Best dinosaur movie not named Jurassic Park, King Kong, Godzilla

[Takama]

Does anyone think Rodan is worthy of the list?    yes he is not a dinosaur, but he still a Pterosaur. which is prehistoric

[Gwangi]

Does anyone think Rodan is worthy of the list?    yes he is not a dinosaur, but he still a Pterosaur. which is prehistoric

I would avoid any kaiju movies but that's just me. With the possible exception of "The Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds". Which ironically enough has nether dinosaurs nor monster birds but rather a plesiosaur and pterosaur. Of course if we're adding movies with other prehistoric animals we would have to add "The Crater Lake Monster", which is also about a plesiosaur.

[Neven Florian]

You forget the best dinosaur movie : " The lost world " from BBC (2001) with Bob Hoskins
http://www.bbc.co.uk/staticarchive/8d745e69c650a41c339c3583297975612a7cf0c6.jpg

[leidy]

Does anyone think Rodan is worthy of the list?    yes he is not a dinosaur, but he still a Pterosaur. which is prehistoric

I would avoid any kaiju movies but that's just me. With the possible exception of "The Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds". Which ironically enough has nether dinosaurs nor monster birds but rather a plesiosaur and pterosaur. Of course if we're adding movies with other prehistoric animals we would have to add "The Crater Lake Monster", which is also about a plesiosaur.

If you ever wanted to know what really killed the dinosaurs, you get to find out in Mothra 3.



It's a brief scene in a very weird movie with some rather toy-like miniature animatronic dinosaurs, but my curiosity got the better of me.  To my knowledge it's the only Kaiju movie to include actual dinosaurs as opposed to imaginary oversized ones.

I wonder why this thread is not getting more action? Surely our members have seen other dinosaur movies besides the more modern ones?

I have seen the majority of Harryhausen films, but being completely honest (aside from the big name ones) I haven't seen many movies from before the 1970s

To be honest, I wouldn't delve a whole lot deeper.  Most of them don't exactly hold up as films.  It helps if you have an affinity for older movies, vintage effects techniques, retrosaurs, and shlock.

[CityRaptor]

Believe it or not, those two from Mothra 3 were actually made into figures by a japanese company called Iwakura. The Triceratops came with a Prehistoric Mothra larva, while the Tyrannosaurus came with Cretaceous King Ghidorah's head and could be placed into his mouth. ( Ghidorah's mouth )

[leidy]

Believe it or not, those two from Mothra 3 were actually made into figures by a japanese company called Iwakura. The Triceratops came with a Prehistoric Mothra larva, while the Tyrannosaurus came with Cretaceous King Ghidorah's head and could be placed into his mouth. ( Ghidorah's mouth )

I wasn't aware of that.  Great, now I'm tempted.

[DTRobers]

I have always had a soft spot for a movie called "Journey To The Beginning Of Time".  It is a dubbed European movie (Danish I think) that follows 3 boys that visit a natural history museum and then rent a rowboat at the lagoon in an urban park.  They enter a spooky looking cave and find themselves on the "river of time" that carries them back through the Pleistocene, Triassic, Jurassic, and all the way back to the primal swamp that first produced amphibians.  It must have been produced in the late 50s so is quite dated, but had decent stop-motion Mammoths, Smilodons, a Terror Bird, Ceratosaur vs. Stegosaur battle, Hadrosaurs, and several Devonian amphibians and insects.  It was designed to show real science and is a good summary of the prehistoric knowledge of that era.

I first saw it as a 1st or 2nd grader when it was serialized on a local children's TV show.  It was out on VHS at one time (bought it for my daughters AND myself) but I have no idea if it is available on DVD.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

I had it myself on vhs ages ago :  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA3WxzCQ6HY

[Takama]

I had it on VHS as well, and it had Planet of Dinosaurs on the same Tape.     

It is one of my Favorite Films, and i wish they would release it on DVD.

[triceratops83]

Planet of Dinosaurs is definitely worthy of the list. At the time it had pretty up to date animals. Gotta vote for Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, though. Absolute classic.

[Mamasaurus]

I must say I will always have a soft spot for "Journey to the Beginning of Time" as well. 😊 I think it was this movie and Fantasia that sparked my love for stegosaurus, actually, and I always felt sorry for it.  My family owned Journey on VHS and it was a staple for us growing up, along with the Land Before Time series (sequels never as good as original), "We're Back", and of course Jurassic Park. BBC's "Walking With Dinosaurs" was another staple growing up. 😊 those VHS were well loved indeed, since we watched them till they couldn't be played anymore.

