T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous MPAA Rating: PG Entertainment: +3 Content: -1

This film was not rated by the MPAA. The PG rating is Preview's own designation based on the film's content.

The 3-D effects in this IMAX movie are fantastic. When the tyrannosaurus rex hovers overhead emitting a chilling growl from its gaping mouth, you can almost feel its breath as you white-knuckle the armrest or the arm next to you. Unlike many IMAX films, T-REX weaves its educational theme around a fictional plot. Dr. Donald Hayden (Peter Horton), a paleontologist, uncovers what he believes to be the only fossilized T-Rex egg ever found. His teenage daughter, Ally (Liz Stauber), an aspiring scientist, finds the fossilized egg at the museum where her father works. When she accidentally drops it, a strange powder from the egg causes her to travel back and forth through time. She travels back to the age of the T-Rex and other theorized species, and later talks to an early twentieth century artist, Charles Knight (Tuck Milligan) and pioneering paleontologist, Barnum Brown (Laurie Murdoch). Ally learns first hand in these time shifts information supporting a long-standing theory that dinosaurs and birds may be linked in the evolutionary timeline. Anyone whos ever been amazed by IMAX films will be dazzled by the 3-D images available through modern film technology and some cool 3-D glasses.

Educational IMAX and OMNIMAX films rarely include any questionable elements. However, T-REX supports ideas of macro-evolution, less complex species developing over time into more complex organisms of a different species. Throughout the story, Ally seeks evidence that dinosaurs are the ancient predecessors of modern day birds. When she speaks to Barnum Brown, they specifically mention Darwins theory of evolution and the supposed fossil evidence found in the earths strata. To the films credit, evolution is referred to as a theory and Dr. Hayden warns his daughter that speculation must be supported by concrete evidence. A hugely entertaining film, T-REX provides an interesting picture of the theorized age of the dinosaurs. However, with its apparent endorsement of a theory that contradicts biblical creation, T-REX: BACK TO THE CRETACEOUS does not win our approval.

Preview Reviewer: Cliff McNeely
Distributor: IMAX Films