give it a miss.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Only a fan..........2007-02-12

Another old movie using the effects of the time that are not the best. One of Basil Rathbones last movies.

Vintage Roger Corman, even though most of it isn't even his.......2006-09-04

Making bad movies can be tiring work, especially when you're Roger Corman and make a practice of filming a second film, usually made up entirely on the spot, at each shooting location. One fateful day Roger had an epiphany - why make a completely new bad movie when he could just steal someone else's? So it was that, in 1965, Corman bought the rights to a 1962 Russian film called Planeta Burg. Add a few new scenes, mix in a lot of bad dubbing, and slap some fake credits on that puppy - and Voila! you've got yourself another Roger Corman masterpiece - and all without breaking a sweat. (Personally, I would have edited out the big CCCP logo on the main spaceship, but Corman chose not to.) Who cares if the Soviets don't like your mucking around with their movie? What are they gonna do - declare a Cold War over it? Set up missiles in Cuba? Of course, continuing his 2-for-1 moviemaking practice, Corman didn't stop there, scavenging Planeta Burg once again to make Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women in 1968. Here's what really gets my goat, though. I actually sort of enjoyed Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet. I can't imagine why, but I did.

This film takes us back to the good old days, when you didn't have to worry about weightlessness in space and you could gallivant around Venus in a space suit. Watch out for those meteors, though, as one-third of the potential cast learns just after the fake opening credits. Fortunately (or not), the other ships make it to Venusian orbit and decide to head on down without waiting for the go-ahead from Professor Hartmann (Basil Rathbone) back on Lunar Base 7. The first ship apparently crashes, leaving our three burly Russian friends in the second ship to execute a rescue mission upon landing. Meanwhile, Marcia (Faith Domergue) remains alone in orbit, so that she can perform such crucial functions as forgetting to tell the search party where the lost astronauts are located on the planet.

You'll cheer as Andre (who really belongs on a short leash) is attacked by a gigantic spider-plant, but all too soon you realize that nothing is going to happen to any of these annoying characters (Andre even jabs a needle into a brontosaurus at one point, without the big guy even noticing). But what of our lost astronauts, you ask? Well, they have Robot John (obviously a cousin to Robbie the Robot) to look after their puny hides while they wait to be rescued. Personally, I would rather have the hovercar that the second crew of astronauts uses to traverse the planet. The Soviets really did a good job on the special effects for this thing, as it looks just as good as Luke's hovercar in the original theatrical version of Star Wars.

Indulge me as I insert my MST3K-inspired John! Marsha! John!! Marsha!! non sequitur here. Thanks. Well, Robot John pretty much gets the shaft toward the end of this thing, while Marsha almost ruins everything yet comes out smiling. The only reason she's even in the movie is Roger Corman, who chose to add her and an aging Basil Rathbone to the film he ripped off to make it look like his own. Neither character serves any real purpose, which is sort of sad in Rathbone's case, as he deserved better.

The only thing missing from this Corman classic is a few buxom blondes, an oversight Corman corrected in 1968 when he used the same Russian footage to show us what was on the other side of the "red city" that attracted Andre's attention in particular - Mamie Van Doren and friends. If you're going to watch Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet, you might as well check out Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women, too. After all, Roger would have wanted it that way.

Roger Corman, you've done better.......2006-08-15

The bulk of this movie is a Russian piece of dreck that Roger Corman brought over and dubbed in the dialog. Then he filmed new scenes with Basil Rathbone and some woman with a bee hive hairdo and spliced it all together to make a new movie. The new scenes add nothing and just leave you disoriented as you go from a dubbed scene to a non-dubbed scene.

Two ships of astronauts land on Venus to explore the planet. One of the ships crashes, so the when the other lands, they have to rescue the first crew. Along the way they run into prehistoric animal life and a volcanic eruption. The first crew also has a robot named of all things, John. The robot talks and walks very slowly and I have no idea what good he is for anything.

The biggest problem with this movie is it's boring as all get-out. Nothing happens. One scene runs into another but they never achieve any real coherence or relevance. The effects are classic. A pterodactyl attacks in one scene. It looks like it was made out of papier mache or something as it has no moveable parts. It just flies like a big lump. My favorites are the lizards which are obviously guys in rubber suits jumping up and down. Hilarious.

Caution: Giant Sand Octopus!.......2006-02-17

This is a true wonder of the cinematic world. Roger Corman took the remnants of a lame Soviet sci-fi movie, "Planeta Burg," dubbed it into English, added a couple of western actors including Basil Rathbone, and called it a movie. This film is essentially a bunch of often-seen stock footage shown in glorious sepia and gray. (The box says the film is in color, but the reality is generally otherwise.) This is a real chore to get through even for devoted fans of bad movies.

