Fantastic Dinosaurs of the Movies (1990) D: Sandy Oliveri. A collection of theatrical trailers and clips from cinema's greatest (and worst) dinosaur movies, including THE LOST WORLD, THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS, and GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS. Some of the material is laughably bad (as were the actual films) and the video is very cheaply made, but it serves its purpose for dinosaur film fans and movie buffs alike. RATING: 6 out of 10. Not rated.
8 Reviews
Watched most these as a kid.
deviglenn1 April 2018
I could not but enjoy this film, for it is nostalgic. I watched most of these films in theaters, drive-ins, or on my family's black & white tv from when I five through my early college years. GODZILLA was the first movie I saw at age five, when my sadistic older brothers tricked me into seeing it. I could not. sleep for days. Nonetheless, this began my love affairs with monster movies that remain with me into my retirement years. The first SHARKNADO is a favorite.
This feature is mostly trailers promoting the various films ranging from KING KONG through the Doug McClure features somewhat based on Edgar Rice Burroughs, Jules Verne, and Arthur Conan Doyle. Even when young, I recognized how cheesy some of these films are, but I like them. The Ray Harryhausen features are my favorite. Some of these movies have held up pretty well through the decades, like KING KONG and THEM.
I cannot call this film educational in any way, but it is highly entertaining. My only beef is that a number of these clips appeared to be mastered from second or third generation VHS tapes.
Enjoy!
This feature is mostly trailers promoting the various films ranging from KING KONG through the Doug McClure features somewhat based on Edgar Rice Burroughs, Jules Verne, and Arthur Conan Doyle. Even when young, I recognized how cheesy some of these films are, but I like them. The Ray Harryhausen features are my favorite. Some of these movies have held up pretty well through the decades, like KING KONG and THEM.
I cannot call this film educational in any way, but it is highly entertaining. My only beef is that a number of these clips appeared to be mastered from second or third generation VHS tapes.
Enjoy!
Fantastic Dinosaurs of the Movies
skybrick73631 May 2014
After wiping the dust off this film's VHS, it was the first monster related movie I saw after viewing the 2014 remake of Godzilla. The film shows a collection of some of my favorite movies as a kid such as Jack the Giant Killer, Sinbad movies, Reptilicus, King Kong and of course Godzilla movies. Now as an adult I couldn't help but feel nostalgia and excitement to get back and viewing the monster movie category that has now be revived. My problem with the movie is that it shows the best scenes in each movie and important spoilers are shown throughout. I happen to known more than half the movies that were introduced so I jotted down the movies I haven't seen and put them in my watchlist. The movie itself is a fun little movie to pop in it but in my case I'm using it as a lunching pad to get back into the monster movie genre.
Amazing compilation of dinosaurs and monsters movies
paulorcbarros4 March 2006
"Fantastic Dinosaurs of the Movies" (1990 - 75 minutes), a documentary produced by Good Times and directed by Sandy Oliveri, presents an amazing compilation of classic films images of dinosaurs and monsters. It includes features of the masters Willis O'Brien, Ray Harryhausen, Jim Danforth and trailers of many of their films. Take a look at what you are going to watch: "Gertie, the Dinosaur" (1909), "The Lost World", "Journey to the Beginning of Time", "King Dinosaur", "The Giant Behemoth", "The Spider", "The Giant Gila Monster", "The Loch Ness Horror", "The Land That Time Forgot", "Jack, the Giant-Killer", "It Came From Beneath the Sea", "Them!", "Valley of the Dragons", "Godzilla, King of the Monsters", "Tarantula", "20 Million Miles to Earth", "Godzilla vs. Mothra", "Journey to the Center of the Earth", "The Crater Lake Monster", "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad", "Rodan", "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms", "Reptilicus", "The Land Unknown", "Jason and the Argonauts", "Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster", "At the Earth's Core", "The Valley of Gwangi", "Gorgo", "King Kong", "Son of Kong", "King Kong vs. Godzilla", "One Million Years B.C.", and" When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth ". Certainly this documentary is a collector item and a very good program for who likes this sort of film. Unfortunately, there are no extras in the DVD.
