The Dinosaur Project is a 2012 British found footage science fiction thriller drama adventure

film edited by Ben Lester, produced by Moonlighting Films, Kent Films, LoveFilm, Anton Capital
Entertainment, Dinosaur Productions and Nick Hill, distributed by StudioCanal, music composed
by Richard Blair-Oliphant, based on an original idea by Sid Bennett and Tom Pridham, written by Sid
Bennett and Jay Basu, and directed by Sid Bennett. It stars Richard Dillane, Peter Brooke, Matthew
Kane, Natasha Loring, Stephen Jennings, Andre Weideman with Abena Ayivor and Sivu
Nobongoza. The visual effects for the film were provided by Jellyfish Pictures. The Dinosaur
Project was filmed in South Africa on 8 August 2012. The film was rated PG-13 for some violence,
terror and a brief suggestive image. The film was released in cinemas in the UK on 10 August 2012
by StudioCanal. The movie has received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $2,412,576
worldwide. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 27 February 2013 by StudioCanal.

Plot[edit]
A group of explorers from the British Cryptozoological Society (and two television cameramen) goes
on an expedition into the Congo in search of a cryptid—the so-called Mokele-mbembe—which is
believed to be a Plesiosaur called Elasmosaurus.
The explorers' leader, Jonathan, discovers during the helicopter flight, that his son Luke sneaked
into the chopper as a stowaway. Shortly after that, a flock of large flying reptiles (pterosaurs)
called Pteranodons appears next to the helicopter, causing the helicopter to crash. Everyone but the
pilot escape just before the chopper explodes. Now lost, they discover that the satellite phone they
had with them was broken during the crash, Amara, their local guide, suggests to go to the village
they saw while in the helicopter. Upon arriving, the group discovers the village destroyed and the
villagers dead. Jonathan chooses a hut to stay in for the night while his son installs a night vision
camera outside the hut.
At night, everyone is wakened by a swarm of bat-like reptiles
(maybe Dimorphodon or Anurognathus) outside. They try to flee the village because it's infested with
the animals. Liz, their medic, is attacked and killed while the rest escape in a pair of wooden boats.
After the boats get wrecked by an unseen force they arrive on a small island and decide to camp out
for the night. As they talk around the fire they encounter a small unknown theropod with a frill around
its neck. It particularly takes a liking to Luke. Luke names it "Crypto" after the term cryptozoology for
short and decides to attach one of his cameras onto Crypto's neck to see where he would go. The
broadcast cuts out as the dinosaurs swim into a cave.
When the broadcast returns, Luke and Charlie see that Crypto went straight to some kind of
underground gateway, where the camera is dropped. When they try to steer through a whitewater,
Luke's and Charlie's boat gets separated. The rest of the explorers rejoin them in a river canyon,
where they encounter a magnificent Elasmosaurus. As they view the beast a
vicious Pliosaur (Liopleurodon) suddenly emerges and attacks the group. The Elasmosaurus flees
as well. Believing that the rest of the group died, Charlie and Luke continue to search for the place
where the dinosaurs came from. When Charlie learns that Luke has fixed the satellite phone, he
pushes Luke down into the gateway to kill him.
On the other side of the underground passageway, Luke speaks into the camera, trying to reach the
other survivors via the monitor to no avail. Meanwhile, Amara leaves the other survivors, taking one
of the boats. Jonathan and Pete continue the search for Luke and Charlie. In the meantime, Luke
meets Crypto and follows him deeper into the jungle, where he is attacked by the bat-like creatures.
He is rescued by Pete, who chases the creatures into the jungle, when he is suddenly encircled by
them and presumably killed. Charlie is seen, speaking to the camera, when he is interrupted and
forced to hide by Jonathan and Luke, continuing through the jungle. They follow a steep cliffway,
when they are hit by a rockfall caused by Charlie. Luke tries to help his father who is holding onto a
rock, but his father ends up falling down the cliff.
Luke hides in the dense jungle, evading Charlie who is chasing him, when he meets Crypto who
leads him to the place where he dropped his camera earlier, when suddenly Charlie emerges in front
of him, intending to kill him. Crypto spits fluid into Luke's face, when two adult giant theropods with
frills (presumably Crypto's parents) appear. Sniffing at Luke and smelling the fluid, they leave him
alone, most likely because he smells like one of their offspring, and they brutally kill Charlie.
Luke proceeds into the jungle and stops at a high cliff, filming himself and Crypto, he says that the
satellite phone has been crushed again and that he has to destroy the cameras to use the parts, he
waves the camera over the view from the cliff, showing a big valley full of dinosaurs from afar which
seems there is a herd of large sauropods and a Tyrannosaurus rex-like theropod stalking the herd.
In the next scene he is seen throwing the backpack down a waterfall into a river. Luke's fate is
unknown.
The floating backpack is found by men in a boat, who find video hard drives and tapes labelled "the
Dinosaur Project" inside. In a blurry video, Luke says "I think it works".

