#theodore rex

[90smovies]

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Is It Really That Bad?

PREVIOUSLY ON IS IT REALLY THAT BAD...

That right there truly is the long and short of it. Producers held her verbally agreeing to be in this over her head, and so she begrudgingly worked on this movie. She was hostile on set, hated the director, had a stipulation one of the producers wasn’t allowed to speak with her or come to set when she was there… And it’s hard to really blame her when this movie ended up blasting her from Oscar-winning actress to a washed up talk show host. She wasn’t the only one who got obliterated like a stegosaurus chilling at the point of impact for the asteroid; director Johnathan Betuel never directed again (he did go on to found the visual effects studio Luma Pictures, most notable for their work on the Underworld films, so not a bad rebound for the guy) and the aforementioned producer, Richard Abramson, never produced again.

And really, these people should’ve seen this coming. They took an idea that had been trapped in development hell for years and turned it from a gritty sci-fi black comedy into a goofy buddy cop movie for kids! Is it any wonder it tested so badly they canceled a planned theatrical release and sent this one straight to video? Every single thing about this film screams “colossal misfire,” something that proved to be true when this bombed hard. But maybe audiences were simply too harsh on this film; perhaps there’s something of value that audiences back in the day couldn’t see. I mean, it’s a movie about dinosaur cops in the future! Can it really be that bad?

Oh yes it fucking can. But let’s take a look at it anyway.

THE GOOD

If nothing else can be said about this movie, it must at least be given some credit for how utterly weird and ambitious it is. This is a family-friendly take on Blade Runner, but instead of replicants dinosaurs are brought back to life and anthropomorphized for… reasons. The guy who did it literally says he did it just because, and you know what? That’s kinda based. I love this goofy-ass Sauron worldbuilding.

Uh… Yeah, that’s really it.

THE BAD

Hey you know how I said that the film was very ambitious? Ambition only goes so far if you don’t have the talent to utilize said ambition. And let me tell you, they had zero talent utilizing all the wild ideas in this story. This movie is about psychic dinosaur cops in the future solving murder cases… and this is used to make a generic buddy cop movie! There are so many ways they could go with this and they go the safest, most boring route possible so they can cram in a bunch of goofy kiddie jokes.

That’s another thing: This movie has insane tonal whiplash. You have Theo engaging in cartoonish antics where he bonks people with his tail and gushes about his love of cookies, and then you’ll have intense sci-fi B-movie violence right after. This movie really tries so hard to have its cake and eat it too, but instead it kinda just shits all over the cake and tosses it around.

Our leads aren’t exactly great either. Whoopi Goldberg understandably does not ever feel like she wants to be here, and the result is her character feels underbaked and flat. I can’t exactly blame her for not giving a shit; she did want out after all. George Newbern as Theo is serviceable enough, but it is such an awkward waste of his talents. This is the guy who played the greatest hero in all of fiction and the most evil villain too, and here he’s relegated to corny baby antics and cookie obsessions. Granted, this was before he became a bigger name in voice acting, but in hindsight it seems like a critical waste of his talents.

Oh, and the animatronic effects are complete ass. The dinosaurs barely work half the time, with some of them straight up not moving. Theodore’s eyes stop working at several points, and you can tell his pet dog is actually genuinely fucking terrified of him whenever they’re in a scene together. ILM did the effects and they somehow look worse than what they did for Howard the Duck—which is insane since this film came out the year after they convinced the world dinosaurs were real with Jurassic Park! Several staff members apparently worked on Dinosaurs too, a beloved series with great stylized dinosaur animatronics! What the fuck happened here to give us these malfunctioning uncanny monsters?

And why the fuck is Shaft in this?

IS IT REALLY THAT BAD?

Oh it absolutely is that bad.

Like let’s not beat around the bush here: This movie is a tonal mess with janky effects and a nonsense plot that squanders numerous fascinating concepts. There’s not really any sense being too charitable here. But this is absolutely what makes this movie so entertaining! It’s such a colossal, batshit misfire that it ends up being one of the most insanely fascinating films ever made. From the bizarre story of how it was made to the absolute clusterfuck of a plot that was put to screen, you can’t ever say this movie is boring.

