I've always liked the character of Turok. My dad grew up reading Turok so when Valiant comics released new Turok comics in the 90's, we followed them. I had read a lot of good reviews about this movie but I have to say that overall it was just OK. There are two sides to this movie. First, we have no-holds bar action and violence. There are severed heads, blood splattering, and Turok delivering good old fashion beat-downs on enemy warriors and dinosaurs alike. Turok's design is good and stays true to his comic origins. His sidekick from the comics, Andar, is there too. And the designs for the Lost Land and the dinosaurs within are all very well done. On the other hand, the animation reminds me of some of the recent Marvel and DC animated projects. And while I think that style is good, it just didn't seem to fit with all the violence. Overall, the voice cast is just OK. No one, not even Turok, seems to stand out. The musical score is great at times- very orchestral and moving. But other times, it's almost synthesized and doesn't fit with the movie. It's an origin story for Turok and covers all the basics while adding new reasons for him to venture into the lost land. I just think this more mature movie would have benefited from more mature animation. But, it is one I recommend anyone give a try because I'm really on the fence about this one.
7 Reviews
Turok goes animated
beastwarsfan12 February 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Before I begin my review, let me say that I am not really familiar with the Turok comics or video games. So if you're a Turok fan you may feel that I lack the background knowledge on the history of these series. But I'm a huge dino-nerd anyway.
The story is really quite simple - one day Turok and his brother encounter warriors from an enemy tribe, and defending a girl from their village (Turok's brother future wife) they get into a fight. Turok goes berserker mode and slashes through the enemies... and his brother. In his rage Turok almost kills his brother and the shaman of their tribe sends him into exile. Some 16 years later Turok is asked for help by his brother's son. Turok seems grumpy for being casted away and refuses to take part in the action. But later the boy returns and brings news that his tribe is almost wiped out. Turok takes his tomahawk and goes to help his bro, only to find him almost dead... and he eventually dies after he asks Turok to swear that he will take care for the boy and his mother. Back to the village the leader of the aggressors recognizes Turok's tomahawk - it was his father's and Turok took it years before at that battle in the beginning of the movie. The bad guy wants to avenge his father's death and goes on a rampage, trying to kill Turok. Going through a cave the Indians find themselves in The Lost Land (quite like Arthur Conan Doyle's Lost World) - where dinosaurs and prehistoric mammal beasts coexist with savage hordes of "The Missing Link" or something (you know, some huge ugly hard-to-kill humanoid hulks) and Indian tribes. The battle continues...
There is not much of a dialog. No memorable quotes, no one-liners. I feel that the characters are somehow flat, they lack emotional depth and motivation. No inner struggle, no inside conflict. And no comic relief.
The quality of the animation is above average, but far from great. Nothing you haven't seen - no innovative style or some recognizable character design. It's not bad, it's OK. And there are some nice looking Indian chicks :) The backgrounds are not really detailed, but on the other hand - what's there to be detailed? Rocks and cliffs? The dinosaurs are OK, but they lack color nuance and shading. And so do the characters in some scenes. And I forgot to mention - there is not a trace of some fancy 3D CGI cell-shading stuff, which I find good - old fashioned 2d works just fine for me. The only thing that seemed crappy were the computer generated flames for the fire effects in some scenes.
There's plenty of action, gallons of animated blood and even some cut-off limbs. But that will only shock you if you've been watching Bambie all your life. The blood and the battles are no match for a good anime style fight, where everything is presented with some wicked camera angles, fast movements and dramatic pauses. There's an attempt for a showdown at the end of the movie, but it doesn't really work out like in the spaghetti westerns.
All in all - the movie is worth watching, it has its moments, but it could have been much more. I enjoyed it because we rarely have the chance to see something more mature oriented and not-anime. If you're a fan of Ralph Bakshi's "Fire and Ice" or the "Heavy Metal" animated features I encourage you to check this one out, just keep in mind that it doesn't manage to entertain at their level. Somehow it lacks atmosphere and couldn't really captivate my imagination the way Filmation's "Flash Gordon" does for example.
