LAND BEFORE TIME IV: THE JOURNEY THROUGH THE MISTS (1996)
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1997 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): * 1/2
Just like shows for grownups, successful kids' movies are susceptible to the excessive sequel syndrome. THE LAND BEFORE TIME was a beautiful movie that could easily charm the whole family. The next two sequels were sweet but, lacking the imagination of the first, were pure formula. The latest in the series, LAND BEFORE TIME IV: THE JOURNEY THROUGH THE MISTS, is the least interesting and involving of the lot. It provides non-offensive pabulum, but little more. Like the other sequels, it went straight to video, bypassing the theaters entirely.
Our heroes Ducky (voice by Heather Hogan), Spike (voice by Rob Paulsen), Petrie (voice by Jeff Bennett), Littlefoot (voice by Scott McAfee), and Cera (voice by Candace Hetson) are back.
This time the story revolves around a rapid climate change that causes some of Littlefoot's cousins to come and visit. It seems that the cousins' home, the Valley of the Mists, has been transformed into a wet swamp. New creatures there make it no longer habitable for them. They are forced to migrate constantly and thus have no place to call home.
Littlefoot's grandfather falls ill and the only thing that can save him is the Night Flower. And yes, you guessed it. It can only be found in the feared Valley of the Mists.
The standard routine for these series is that the children will run off without telling their parents and grandparents. They will encounter terrifying creatures while gone. Meanwhile, back home everyone will be worried. The canonical story is again relatively unchanged.
The major differences between the films are the bad guys, the new friends, the disasters, and the new land. Perhaps the major failing of LAND BEFORE TIME IV is the new monster. It is a large blind and bland crocodile named Dil (voice by Tress MacNeille) who is aided by a wisecracking bird called Ichy (voice by Jeff Bennett). Neither of these are the least bit scary. Previously the dino kids had a Sharptooth, a.k.a., a T-Rex, after them, and when he roared, you believed that here was a monster.
This highly repetitious film has the same earthquake, called earth shakes, our protagonists have come across before. A new creature, like a turtle with webbed feet, called Archie (voice by Charles Durning), comes to the aid of our heroes. Typical of the show is Archie's homespun wisdom, "Where there's a will there's a way or a pulled muscle." The cutest creature award this time goes to a mouse called Tickles (voice by Frank Walker).
The main tune by James Horner, heard briefly during the film, is still lovely as are the two times that Ducky gets to say her signature line, "Yep, yep, yep." Other than that and one pretty image of the Valley of the Mists from the mountaintop, there is nothing to compel you to watch this film. Kids who are into the series will probably enjoy the picture, but it is a shame that the producers did not take the time to breathe a little imagination into the project and were content instead with this low budget rehash. Our children deserve better.
LAND BEFORE TIME IV runs 1:14 but seems longer since so little happens. It is rated G. The only action of any possible concern to parents is the scene of the sick grandfather dinosaur who appears to be dying. The show should be fine for kids of any age. I found the movie lackluster and recommend you choose some other video instead. The original would be a good choice. I give this lifeless version * 1/2.
On the other hand, my son, Jeffrey, age 7 1/2, said:
"I liked it a lot. It was a really good movie because it had a lot of action like all of the other LAND BEFORE TIMEs. It had more new characters that the other LAND BEFORE TIMEs. I recommend it for kids 4 and up."
**** = A must see film. *** = Excellent show. Look for it. ** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable. * = Poor show. Don't waste your money. 0 = Totally and painfully unbearable picture.
REVIEW WRITTEN ON: January 13, 1997
Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews