T-Rex: A Dinosaur in Hollywood

Synopsis: The pop culture history of the Tyrannosaurus Rex in film.
Viewed on: Youtube

I was quite excited to see this one, as I’m a film buff and love learning about the history of dinosaurs in film especially Tyrannosaurus.  Dinosaurs in motion pictures holds a very special place in my heart so any history on the subject matter is well invited. Unfortunately this was a total let down.

First off, they treat the T-Rex like an actual movie star. Just to clarify, the Rex character is a stand in for all the T-Rex’s in film history. I think they were going for a True Hollywood Story type of direction and tone in this documentary, but it doesn't work because all the scandals are ridiculous. The scandal they refer too specifically over and over again is T-Rex's little arms. The program keeps coming back to that story bit because its the only thing embarrassing about T-Rex. They also show a computer animated T-Rex trying to have a Hollywood comeback with workout montages and such and its comical. I see what the documentary attempts to do in terms of entertainment but it just didn't work. Having a King Kong and a 1950's alien talking talk about their personal relationships with T-Rex was funny to see but the jokes and animation were just too easy and come off as cringe.

Towards the climax we have a casting meeting with a Steven Spielberg look alike and going to award ceremonies for the famous dinosaur.. Its a little unbearable to watch sometimes. They treat Jurassic Park as T-Rex's comeback movie but don't go into much detail about any of the movie making process behind the film. Did like how the ending stated T-Rex might of had feathers to show the evolution of how the public now views a Tyrannosaurus.
The education was not that great either. Any dinosaur movie fan will more or less know at least some old black white films with T-Rex in it, to its debut in Jurassic Park. If the documentary's filmmakers hadn't spent so much time with the True Hollywood storytelling, maybe the doc could of spent time talking about the actual films T-Rex starred in and maybe the history behind those pictures. I kinda feel this one is more for the kids because a quick google or Youtube search will show you the earlier Hollywood movie scenes or reviews worth watching. Sadly, I expected better.

My score: Extinct