Cast[edit]
• Richard Dillane as Jonathan Marchant
• Peter Brooke as Charlie Rutherford
• Matthew Kane as Luke Marchant
• Natasha Loring as Liz Draper
• Stephen Jennings as Dave Moore
• Andre Weideman as Pete Van Aarde
• Abena Ayivor as Amara
• Sivu Nobogonza as Etienne

Production[edit]
Filming[edit]
The Dinosaur Project was filmed at South Africa on 8 August 2012.

Release[edit]
Theatrical release[edit]
The film was released in cinemas in the UK on 10 August 2012.[1] It was scheduled for release in
cinemas worldwide through 2012–13, starting with South-East Asia on 23 August 2012.[2]

International releases[edit]
• UK – 10 August 2012
• Ireland – 10 August 2012
• Brazil – 7 September 2012
• Estonia – 5 October 2012
• Singapore – 18 October 2012
• Greece – 1 November 2012
• Mexico – 2 November 2012
• France – 9 November 2012
• Russia – 7 February 2013
 • Sweden – 27 February 2013
• Philippines – 13 March 2013
• Japan – 16 March 2013
• Australia – 20 March 2013
• Italy – 18 July 2013
• Taiwan – 16 August 2013
• Venezuela – 16 August 2013
• Argentina – 18 September 2013
Home media[edit]
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 27 February 2013 by StudioCanal.

Reception[edit]
Critical reception[edit]

Richard Dillane and Matthew Kane were praised by critics for their performances.

The movie has received mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the
film a 49% rotten rating based on 14 critic reviews, with an average rating of 5.33/10.[3] The Financial
Times awarded the film 4 out of 5 stars (80%) and called it "rip-roaring fun...Feature debutant Sid
Bennett's motion-capture movie also does emotion capture. You will jump, gasp, grimace, just like
the characters. The creatures are often very creepy. The Cloverfield-style dependency on "found
footage" means everyone on screen must have a camera, but even that is carried off with dash and
nonchalance."[4] Digital Spy awarded the movie 3 stars out of 5 (60%) and labelled it "Decent found-
footage caper...The Dinosaur Project is good and undemanding fun. There are enough sharp claws
to overcome the flaws and ensure this is never a dino-bore...[5] The Guardian wrote 'The CGI
monsters are surprisingly convincing and children will identify with the intrepid 15-year-old lad who
stows away on his dad's helicopter and turns up trumps by using his computer wizardry."[6] Katie
Fraser of Screenjabber.com awarded the film 3½ stars out of 5, writing "If you don't mind the
shakiness of the found-footage genre (beware – a headache is likely), definitely go see this film if not
for the computer-generated dinosaurs. It's no Jurassic Park, but they did create some pretty cool-
looking prehistoric monsters."[7] Total Film awarded it three stars out of five and said "Though it's
desperate to be the next Jurassic Park, there's little Spielbergian bite to this low-budget Brit flick.
Instead we get wobbly cameras and equally wobbly acting from a cast of unknowns as a group of
explorers hunt dinos in the Congo....Its money shots generally impress, and the breakneck pace
bounds over a multitude of sins – including Park's deadly dilophosaurus getting a makeover as a
cute little critter that'll have the nippers cooing."[8] IGN awarded the film 4 out of ten and said "Writer-
director Sid Bennett does manage to eek moments of tension out of the premise, and the vast
African vistas glimpsed throughout are a joy to behold...a found footage flick that disappoints at just
about every turn, and makes you wish the tapes had remained lost."[9] The Independent awarded the
film two stars out of five and said "The script stinks like dino-poo... but for all the silliness you may
find yourself entertained."[10] SFX awarded the film two and a half out of five stars and said "...has just
enough charm to be worth a look – particularly if you have kids who like watching giant reptiles
eating people...A few unexpected twists that mark it out as interesting (the running order of the
deaths isn't quite what you'd expect, for example) and the dinos are a cut above most films of this
nature – particularly one little cutie who's basically dino-Lassie. Admirably, the vast majority of the
action is shot on location, with some white-water rafting to spice up the scenes with no reptiles in.
Despite the plus points, though, it's still a cheesy, childish adventure which tries very hard not to be
the TV movie it actually is."[11] Empire Magazine awarded the film two stars out of five and said that
the film was "More Terra Nova meets Sanctum 3D than Jurassic Park meets Cloverfield."[12] On its
international cinema release, debuting in South East Asia, the movie was a commercial hit, entering
the Malaysian box office charts in second position behind The Expendables 2.[13] On its release in
Thailand, The Dinosaur Project attained third spot.[14]

Box office