The work of O'Brien & Harryhausen makes watching this worthwhile.
mhorg20183 November 2020
A decent effort, but really, including footage of lizards with fins glued on is anything but fantastic. Irwin Allen's 'The Lost World', other than the use he got out of it for stock footage for the next twenty years, is a really poor movie. If it weren't for scenes from the epics by O'Brien and Harryhausen (who surpassed his master), this wouldn't be worth watching.
Great preview of dinosaur and monster-themed movies!
OllieSuave-00713 December 2014
My mom bought this video for my brother for Christmas one year. My brother and I are dinosaurs fans and had a blast watching this documentary, which consisted dozens of trailers from dinosaur, monster and creature B-movies including such classics as King Kong, The Valley of Gwangi, Them!, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, and Jack the Giant Killer.
Since my brother and I are also huge Godzilla fans, we were excited that the video included trailers from Godzilla, King of the Monsters; King Kong vs. Godzilla; and Godzilla vs. the Thing. There were also trailers from films we at that time had not seen before including Rodan and Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster. At the moment, we made it our mission to collect every monster film made in Japan by Toho Studios, the production company that made Godzilla.
This video is a great collector's item and serves as a good introduction and preview for classic dinosaur B-movies. It serves as a good source of entertainment as well.
Grade A
Since my brother and I are also huge Godzilla fans, we were excited that the video included trailers from Godzilla, King of the Monsters; King Kong vs. Godzilla; and Godzilla vs. the Thing. There were also trailers from films we at that time had not seen before including Rodan and Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster. At the moment, we made it our mission to collect every monster film made in Japan by Toho Studios, the production company that made Godzilla.
This video is a great collector's item and serves as a good introduction and preview for classic dinosaur B-movies. It serves as a good source of entertainment as well.
Grade A
Great for Genre Fans
klinefelter31 January 2016
This documentary goes beyond expectations and includes a wealth of trailers for prehistoric creature features, as well as additional classics that may not quite qualify as "dinosaur movies" but are a hoot to watch. It's a very fun nostalgic collection if you dig Harryhausen FX, dinosaurs, and B-movies.
This came in a DVD set I got many years ago which also included "The Lost World" (1925) and "Planet of Dinosaurs". I had such low expectations for it I didn't watch it until now (I never expected Good Times to produce a competent documentary). I'm impressed by how many trailers are on here!
The picture quality leaves a bit to desired, and I hate that Good Times slaps a "GT" watermark on the bottom right of the frame (I seem to remember them doing that to "Plan 9" in one format or another). Regardless of DVD-mastering issues, I recommend this for anyone into prehistoric cinema, and it's an especially helpful way to get to introduced to the history of the genre for newcomers.
This came in a DVD set I got many years ago which also included "The Lost World" (1925) and "Planet of Dinosaurs". I had such low expectations for it I didn't watch it until now (I never expected Good Times to produce a competent documentary). I'm impressed by how many trailers are on here!
The picture quality leaves a bit to desired, and I hate that Good Times slaps a "GT" watermark on the bottom right of the frame (I seem to remember them doing that to "Plan 9" in one format or another). Regardless of DVD-mastering issues, I recommend this for anyone into prehistoric cinema, and it's an especially helpful way to get to introduced to the history of the genre for newcomers.
Grateful This Film Exists
daoldiges23 February 2023
I was very excited and interested to check out Fantastic Dinosaurs of the Movies when I first heard of it. I always loved this genre of films as a kid and to this day I'm still able to enjoy them. The idea of a dinosaur film previews collected together in one viewing sounded like a great and fun idea. It is, but only to a certain point for me. While each individual film preview is in itself fun, they kind of lose something of their fascination/entertainment value when you see them one after the other for more than 60 minutes. For lovers of the genre it's definitely worth checking out. For me, I opted to spread out the fun and saw the whole thing over three separate viewings.
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