Hi!
I just posted a long message about the LBT sequels in the network54 forum. With the very necessity of the sequels being called into question I thought that perhaps the message may trigger some discussion about the individual sequels.
I’m no good at evaluating a movie’s quality by giving points on a scale (same as I’m very stingy with the use of superlatives), so my message will consist mainly of basic thoughts on the sequels.
I certainly love the second movie. One could criticise it for sort of avoiding some problems, but the sharptooth – leafeater relationship is certainly very, very difficult a matter to deal with. LBT 2 had some very strong emotional scenes (most of them accompanied by variations of “if we hold on together”). I credit LBT 2 for doing a good deal to restart my enthusiasm for LBT long after I had watched the original movie.
For some reason LBT 3 is generally valued rather low by LBT fans. I don’t really get why. The movie has a good and solid story and interesting characters. In my opinion they became too “instructive” in the end and showed the “moral club” a bit too distinctly. Still I’m quite pleased with LBT 3. It does have some very impressive and emotional scenes, same as LBT 2 does.
LBT 4, the last of the sequels produced by Roy Alan Smith. I’m quite fond of this sequel as well, which brought us the probably most frequently discussed guest character. Hardly anything has been as frequently been discussed as a possible return of Ali. Again Smith showed his talent for creating strong emotional scenes. Minor flaws in the realism of the story (The land of Mists must be extremely close to the Great Valley if it can be reached in a few hours time. That point mainly disturbs me because it conflicts with a story I’m planing on) don’t hurt the movie too much in my opinion.
LBT 5, the first of Grosvenor’s LBT movies was quite a good one. The return of Chomper was certainly a nice idea, and the problem of the carnivore herbivore relationship was addressed more directly, even though not as strong as it could be (I’m not sure though how much the topic can be displayed in LBT). The song “Always there” is particularly beautiful and contained a reference to the first movie. However, LBT 5 also included for the first time an effect I really dislike. The turning red of the landscape in case of danger.
LBT 6 was the first of the LBT movies with a kind of mysterious story which Mr. Grosvenor seems to be particularly fond of. I found LBT 6 quite alright, because it was left to the audience to decide whether or not to believe in the legend of the lone dinosaur and everything.
LBT 7 was the first LBT movie I had serious problems with. Unlike the way it was in LBT 6 the rainbowfaces were a bit too obvious a mystery for an LBT story. To those who (like me) disapprove of science fiction elements in LBT the movie was a bit difficult to digest. The whole stone of cold fire story seemed a bit to surrealistic as well (in my opinion). With the dinosaurs being content so long they have enough to eat, to drink and live in relative safety it is a bit questionable what kind of desirable powers the stone of cold fire could have held anyway. Pterano however was quite interesting a character and the story of his past was one of the most gloomy elements we’ve had in the series so far. Pterano is a character I’d like to see again.
LBT 8 was again a movie I was not content with. Unlike LBT 7 there were no elements seriously upsetting the LAND before time (unless one takes the question how a hot volcanic spring can freeze over too seriously). However, LBT 8 seemed to be a good story relatively poorly realised. They could have made a lot more of the winter story. I was very fond of the idea of a story being focused more on Spike for a change. The character Tippy appeared a little too silly too me. In case of Mr. Thicknose I think that again they exaggerated in wielding the “moral club”. One thing I particularly disliked was the sharptooth. For the first time we had a sharptooth that seemed to be hardly a thread. It took a lot of the excitement of the story away.
LBT 9 again was a sequel I really liked. Actually it is an extremely simple story and when I first saw Mo on the movie’s cover I almost despaired (it looked like a Pokemon invasion to LBT was impending)! Yet in the movie itself his shrill colours didn’t bother me at all. There were flaws in the realism (Petrie could’ve flown across the landbreak if he had just flown a little higher), but the swimming sharptooth was quite impressive, there was good music (I love “No one has to be alone”) and some of the most sensitive scenes throughout the whole series.
I have frequently written about my very low opinion of LBT 10 and the reasons for it. I shall not repeat myself now.
I haven’t seen LBT 11 yet.