And if you're a dinosaur/comic/video game freak I'll advice you to get your hands on the "Cadillacs and Dinosaurs" animated TV series based on Mark Shultz's "Xenozoic Tales" and "Cadillacs and Dinosaurs" comics. That's the real deal!
The story is really quite simple - one day Turok and his brother encounter warriors from an enemy tribe, and defending a girl from their village (Turok's brother future wife) they get into a fight. Turok goes berserker mode and slashes through the enemies... and his brother. In his rage Turok almost kills his brother and the shaman of their tribe sends him into exile. Some 16 years later Turok is asked for help by his brother's son. Turok seems grumpy for being casted away and refuses to take part in the action. But later the boy returns and brings news that his tribe is almost wiped out. Turok takes his tomahawk and goes to help his bro, only to find him almost dead... and he eventually dies after he asks Turok to swear that he will take care for the boy and his mother. Back to the village the leader of the aggressors recognizes Turok's tomahawk - it was his father's and Turok took it years before at that battle in the beginning of the movie. The bad guy wants to avenge his father's death and goes on a rampage, trying to kill Turok. Going through a cave the Indians find themselves in The Lost Land (quite like Arthur Conan Doyle's Lost World) - where dinosaurs and prehistoric mammal beasts coexist with savage hordes of "The Missing Link" or something (you know, some huge ugly hard-to-kill humanoid hulks) and Indian tribes. The battle continues...
There is not much of a dialog. No memorable quotes, no one-liners. I feel that the characters are somehow flat, they lack emotional depth and motivation. No inner struggle, no inside conflict. And no comic relief.
The quality of the animation is above average, but far from great. Nothing you haven't seen - no innovative style or some recognizable character design. It's not bad, it's OK. And there are some nice looking Indian chicks :) The backgrounds are not really detailed, but on the other hand - what's there to be detailed? Rocks and cliffs? The dinosaurs are OK, but they lack color nuance and shading. And so do the characters in some scenes. And I forgot to mention - there is not a trace of some fancy 3D CGI cell-shading stuff, which I find good - old fashioned 2d works just fine for me. The only thing that seemed crappy were the computer generated flames for the fire effects in some scenes.
There's plenty of action, gallons of animated blood and even some cut-off limbs. But that will only shock you if you've been watching Bambie all your life. The blood and the battles are no match for a good anime style fight, where everything is presented with some wicked camera angles, fast movements and dramatic pauses. There's an attempt for a showdown at the end of the movie, but it doesn't really work out like in the spaghetti westerns.
All in all - the movie is worth watching, it has its moments, but it could have been much more. I enjoyed it because we rarely have the chance to see something more mature oriented and not-anime. If you're a fan of Ralph Bakshi's "Fire and Ice" or the "Heavy Metal" animated features I encourage you to check this one out, just keep in mind that it doesn't manage to entertain at their level. Somehow it lacks atmosphere and couldn't really captivate my imagination the way Filmation's "Flash Gordon" does for example.
And if you're a dinosaur/comic/video game freak I'll advice you to get your hands on the "Cadillacs and Dinosaurs" animated TV series based on Mark Shultz's "Xenozoic Tales" and "Cadillacs and Dinosaurs" comics. That's the real deal!
To-rock? or not to-rock.
xamtaro22 July 2009
Based on the well known comic series and video game franchise, Turok: Son of Stone is a extremely well crafted adventure story boasting stellar voice acting and state of the art animation.......for a 1990s cartoon. Which is TERRIBLE since this movie came out in 2008.
The one thing that hits the viewer in the very first scene is how cheap this film looks. In terms of art and animation, it is not where near the quality of other direct to DVD animated movies or OVAs. The director, character designer and animators apparently worked on a number of 90s Disney animated shows like Mulan, Hercules and Aladdin. And apparently, none of them grew out of that era. The character designs look like a watered down version of Mulan and Pocahontas, spliced with the more modern stylized aesthetics of the Legion of Superheroes cartoon series. The art is FLAT. Clothing detail and shadowing are kept to a bare minimum with almost no shading other than a flat color fill for many of the action scenes. The backgrounds are OK, standard animation backgrounds. More lush than those in TV series but not as detailed as those in movies.