Disney's Dinosaur was absolutely breathtaking when I first saw it, and by far the most "real" since Jurassic Park.  I really want to see the new Walking with Dinosaurs, but the voice overs in the trailer were enough to turn me off. A real shame, since the visual effects are top notch. I think the popularity of WWD and the new JP is evidence of how popular dinosaurs really are, and all it would take is another great movie to inspire the general public again 😊

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Planet of Dinosaurs is definitely worthy of the list. At the time it had pretty up to date animals. Gotta vote for Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, though. Absolute classic.

Planet actually was the first dinosaur movie to scare me..lol but i love it for that..and the awesome dino sculptures in it.

I must say I will always have a soft spot for "Journey to the Beginning of Time" as well. 😊 I think it was this movie and Fantasia that sparked my love for stegosaurus, actually, and I always felt sorry for it.  My family owned Journey on VHS and it was a staple for us growing up, along with the Land Before Time series (sequels never as good as original), "We're Back", and of course Jurassic Park. BBC's "Walking With Dinosaurs" was another staple growing up. 😊 those VHS were well loved indeed, since we watched them till they couldn't be played anymore.

Disney's Dinosaur was absolutely breathtaking when I first saw it, and by far the most "real" since Jurassic Park.  I really want to see the new Walking with Dinosaurs, but the voice overs in the trailer were enough to turn me off. A real shame, since the visual effects are top notch. I think the popularity of WWD and the new JP is evidence of how popular dinosaurs really are, and all it would take is another great movie to inspire the general public again 😊

It's a shame that Stegosaurus is often portrayed as Triceratops..just fodder for carnivores. Kong showed it long enough to kill it..by humans no less. TLW did give it a better role and before that Dino Riders made it a hero , it actually won against the Rex!

There is a version of WWD:3D that turns off the audio track..I think it's on the bluray?

[Viking Spawn]

What?  Where's "The Last Dinosaur?!"  Good cheesy fun with a combination of Land of the Lost and a Kaiju Film!   My favorite scene was the Tyrannosaurus vs. Triceratops battle!   

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076294/

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

That it is! I particularly liked Richard Boone's role in it. Some of the shots, like the T-Rex fishing was pretty cool too.

[SpartanSquat]

What?  Where's "The Last Dinosaur?!"  Good cheesy fun with a combination of Land of the Lost and a Kaiju Film!   My favorite scene was the Tyrannosaurus vs. Triceratops battle!   

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076294/

Oh yeah! A classic one! I remembered I saw with my friend in a feber for Kaiju movies for Pacific Rim and Godzilla release

[Takama]

Im surprised no one has mentioned Dinotasia.


Thats one of my Favorite movies, and yes i call it a movie, because its ment to entertain not educate

[HD-man]

Yes I did leave some other Dinosaur films off the list, but I didn't think any of them would be strong contenders.

For future reference, that's what "Other" is for.

I also left off movies like Fantasia which isn't really a dinosaur movie.

Last I checked, Fantasia counts ( http://www.williamstout.com/news/journal/?p=3549 ).

I have always had a soft spot for a movie called "Journey To The Beginning Of Time".  It is a dubbed European movie (Danish I think) that follows 3 boys that visit a natural history museum and then rent a rowboat at the lagoon in an urban park.

Not just any museum & park, but AMNH & Central Park ( http://monstermoviemusic.blogspot.com/2008/12/cesta-do-praveku-aka-journey-to.html ).

I had it myself on vhs ages ago

Me too ( http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/A18nADewn4L._SL1500_.jpg ).

My favorite scene was the Tyrannosaurus vs. Triceratops battle!   

Mine too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B619J7VeYAY

[Derek.McManus]

The actual novel 'carnasaur' by Harry Adam Knight was an interesting read...set in England with a Gorgosaurus walking down a village stret as its climax...with the hype for Jurrassic park the rights were snapped up and a movie made in order to cash in, the novel actually being published before Micheal Chrictons jurrassic Park!

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

The actual novel 'carnasaur' by Harry Adam Knight was an interesting read...set in England with a Gorgosaurus walking down a village stret as its climax...with the hype for Jurrassic park the rights were snapped up and a movie made in order to cash in, the novel actually being published before Micheal Chrictons jurrassic Park!

I remember seeing  the movie..interesting concept. I do need to get the book and read it.

[DTRobers]

Re: Journey To The Beginning Of Time - Yeah HDman, I remember that the dialog placed the museum scenes in the AMNH and figured the lagoon scenes were meant to be Central Park but since the film was dubbed into English I assumed that these scenes were actually filmed in another country and "transplanted" by the English script.  I have not had the chance to visit the AMNH and so I would not know.