Dinosaur 13 (2014)

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Mum got this downloaded on the Sky cable we have and we decided to give it a watch since we both have never seen this before! Honestly its really amazing that they found a full dinosaur skeleton as some of the other 12 dinosaurs weren't all fully intact. However, when the law came in and prosecuted the archaeologists who found "Sue" the dinosaur for no absolute reason, they then took the dinosaur for auction. We see that the dinosaurs bones were bought by a Chicago museum instead of the archaeologists buying it back to South Dakota, where the dinosaur was originally found. I say they are still fighting to get the dinosaur back to South Dakota til this day and I hope that they do get it back, it is one of the unique fossils to ever be found on this earth really! I give this documentary 8/10!

Imagine that you were a gold prospector, and found a mother lode. You take it home and clean all the debris off of the ore. Then some military men shows up and takes all you've collected Wouldn't you consider that a theft ? Yet that is exactly what happened to Sue - One of the most complete T- Rex specimen ever found. FBI and the national guard showed up at Blackhills Institute to haul away the fossils of the T-Rex. Something good was found, and US government decided to make it their own - by any means possible, and by force. The action speaks volumes about what kind of government United States is running. In some parts of this world United States is considered a terrorist. In this case a thug as well.Dinosaur 13 is a story that goes beyond the story of T-Rex fossil.It's a story about how US government operates. It's policy of might makes right is a danger not only to the fossil hunters, but to all citizens who lives in United States ( and rest of the world ).

I watched this one on NetFlix (which, by the way, I do not think is that great either). Anyway, I thought I might get a good story about the discovery of a dinosaur but instead was treated to a bunch of tree-hugging wimps completely irrational over their T-Rex discovery. The sappy, crocodile tears, the turning this fossil into something living like some ancient Greek statue come to life.My question: Why was the issue of selling the fossil twice not discussed? It was previously ruled that the fossil was "land" and therefore, since the land did not belong to the guy, he could not sell it without permission. So, okay, if the FBI took the bones and kept them for a couple of years, why did they give them back to the Indian guy as his to auction? And didn't Sotheby's know the ethical issues? And did the Indian guy give back the $5,000? In other words, if it could not be sold for $5,000, then why for $7 million all those years later? And why didn't any of the Larson guys complain about that? They seemed to me to be like those vanilla types who, for instance, have a baby and then the baby is kidnapped and then when they find the baby four years later they say well, it is probably better to leave the baby where it is, yadda yadda yadda. Just unbelievably passive

I have continually had the conversation that we live in a beautiful era for documentaries that push narratives and transcend what audiences previously believed a documentary could do. I am reinforced in this belief by a handful of films that I've seen, but another such film, Dinosaur 13, will now join those ranks. Exposing us to a narrative that few people know, Dinosaur 13 is a roller coaster of a story in the best way possible. What starts as a humble yet passionate following of a group of paleontologists becomes a conflict that is bigger than they could ever expect. I don't want to give any part of the film away because there are so many twists and turns in this story. It is documentaries like this that make me question why even bother with writing stories when there are great ones like this that are more compelling than fiction. I will highlight a few things that I resonated with. First, this is a film about small town USA, in this case Hill City, SD (in close proximity to the Badlands), and the power of community in places like this, both in good times and bad times. Secondly, this is a film about passionate people. The subjects of the film, notably Peter Larson, the paleontologist who is the primary focus, but also the many other folks involved, all share a beautiful love of what they do. Despite all adversity, carrying passion and optimism is a beautiful thing to watch.From a craft standpoint, the film is greatly benefited due to a high quantity of archival footage. Had these events transpired 20 years before, home videos would not have been commonplace and it would have to rely more on reenactments and interviews, but instead a good amount of the film actually uses footage, along with some reenactments and some fantastic interviews.I am blown away by this story and look forward to watching it again in theaters. Paleontology is essentially the study of history and uncovering the truth in the past: Dinosaur 13 has done the same for this powerful story that should be heard by all. 10/10