Movies - TV
The 15 Best Dinosaur Movies That Aren't Jurassic Park
By HUNTER CATES
The Land Before Time
The film embodies the best of director Don Bluth — gorgeous animation, grownup themes, and memorable characters — and remains a deeply moving film more than three decades after its release. The most impressive thing about the movie is that it makes each dinosaur seem human; as a result, viewers can relate to each character in some way.
Planet of Dinosaurs
"Planet of Dinosaurs" is pure '70s camp with corny dialogue, community theater-quality acting, and an unceasing synthesizer score — and it's pretty awful by most metrics. Yet, despite all its shortcomings, the film isn't all bad; it features stop-motion dinosaur effects that punch way above their weight.
We're Back!
Based on a children's book, "We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story" is about a future scientist, who goes back in time to feed dinosaurs brain-boosting cereal so they can fulfill kids' dreams of seeing real-life dinosaurs in the present day. Despite its outlandish premise, the film manages to be approachable, entertaining, and even touching at times.
One Million Years B.C.
"One Million Years B.C." doesn't disguise its ambitions of appealing to adolescent boys; it plays fast and loose with scientific facts and doesn't try to be believable, which makes it so memorable. The film is a kitschy, retro throwback that screams mid-1960s excess and is a must-watch for dinosaur movie lovers.
Journey to the...
"Journey to the Center of the Earth" from 1959 is exactly what viewers expect from a kitschy sci-fi film from the 1950s: The good guys are heroic, the bad guys are dastardly, and the scope is suitably epic. Even though the effects are dated and the film is high on melodrama, it's the kind of film that kids of all ages would have loved in 1959 — and most still would today.