The plot, as much of it as there is, concerns three groups of voyagers to Venus. One of the ships crashes outright, one has great difficulty landing, and the third lands successfully. I am fond of the endless scenes of the third group of astronauts pondering what the red lights below the clouds of Venus are, as that's where they are going to land. The conclusion seems to be some type of lava and that they would all be burned up. Bearing in mind that discretion is the greater part of valor, does it make a lot of sense to try to land on lava after the first two ships to attempt the landing have utterly failed?

The intrepid explorers land safely in a non-lava area, and begin hiking, whereupon they find giant man-eating octopus flowers, and the most ridiculous six foot tall tyrannosaurus creatures ever seen, which, it develops, have a propensity for wrestling around in mud with the astronauts. There is also an extremely lame robot named, creatively enough, "Robot John." There are endless scenes about women who sing like Sirens, and much cross-Venusian trekking. The astronauts have particularly silly and incongruous equipment, especially their atomic powered flying car, and are dubbed into English with some of the worst dialogue in film history.

The general directorial premise of this film seemed to be "throw a bunch of movies in a blender and press the mix button." The bewildering array of footage, impossible color matching, and ridiculous yet predictable plot make this film a tough slog. As a mind-numbing bad film, this is tough to beat. I give it two stars for the audacious compilation of film from so many sources into a finished work that almost makes sense. Watch it at your own risk, because only the strong survive.

As a further warning, this film was later recut yet again a year later with even more jarring and disjointed scenes (featuring Mamie Van Doren) and released as "Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women." In case you may be wondering, it failed to improve "Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet," and that's saying something.

Discovery Channel - When Dinosaurs Roamed America / Dinosaur Planet - Real Big Stories (2 Pack)

Average customer rating:

Discovery Channel - When Dinosaurs Roamed America / Dinosaur Planet - Real Big Stories (2 Pack)

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Dinosaurs | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

Walking with Monsters - Life Before Dinosaurs
Prehistoric Planet - Complete Set

ASIN: B000M36XRE

Bad Movie Police Case #1: Galaxy of the Dinosaurs

Average customer rating:

Bad filmmakers, bad filmmakers, what you gonna do?
Forewarned is Forearmed
Wretched....and deserving of the title
Movie Deserves Better Treatment

Bad Movie Police Case #1: Galaxy of the Dinosaurs
Director: Lance Randas
Manufacturer: Bad Movie Police (Tempe Video)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

Dinosaurs | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

4-for-3 All DVDs | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

All Deals | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Bad Movie Police Case #2: Chickboxer
Bad Movie Police Case #3: Humanoids From Atlantis
Girls From Another World: Rollergator/Things/Toad Warrior/Big Sister 2000
Teenage Catgirls in Heat
Evil Remains

ASIN: B0000C5085
Release Date: 2003-10-14

Product Description

For anyone who's ever watched a movie so bad you wished acting required a permit or that a 14-day waiting period was mandatory to buy a camera...the Bad Movie Police are here! Follow the adventures of Sgt. Elke Mantooth, Lt. Drucilla Dread and The BMP Task Force as they seek out the worst "cine-terrorists" in movie history and bring their crimes to justice for your entertainment! The first BAD MOVIE POLICE case is a little gem from 1992 called GALAXY OF THE DINOSAURS. Its claim to fame is director Lance Randas' gross misuse of stock footage from PLANET OF THE DINOSAURS, intercut with thrift store footage shot in the woods behind the director's father's house!

Customer Reviews:

Bad filmmakers, bad filmmakers, what you gonna do?.......2006-05-28

This is the first of the atrocious cinematic buffets served up by the buxom Bad Movie Police, featuring Sgt. Elke Mantooth (Ariauna Albright) and Lt. Drucilla Dread (Lilith Stabs) in decidedly non-regulation uniforms. After breaking up another cinematic crime in progress and warning us of the dangers of bad movies in general, the girls tell us about Lance Randas, #1 on the cine-terrorist most-wanted list, describe his top ten crimes in making a putrid little film called Galaxy of the Dinosaurs, and then present us with the evidence of the movie itself. I don't think comparisons of the Bad Movie Police with Mystery Science Theater 3000 are valid, but the kind of folks who enjoyed MST3K will quite likely get a big kick out of the Bad Movie Police as well. I for one love the whole BMP concept. Producer J. R. Bookwalter has come up with a pretty brilliant way of giving his own atrocious films a second chance to make a few bucks - by ridiculing his very own turkeys, starting with Galaxy of the Dinosaurs, he has turned his old, hopelessly unwatchable films into wickedly cool, hilarious viewing experiences.

