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T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous

Play trailer T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous Released Oct 23, 1998 45m Adventure Play Trailer Watchlist
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71% Tomatometer 21 Reviews 30% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
Dinosaurs are very much alive -- at least in the mind of teenager Ally Hayden. When a museum accident transports Ally on an adventure back in time to explore the terrain and territory of life-size dinosaurs, she is thrust literally nose-to-nose with the largest and most realistic dinosaur ever to appear on a movie screen - the fearsome 20-foot tall, 15-ton Tyrannosaurus Rex, projected in IMAX 2D and 3D onto the 80 foot high IMAX screen.

Critics Reviews

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Michael Joseph Gross Salon.com Instead of giving its eponymous protagonist center stage to strut and fret and sit in the audience's laps, it spends its best energy throwing a watered-down, imitation-Spielberg story in your face. Oct 30, 2001 Full Review Gary Susman Village Voice The Imax 3-D format continues to evolve toward narrative maturity, without bothering to ask whether viewers want it to. Oct 30, 2001 Full Review Bob Graham San Francisco Chronicle It represents the pinnacle, so far, of 3-D filmmaking, and even apart from the technology, it's a very watchable little movie. Rated: 3/4 Oct 30, 2001 Full Review Jae-Ha Kim Jae-Ha Kim The three-dimensional Tyrannosaurus rex dinosaurs in “T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous” look like they could throttle the dickens out of the ones depicted in “Jurassic Park.” The visuals in “T-Rex” are so amazing that a story line isn’t even necessary. Rated: 3/4 Jul 28, 2023 Full Review Matt Brunson Creative Loafing Rated: 2/5 Jan 22, 2004 Full Review Howard Cohen Miami Herald Rated: 3/4 Jul 31, 2003 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member The movie is essentially low-budget late 1990's CGI. When the movie came out, it might have been decent. However, you can tell that it is intentionally avoiding scenes with dinosaurs and filling up its runtime with filler. The main story arc is basically an insult to the scientific method. Basically, if you don't have evidence, just make something up, and you are still unsure, try use psychedelics. The combination of "I know this in my heart" certainty combined with the now outdated depiction of dinosaurs (tyrannosaurus is shown in the "kangaroo-posture") is almost comical. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Audience Member this may be my nostalgia goggles talking but i really like this movie. its kind of short and the special effects arent jurassic park standards but it is a pretty good film in its own right. its a fun educational adventure that should occupy your time for a good 45 minutes. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/11/23 Full Review Audience Member It's an interesting little film, and it looked pretty great on the Imax screen from when I saw it all those years ago. The story is a little confusing, and it appears everything was a dream yet it's not... Anyway, it's a fun little film that any dinosaur enthusiast would enjoy. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/02/23 Full Review Audience Member T-Rex is my favorite dinosaur it is awsome. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/03/23 Full Review Audience Member Story, characters and plot – week, but for an Imax movie I was expecting this IMAX Effects and camera shots are impressive. A must see from this point of view. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/02/23 Full Review Audience Member Day: Friday Date: 8 Feb 2002 Amt: Free (JLT) Time: 8.30pm Over at: 9.30pm With: Jinesh, Ganesh, Shreekant, Ismail Theatre: Imax Adlabs, Mumbai Seat No: Free Seating Name: T-REX Imax was extravagant Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Read all reviews
T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous

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Cast & Crew

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Brett Leonard

Director

Peter Horton

Dr. Donald Hayden

Liz Stauber

Ally Hayden

Kari Coleman

Elizabeth Sample

Laurie Murdoch

Barnum Brown

Tuck Milligan

Charles Knight

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T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous

T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous (1998) T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous (1998) T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous (1998) T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous (1998) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Dinosaurs are very much alive -- at least in the mind of teenager Ally Hayden. When a museum accident transports Ally on an adventure back in time to explore the terrain and territory of life-size dinosaurs, she is thrust literally nose-to-nose with the largest and most realistic dinosaur ever to appear on a movie screen - the fearsome 20-foot tall, 15-ton Tyrannosaurus Rex, projected in IMAX 2D and 3D onto the 80 foot high IMAX screen.
Director
Brett Leonard
Producer
Antoine Compin, Charis Horton
Screenwriter
Andrew Gellis, Jeanne Rosenberg
Distributor
IMAX Corporation
Production Co
IMAX Corporation
Genre
Adventure
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 23, 1998, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Jun 11, 2020
Box Office (Gross USA)
$53.3M
Runtime
45m
Aspect Ratio
IMAX (1.43:1)