The animation for the most part is stiff and choppy. It is about as good as Superman: the Animated series or Gargoyles. This is a 2008 animated movie that has the animation quality of 1990s TV series.
It not only looks bad, but sounds bad. The sound effects come across as a little fake and the mixing is all over the place. Punches sound the same as tree branches cracking, arrows hitting a stone wall sound the same as axes hitting a wooden shield. Whats more, the dinosaur sounds are very obviously lion roars, maybe taken off national geographic or animal planet. No attempt whatsoever was made to give the dinosaurs unique sounds.
The story and characterization are also nothing to speak of. It is a straight forward adventure story with little twists and no surprises. A exiled warrior has to save his old friend and her son from a twisted warlord from a rival tribe. Through some mishap, they land up in a lost world of Dinosaurs and cavemen from which they must now fight for their very survival and hopefully make it back out alive. The characters all lack depth and never in the whole movie does one get to emotionally relate to any of them. They are just "there" to move the story along to the next fight scene.
A few good pointers to this otherwise dismal film. The fight scenes are awesome. When the action starts, suddenly the level of animation jumps to new heights. Utilizing some of the smoothest slow motion seen in animation, some of the fight scenes seem visibly influenced by films like "300". (I think they blew most of the budget on these superbly animated fights). Bloodletting is at an all time high with severed limbs, torn flesh and broken bones in rich gory detail. Also, though the dinosaurs don't sound cool,they look cool. The lack of proper shadowing and shading make some dino scenes look flat but their designs and movement animation seem spot on when compared to other dinosaur films like Jurassic park.
All in all, this film is too violent for children.
However, no teenager or adult would be able able to sit through its simplistic story and lackluster animation. If anything, watch this movie for the fight scenes and the gory action. Also recommended for fans of Dinosaurs.
Turok, sadly, does not rock.
The one thing that hits the viewer in the very first scene is how cheap this film looks. In terms of art and animation, it is not where near the quality of other direct to DVD animated movies or OVAs. The director, character designer and animators apparently worked on a number of 90s Disney animated shows like Mulan, Hercules and Aladdin. And apparently, none of them grew out of that era. The character designs look like a watered down version of Mulan and Pocahontas, spliced with the more modern stylized aesthetics of the Legion of Superheroes cartoon series. The art is FLAT. Clothing detail and shadowing are kept to a bare minimum with almost no shading other than a flat color fill for many of the action scenes. The backgrounds are OK, standard animation backgrounds. More lush than those in TV series but not as detailed as those in movies.
The animation for the most part is stiff and choppy. It is about as good as Superman: the Animated series or Gargoyles. This is a 2008 animated movie that has the animation quality of 1990s TV series.
It not only looks bad, but sounds bad. The sound effects come across as a little fake and the mixing is all over the place. Punches sound the same as tree branches cracking, arrows hitting a stone wall sound the same as axes hitting a wooden shield. Whats more, the dinosaur sounds are very obviously lion roars, maybe taken off national geographic or animal planet. No attempt whatsoever was made to give the dinosaurs unique sounds.
The story and characterization are also nothing to speak of. It is a straight forward adventure story with little twists and no surprises. A exiled warrior has to save his old friend and her son from a twisted warlord from a rival tribe. Through some mishap, they land up in a lost world of Dinosaurs and cavemen from which they must now fight for their very survival and hopefully make it back out alive. The characters all lack depth and never in the whole movie does one get to emotionally relate to any of them. They are just "there" to move the story along to the next fight scene.
A few good pointers to this otherwise dismal film. The fight scenes are awesome. When the action starts, suddenly the level of animation jumps to new heights. Utilizing some of the smoothest slow motion seen in animation, some of the fight scenes seem visibly influenced by films like "300". (I think they blew most of the budget on these superbly animated fights). Bloodletting is at an all time high with severed limbs, torn flesh and broken bones in rich gory detail. Also, though the dinosaurs don't sound cool,they look cool. The lack of proper shadowing and shading make some dino scenes look flat but their designs and movement animation seem spot on when compared to other dinosaur films like Jurassic park.