Galaxy of the Dinosaurs is the very definition of a low-budget movie. It was originally shot, on S-VHS no less, over three and a half days in 1992 for the exorbitant sum of $1500 (although you'd swear it had to be even less than that). That may or may not include the cost of the Mac on which the editing (and pasting of stock footage from the cheesy Planet of Dinosaurs) was done. All of the original video was shot in the woods behind director Lance Randas' father's house in Mogadore, Ohio. The opening spacecraft sets are way beyond cheap, the story is an exercise in ludicrous futility, and the acting is just horrible all the way around.

Basically, some alien space travelers makes a pit stop on Earth, only to find themselves trapped on a desolate, dinosaur-inhabited planet that doesn't seem Earth-like at all. As they wander around a desolate, winter-time forest, they keep running into stock footage of dinosaurs in an environment that is the exact opposite of their own. Desperate for food (especially the silly guy dressed for a Hawaiian vacation), they go to town on some hallucinogenic sprouts or mushrooms, which makes the film's first death by dinosaur scene a source of great amusement to the rest of them. We viewers go on to enjoy the deaths of several more characters, as the dwindling population of bad actors keeps the movie from lasting more than an hour or so. Before the end credits mercifully roll, however, writer Jon Killough has a secret or two to reveal to the survivors and the hand-full of viewers who hang on that long without passing out or going insane.

The DVD has lots of special features. Having rented the film online, I did not get the chance to see any of them, but I still feel comfortable giving the DVD four stars - not for Galaxy of the Dinosaurs, which is a one-star movie if I've ever seen one, but for the ingenious, self-parody packaging of the film using the Bad Movie Police device. There is plenty to laugh at in Galaxy of the Dinosaurs, and the BMP concept just makes the whole viewing experience much more fun and entertaining than it has any right to be.

Forewarned is Forearmed.......2004-03-18

This, first of the Bad Movie Police films, is truly worthy of the moniker. For sheer inept filmmaking, it is exceeded only by the Bad Movie Police Volume Two, 'Chickboxer', which I also highly recommend. This film is absolutely dreadful in every way. The entire movie was made for $1250 in 1991 (yes, that's not a typo: one thousand, two hundred, and fifty dollars) in three and a half days in the woods behind the house belonging to the producer's parents). $500 of that budget was for the rights to footage from the vintage dinosaur thriller 'Planet of the Dinosaurs', with live action footage from the Ohio woods added later.

If you treasure truly horrific cinematic endeavors this movie is for you. Brought to you by the same people who made 'Chickboxer', this movie does not quit. From script, to dialogue, to sets, there is nothing lavish to be seen here, but the overall effect is entrancing in the badness it exudes. The star of the film, James Black, was paid $50 for his part. This movie redefines cheap production standards with special touches like representing the inside of a spaceship with five folding chairs in a basement, and a scientific instrument similar to a tricorder from 'Star Trek' that is nothing more than a c-clamp (which can tell the toxicity of mushrooms!), not to mention wardrobe that the cast furnished themselves (which is frightening when you see what Tom Hoover is wearing.)

I won't divulge the plot, but I will tell you that no matter how grizzled of a bad movie veteran you are, this will leave you breathless. The DVD has a lot of great extras including a "Making of Galaxy of the Dinosaurs" feature, a feature on James Black, still photos, and best of all a commentary track by producer J.R. Bookwalter and James Black, who are both very good natured and funny. The movie is only 63 minutes long, so watch it once without the commentary, so you don't miss any precious dialogue, and then watch it with the commentary on, which renders the film even more hysterical. Hopefully they will release more films in this series soon.

I promise that you will be amazed. For truly hardened Psychotronic fans, try a double bill of this and 'Chickboxer'. I dare you.

Wretched....and deserving of the title.......2003-10-30

I bought a four-pack of dinosaur themed movies about a year and a half ago. One of them was Planet of Dinosaurs, a movie ripe for Mystery Science Theater 3000 brutalizing. It had overbearing Wendy Carlos electronic score, acting obviously done after a shot of Nyquil and some great Harryhausen-esque stop motion animation. And my five year old son loved it. Dinosaurs and Space Ships! And none of that pesky long-running dialogue to get in the way of Tyranasaurus eating annoying semi-villians. What more could a five year old want?

