Reasonably entertaining bit of fluff. The visual FX are well below the standard set by the great Ray Harryhausen, The girl is pretty, the hero is suitably heroic, the caveman is good hearted, and the kid isn't too annoying. I have a special fondness for this one because of my memories of seeing it at the drive-in.

Whilst building a harbour on a Caribbean island, construction workers discover two perfectly preserved dinosaurs—a brontosaurus and a T-Rex—frozen under the sea for millions of years. After being brought ashore, the prehistoric creatures thaw out and are struck by lightning during a storm, bringing them back to life. As the beasts wander the island, looking for food, construction boss Bart Thompson (Ward Ramsey) tries to ensure the safety of the islanders. Meanwhile, a neanderthal (Gregg Martell), who has also emerged from the ocean, befriends local boy Julio (Alan Roberts) and protects him from his wicked guardian Hacker (Fred Engelberg).Dinosaurus! is the one in which the 'cute' kid (ie., thoroughly irritating brat) and the caveman ride on the back of the brontosaurus, putting the audience squarely in family territory—good clean fun with very little to seriously scare the young 'uns. The juvenile nature of the film, along with some naff neanderthal-based comedy, make it just a little too cloying at times, but as a fan of dinosaur movies in general, and especially those that make use of stop motion animation, I couldn't help but be entertained. Yes, the animation is a long way from Harryhausen standard, and there's some even worse puppetry, but it still proves to be a reasonably decent dose of mindless fun. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the film also features two helpings of eye candy—tasty blonde Betty (Kristina Hanson) and dusky island beauty Chica (Lucita Blain)—to hold one's attention whenever the dinos are off-screen.

How well I remember this film Dinosaurus from seeing it in the theaters way back when I was 13 years old. I liked the special effects in creating the two dinosaurs and the climax is a very exciting one still. Of course now I can spot some of the ludicrousness of the story.The location is a small Caribbean Island where a group of construction workers are dredging a harbor to make it a deep water port. Their dynamiting has unleashed a cold underground river and two dinosaurs, a tyrannosaurus and a brontosaurus are released from being cryogenically frozen for a million years or so. As is true in a flock of other science fiction films they thaw out and lightning strikes them and they come alive like Frankenstein's monster.Of course they're kind of hungry and the brontosaurus has a nice tropical rain forest to feast on. But T-Rex is a flesh eater and there's lots of people flesh around as well.Unknown to everyone else a caveman also was washed ashore and he thawed out as well. He was found by Fred Engelberg who has to be one of the stupidest villains ever on record. In the absence of the governor he's in charge. I'm assuming the island is an American possession, the rest of the natives have Spanish accents both white and black, but Engelberg for reasons I can't figure out has a French accent. He wants his caveman to make a profit off of and even with a raging T-Rex around he's going to capture that caveman. As the natives of the island would say, Que Pendejo.The climax involves the lead actor and construction boss Ward Ramsey dueling with Tyrannosaurus using a steam shovel as a weapon. That has stuck with me since childhood and it's very excitingly staged.Dinosaurus is still a suspenseful and exciting science fiction film to watch with its no name cast and nice special effects for their time.

This film MIGHT have worked had they not decided to include a cute kid in the plot. So, instead of being a typical dinosaur rampage film, it's focused too much on the kid--a definite mistake in hindsight. I hate saccharine, and this film often borders on it.The film begins with the discovery of two frozen dinosaurs. The cute kid asks whether or not they are still alive, and the audience already knows the answer considering the title of the film! However, in a twist I was not anticipating, a caveman also washes ashore and the cavedude and the kid soon become friends. Frankly, the caveman and kid weren't needed for the plot and too little time was spent watching the dinosaurs on the rampage.As for the dinosaurs, generally they looked like a poor but serviceable imitation of the dinosaurs of Ray Harryhausen. However, in a few scenes, they used actual lizards--not a good decision in hindsight. While they looked more realistic, they also clearly looked like lizards--not dinosaurs.Now the caveman, though not necessary for the film, was pretty nice. He and the boy became friends and the cavedude quickly picked up on who were the good guys and who were not. Time and again, he saves the cute kid...and I felt nauseous. Frankly, if I watch a 50s or 60s horror film, I want horror--not schmaltz. Too much emphasis on the kid was a mistake and this is NOT a film for anyone wanting horror or sci-fi. In fact, it's not for anyone.