10 Movies That Feature…Dinosaurs!

Like many of you, I’m guessing, I was obsessed with dinosaurs when I was a kid – especially the carnivores.  Not much has changed since that time, and I still like dinosaurs quite a bit.  It’s awe-inspiring when you get to see their humongous skeletons at museums, and thanks to (here is a cliche I hate) “movie magic,” we can watch dinosaurs on the big screen.  Sometimes they’re cute, but more often than not, they’re bloodthirsty killers looking to take a bite out of some unlucky humans.  I’m not sure how great Land of the Lost is going to be, but I figure it’s worth checking out for the dinosaurs – and Danny McBride, of course.  There are dozens of movies that feature dinosaurs, but here are ten that immediately came to mind:

The Land Before Time (and sequels)

This highly successful animated franchise starred an Apatosaurus named Littlefoot and completely villified the poor, emaciated T-Rex that was simply hunting for food in order to survive.  I would have given anything to have seen him devour Ducky.

Dinosaur

A computer-animated movie that can only be described as “sort of creepy,” Dinosaur is the story of a group of Iguanadons searching for a new home while trying to avoid a deadly Carnotaur.  Hayden Pannettiere voices one of the dinosaurs in this movie.

Jurassic Park (and sequels) *and Upcoming

Clearly, Jurassic Park is the crown jewel of dinosaur movies.  Even though the sequels weren’t very good, the Jurassic Park franchise easily has the coolest-looking dinosaurs.  The sound on these movies is terrific, too; the velociraptor screech is terrifying.

My Science Project

My Science Project isn’t a dinosaur movie (it’s more like a poor man’s Weird Science), but a dinosaur does appear.  After an alien engine causes dimensions to twist into one another and mesh the past, present, and future, a T-Rex shows up and wreaks havoc.

Caveman

Starring Ringo Star and Dennis Quaid, Caveman is a pretty funny, historically inaccurate movie about cavemen living with dinosaurs.  The dinosaurs in this movie are stop-motion animated and look ridiculous, but that only adds to the comedic value of this movie.

Carnosaur

Carnosaur is so absurd, it’s hard to believe it’s a real movie.  Like Jurassic Park, it features the recreation of dinosaurs, but that’s about where the similarities end.  Instead of an entrepreneur, it’s a mad scientist who is looking to make some dinosaurs, and instead of aiming toward a theme park, she’s looking to take over the world.  I will compliment the writer of Carnosaur for using a Deinonychus, a vicious dinosaur that is way cooler than a velociraptor.

King Kong

In the original 1933 King Kong, Kong beats a T-Rex to death.  In the more recent Peter Jackson version, Kong beats three T-Rexes to death, and bites off one of their tongues in the process.

Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend

The story in Baby is based on actual rumors that dinosaurs still exist in remote parts of the world.  The dinosaur in this movie is pretty pathetic looking.

Journey to the Center of the Earth

The 1959 version of this movie earned an Academy Award for Best Special Effects, surely due in part to the dinosaurs that lived in the Earth’s core.  The newer version also has dinosaurs, including a Gigantosaurus.

Pee-wee’s Big Adventure

What, you don’t remember the dream sequence when the T-Rex eats Pee-wee’s bike?