All in all, this film is too violent for children.
However, no teenager or adult would be able able to sit through its simplistic story and lackluster animation. If anything, watch this movie for the fight scenes and the gory action. Also recommended for fans of Dinosaurs.
Turok, sadly, does not rock.
While seeking vengeance for his tribe and rescuing his sister in law, Turok and his nephew Andar enter a lost world filled with prehistoric beasts, and people.
pal0505200310 August 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Turok is a very entertaining animated movie with lots of violence and bloodshed. It feels like The Lost World with Native Americans. The story focuses on vengeance. Because Turok killed a group of another tribe, 20 years later, the grown up son of one of the tribe sets out to massacre Turok's tribe. Turok having been banished from his tribe for his violence is forced to seek vengeance when he finds his brother killed, and his sister in law kidnapped. The story is a fast paced adventure story which starts out like a typical story about native tribes, but smoothly transitions into a story about dinosaurs. It is great to see feathered dinosaurs, and on particular scene is almost identical to a scene from Jurassic World. It is quite refreshing to see a movie where the protagonist is not Caucasian battling monsters with an ax. It may be too violent for kids, and not as broody as the Spawn animated series but it is very entertaining.
leadenly paced violent animation
dbborroughs28 June 2009
Warning: Spoilers
Great warrior Turok is banished after nearly killing members of his own tribe during a war. When years later he is entrusted with a task by his brother he ends up crossing over into a land where dinosaurs still roam.
Animated Turok origin story is okay animation (saturday morning anyone?) and has a pace that is leaden. I thought I had been watching it for an hour and only ten minutes had passed. If it wasn't for the pacing this might have been something. I got half way into the movie and its limited animation and turned it off. I'll probably keep it as a sleep aide but thats it. What sad is that its very violent and bloody and the kids who'd dig the dinosaurs probably would have the disc pulled from them by their parents because of the nastiness.
Animated Turok origin story is okay animation (saturday morning anyone?) and has a pace that is leaden. I thought I had been watching it for an hour and only ten minutes had passed. If it wasn't for the pacing this might have been something. I got half way into the movie and its limited animation and turned it off. I'll probably keep it as a sleep aide but thats it. What sad is that its very violent and bloody and the kids who'd dig the dinosaurs probably would have the disc pulled from them by their parents because of the nastiness.
Everyone's favorite dinosaur hunter is back!
isaackiernan28 June 2012
Now, For those unfamiliar with the Turok franchise, Turok was a comic book series created in the mid fifties, that in the nineties got a major re-vamp when it became one of the best selling games of all time. "Turok: Dinosaur Hunter" was one of the first games I ever played as a child, and I have many fond memories of staying up late, and killing dinosaurs with my father. So naturally when I was walking through a local discount shop I was quite surprised to see "Turok: Son of Stone" on the DVD shelf. A movie of one of my favorite games as a kid? When did this come out? the $3.00 price tag made it a must buy, and when i got home that night I popped it in the DVD player and gave it a watch.
After many years in exile, Turok returns to his tribe to find that they have been mercilessly slaughtered by the maniacal Chichak. Chichak chases Turok, his nephew, Andar, and his sister in law, into the fabled Lost Lands where Dinosaurs are still very much alive.
And Needless to say, this movie was everything I hoped it would be. It is great fun, Great violence, and a great time all around. You get to see Turok slaughtering Dinosaurs, The Lost lands look perfect, and you can tell a lot of effort went into making this. It's not a perfect movie, but as a Turok movie it's as perfect as it could ever be.
After many years in exile, Turok returns to his tribe to find that they have been mercilessly slaughtered by the maniacal Chichak. Chichak chases Turok, his nephew, Andar, and his sister in law, into the fabled Lost Lands where Dinosaurs are still very much alive.
And Needless to say, this movie was everything I hoped it would be. It is great fun, Great violence, and a great time all around. You get to see Turok slaughtering Dinosaurs, The Lost lands look perfect, and you can tell a lot of effort went into making this. It's not a perfect movie, but as a Turok movie it's as perfect as it could ever be.
So awesome.
Kdosda_Hegen24 October 2020
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