This movie is beyond wretched. It takes a D-minus movie, extracts the stop motion animation and adds Master Thespian acting shot on video. It's high school freshman with camcorder caliber.

If you collect Roger Corman films and have a soft spot, you might be able to get a snicker out this. Otherwise, you could die peacefully without ever having experienced this move.

Spend the $$$$ and just get Planet of Dinosaurs (also available at Amazon).

Movie Deserves Better Treatment.......2003-09-27

" Galaxy of the Dinosaurs" is well made low budget sci-fi adventure movie featuring some good stop motion effects work. The film is not masterpiece of acting and the script could have been better but the people who made this movie obvious love "Star Trek" and Ray Harryhausen. If you are a stop motion fan its worths seeing

Average customer rating:

EVEN FOR SPACE SCIENCE FICTION FANS THIS IS A TOUGH SELL
Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet

Voyage To The Prehistoric Planet
Starring: Christopher Brand , Faith Domergue , Basil Rathbone , Marc Shannon , and John Bix
Director: Curtis Harrington , and John Sebastian
Manufacturer: Miracle Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

Science Fiction | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

Classic Sci-Fi | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

Space Adventure | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

4-for-3 All DVDs | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

( V ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B00062IXCE
Release Date: 2004-09-28

Customer Reviews:

EVEN FOR SPACE SCIENCE FICTION FANS THIS IS A TOUGH SELL.......2006-12-04

IN A NUTSHELL: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING IN SPACE + BASIL RATHBONE & FAITH DOMERGUE

'Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet', starring Basil Rathbone and Faith Domergue is essentially a Russian film originally titled, 'Planeta Bur' [Planet of Storms]. With Roger Corman as Executive Producer, the original film was rather abruptly and crudely edited, and then the two aforementioned American actors' roles were basically pasted on to the film for audience appeal as nothing more than a trite afterthought.

----> MAJOR CAST MEMBERS <----

Basil Rathbone - Prof. Hoffman
Faith Domergue - Marsha
Marc Shannon
Christopher Brand
John Bix
Lewis Keane

----> CREW MEMBERS <----

Curtis Harrington - Director / Screenwriter
George Edwards - Producer
Vilis Lapenieks - Cinematographer
Ronald Stein - Composer (Music Score)

WHAT 'Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet' IS ALL ABOUT:

Well, this film is a rather shabbily constructed much-ado-about-nothing space-opera. There are a few notable special effects, such as, the hovercar, the robot [John], and the jumping men in the rubber dinosaur suits. There is also something resembling a brontosaurus but it does not look or act very convincing.

This film is really hurt by the fact that it is obvious that niether Rathbone or Domergue are ever really in scenes with the rest of the original cast, and are in fact in a seperate production spliced into the original feature to gain the attention of American audiences. This promotional effort is done to the detriment of the finished film.

BOTTOM LINE: A POOR PRINT OF A DISAPPOINTING FILM ABOUT A MOST INTERESTING TOPIC - SPACE EXPLORATION

I would suggest trying to find a copy of 'Planeta Bur', the original Russian film or simply look for something else within the genre to watch.

Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet.......2005-09-18

VOYAGE TO A PREHISTORIC PLANET was made in 1965, stars Basil Rathbone, and the cover depicts one snarling and one glaring dinosaur towering over three space-suited astronauts. Does anything more really need be said?

Plot - The year is 2020 and American astronauts and Russian cosmonauts are traveling to Venus. I've read somewhere that this is a Russia film that had scenes inserted and some phony American credits plastered on it prior to release, but wasn't interested enough to see if my favorite internet search engine could cough up the answers to that mystery. Rathbone plays a scientist on the satellite Lunar 7 and the other `star' in this one, Faith Domergue, is an astronautlette on the Venus-orbiting Vega. A handful of `nauts and John the Robot are on the Venus surface, dodging the stray alamosaurus and/or 12-foot-tall man-eating venus flytrap while finding evidence of an ancient Venusian civilization.

There probably was an okay Russian movie here before Roger Corman Productions got their hands on this one. John the Robot is cool and some of the special effects are a cut above the standard glop they were putting out then. The story drags terribly, though, and Rathbone is apparently included for name recognition rather than to serve the plot or to move things along. Thankfully, they don't dress him up in a goofy costume or otherwise embarrass him. The pacing is terrible, the dubbing is atrocious and there's no drama to speak of. The print, although the color is somewhat washed out and there are some scratches, is in okay condition. Not recommended.

DVD:

DVD

Great Battles of Wwii 3: Battle of Russia (REGION 1) (NTSC)

DVD: The James Bond Collection Volume 2

Bis 5 nach 12