Of course, one must lament that the original idea from the 80s was scrapped and forced into becoming a family-friendly action comedy at the behest of the studios. There are so many great ideas here, so many interesting concepts and worldbuilding, and none of it ever gets to soar like it should because the movie is the inept bastardization of interesting concepts by out-of-touch suits. It makes the film interesting as a freakish curiosity, but this genuinely could have been something on the “good” side of “so bad it’s good” (or maybe even straight up good!). As it is, this is one of the best of the worst, peak shitty movie to inflict on your friends on movie night.

Of course, this film has the easiest path of redemption in the world: Someone just needs to dub Theodore's lines over Advent Children or Superman vs. the Elite or even Injustice and it will all have been worth it.

[nameshowdown]

Theodore Showdown (Theodore Off) - Round 1

Who is the better Theodore?

Theodore Rex - Theodore Rex

Theodore Lawrence - Little Women

Voting ended onJul 1, 2025

[ararebreedstory]

What are your top 10 favorite Dinosaur Movies that aren't Jurassic Park?

(In no particular order.)

1. Planet Of The Dinosaurs (1976)

2. Carnosaur (1993)

3. The Last Dinosaur (1977)

4. At The Earth's Core (1976)

5. One Million Years B.C. (1966)

6. The Land Before Time (1988)

7. We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (1993)

8. Prehysteria! (1993)

9. Adventures in Dinosaur City (1992)

10. Theodore Rex (1995)

[mediasaurs]

TRM Round 1: Theodore Rex (Theodore Rex) vs. Walking With (Mother T. rex)

Theodore Rex (Theodore Rex) – In this direct-to-video, Razzie-nominated buddy cop comedy, humans and anthropomorphic dinosaurs coexist in a bizarre alternate future. Naturally, in buddy cop tradition, Whoopi Goldberg and Theodore Rex are mismatched partners who have to solve a series of murders leading, of course, to a billionaire trying to create a new ice age. If I’m allowed to editorialize here, I’m going to stick with Roger Rabbit.

Walking With (Mother T. rex) – Long before Hank and his clan swam across the sea, this mother T. rex tried her best to rear her young among the dangers of the late Cretaceous. She manages to protect her nest from an egg-stealing Didelphodon, resulting in three babies successfully hatching. All does not go well for the runt of the litter, but the other two get to show their curiosity, much to a local snake’s annoyance. Sadly, unlike in Prehistoric Planet, the end of the story for this T. rex family is not a happy one. After the mother is killed defending her babies from an Ankylosaurus, the asteroid arrives, ending the age of the non-avian dinosaurs.

TRM Round 1: Theodore Rex (Theodore Rex) vs. Walking With (Mother T. rex)

Theodore Rex (Theodore Rex)

Walking With (Mother T. rex)

Voting ended onAug 27, 2023

[best-fictional-lizard]

Best Fictional Dinosaur Tournament: Megatheropod Bracket; Round 1H, Poll 3/8

Theodore Rex [Theodore Rex] vs. Baby T [Crash Bandicoot]

Theodore Rex

Baby T

Voting ended onOct 25, 2024

[figmentjedi]

[rustybottlecap]

Theodore Rex (1996) fascinates me because it feels like they tried really really really hard to adapt a saturday morning cartoon to live action but said cartoon doesn't exist.

The similarities with the 1993 Super Mario Bros movie are also bizarre. They are both scifi about humans meeting dinosaurs (brought to life by glorious puppets and animatronics) in a dirty and gritty "cyberpunk for kids" city that could only exist in 90s media, both with the tone and mood swinging so hard it's not clear who the intended audience is (besides me specifically), and both with very chaotic productions where they went over-budget and the actors wanted nothing to do with it.

There is also this third movie, Adventures in Dinosaur City (1991), that kind of sort of fits this vibe.

I wonder if the TMNT were in part responsible for this "mini-genre", specifically the first two live action movies.