In an attempt to cash in on the current popularity of anything reptilian, screenwriters Willie Baronet and Lisa Morton have come up with ADVENTURES IN DINOSAUR CITY, a feeble fantasy about three teens hurled back in time to the days when scaly monsters roamed the earth.
Timmy (Omri Katz), Mick (Shawn Hoffman) and Jamie (Tiffanie Poston) are three upper-middle-class teenagers who love to watch cartoons featuring a crime-fighting tyrannosaurus named Rex (Tony Doyle), his sidekick, Tops (Marc Martorana), and a cuddly lizard called Forey. Coincidentally, their
scientist parents have developed a device with the power to transport plant and animal life-forms to past eras. Whether or not the device can also transport humans is unknown. Before leaving on business, the parents instruct Timmy, Mick and Jamie to turn off the TV, get their homework done and,
above all, stay out of the laboratory. Within moments after their parents' departure, however, the siblings are exploring the lab and testing out all the gadgets they can lay their hands on. One such device, hooked up to a big-screen TV monitor, starts to sputter and act strangely, sucking the
kids through the screen and back into the prehistoric era.
Here, to their delight, Timmy, Mick and Jamie meet Rex, Tops and Forey in the flesh. Together they embark on a series of adventures, culminating in the foiling of a plot by evil tyrannosaurus Mr. Big to destroy Dinosaur City and its inhabitants. Having overcome loin-cloth-clad Neanderthals as well
as hostile reptiles, the children finally return to their own place and time.
Lackluster is the kindest word one can use to describe ADVENTURES IN DINOSAUR CITY, a badly acted, directed, photographed, edited and scored picture. Worst of all are the costumes and production design; the sets look like papier-mache mock-ups and the dinosaur outfits are too dreadful even to be
considered corny. Released straight to video, ADVENTURES IN DINOSAUR CITY is, at best, a mindless diversion for undiscriminating young viewers. Adults will find it downright unbearable. leave a comment