Dinotopia the Series

Like others who saw the terrific Dinotopia mini-series, I had high hopes for this weekly tv offering. Sad to say, however, what made the original mini-series appealing is completely sabotaged here. The biggest weakness of this series is that the lead characters - especially the actor who plays Carl - are loathsome. As an example, Carl spends an entire episode ala Groundhog day trying to seduce his girlfriend, never quite succeeding and becoming ever more frustrated along the way. Regardless of your mores, this is hardly kid appropriate, and you would think the series creators would know better. The other characters are also weakly portrayed, even the dinosaur Zippo who was an integral character in the mini-series but an afterthought in this one. Worst of all, in order to develop alternate plot-lines the series created the "Outsiders", a group of thugs, outlaws, and dinosaur haters. The two boys take turns confronting these folks, as if Dinotopia rested its fortunes on efforts of two very annoying teenage boys to solve all their problems. This worked in the mini-series in part because there was a sinister adult presence but no such actor or actress exists here.

In short, this is a disappointing offering, not kid appropriate for families and not plausible or entertaining for adults. What were they thinking?

I actually quite enjoyed the Dinotopia miniseries (in spite of the expected communist overtones), and was really thrilled to find out that there had been a continuation. However, whereas the first series had a cohesive plot, this seems to be just one episode after another of characters acting interminably stupid (what kind of insane person would set off--with no water or food--in a rowboat, hoping to brave the open sea?). The special effects are clearly done on a lower budget, the sets are straight out of a renfest, and the clean family nature of the first film is now peppered with innuendo. There are some genuinely funny parts, and frequent enough to make the show watchable, but not enough to make it redeemable. The ever-shifting cast (why not get the original actors? And why is Romana Denison white in one episode and black in the next?) is comprised of mostly bottom-of-the barrel actors (with the exception of Jonathan Hyde and Sophie Ward, whom, admittedly, I have been fond of since Young Sherlock Holmes). Or perhaps I'm being unfair. It's hard for even the best actors to deliver bad lines over and over again.

I would like to see another series done, a continuation, even, but only with a different set of writers. At least so far (I'm only on the first disc), I'm not terribly impressed.

I am a huge fan of the original "Dinotopia" mini-series, so when this show premeared on Thanksgiving day, 2002, I was one of the few fans who watched this instead of the popular programs airing at the same time slot, including "Friends" and "Survivor." ABC basically doomed the series by putting it up against some of the highest rated shows, and so it was cancelled only 6 weeks into the season. If you only watched the 2 hour premiere and decided you didn't like the series based on this, than you should really give it another shot. The new cast takes a little getting used to, but I now prefer them to the mini-series cast. And the storylines get much better as the series gets going. Most of my favorite episodes are the ones that never aired. ABC made a big mistake. I think this show would have attracted viewers if they aired it on Monday nights instead of Thursdays. After watching all three discs, I give the series 5 stars for how good the actual programming. However, the special features are terrible. They are all about the mini-series and not the series. It's as if Hallmark put bonus features they dubbed not worthy of being on the mini-series' DVD on here, just so it looked like you where getting more for your money. Another gripe I have is that the series ends with a cliffhanger. I hope Hallmark plans to continue the show on the Hallmark channel, because finishing the series makes me really want to know how it all ends. I'd settle for another mini-series. I've just gotta know the ending!