The opening is spectacular - a long, swooping shot of a dinosaur egg being taken from its nest and passed along from one place to another. Throughout this scene, we see various types of dinosaurs, all carefully and realistically generated by computer. The egg finally ends up in the hands of a family of lemers, led by Yar (voiced by Ossie Davis). He and his wife Pilo (Alfre Woodard) adopt the baby and name him Aladar. A few years later, a meteorite hits the earth causing massive destruction and wiping out much of the water supply. Aladar (D.B. Sweeney) joins a group of dinos setting out on a trek to find some of the precious liquid. Along the way, he clashes with the group's leader, Kron, and falls in love with a female dino named Neera, who is voiced by Julianna Margulies. (The first time Aladar sees Neera, she is walking away from him and he checks out her rear end; apparently a nice butt was important even in the stone age.)

It's admittedly a little weird having the dinosaurs talk (especially the triceratops with the voice of Della Reese). I think the wordless opening had much more power simply because it was more realistic. I was reminded of a documentary from several years ago called Microcosmos which took cameras into the world of insects. While there was no dialogue in the picture, there was a sense of story because each insect was shown doing something natural (trying to survive a rain storm or push a mud ball up a hill). Dinosaur might have followed the same technique, giving us depictions into the daily activities of each type of creature.

Computers were used to create realistic creatures in Dinosaur

Although it could have been better, I don't mean to imply that the movie is no good. In fact, it's very entertaining for the whole family. I respect the way it doesn't shy away from the "food chain" issue or the fact that dinosaurs eventually became extinct (the story does manage to squeeze out a happy ending while still acknowledging that the creatures were a dying breed). There is an attempt here to address the real issues of prehistoric life. The dinosaurs are endlessly fascinating because we have no direct experience among them; anthropomorphism aside, the movie intends to give the audience an idea of how the creatures lived and interacted.

The best part of Dinosaur is the computer-generated imagery. The filmmakers used actual background footage, to which the dinos were later added. The attention to detail is striking. I remember being spellbound the first time I glimpsed a dinosaur in Jurassic Park; this film has an overhead shot of a field full of them, and it's a hundred times more breathtaking. It's astonishing how far special effects have come. At times, I had to blink my eyes because I couldn't believe the realism of what I was seeing.

I liked Dinosaur on the level it chooses to approach the material. There is still a more ambitious story lurking somewhere in this inevitable blockbuster; however, I think the end result is satisfying enough for moviegoers of all ages who want to know what it would be like to see a real dinosaur and hear it speak in the voice of Della Reese.

( out of four)

Dinosaur is rated PG for intense images. The running time is 1 hour and 24 minutes.