Movie Review: Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009 Film)

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs is now available on DVD and Blue-Ray

It’s day three of Ice Age week! Where I review the third installment of the Ice Age film series, Dawn of the Dinosaurs.

 

Produced by 20^th Century Fox and Blue Sky Studios, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs is a super exciting entry to the series that adds a thrill of excitement for the entire family and will bring you into the underground world of Dinosaurs!

 

Let’s dive into this one! This movie was once again a nicely done animated movie; it was most definitely not a letdown for it being a third installment. The visual effects of the underground world were stunning and the mini-adventures throughout the movie kept me excited as the hunt for Sid continued into the underground world. Though the running time may be short as always, but the movie was still well paced and had enough time to tell its story completely from start to finish. And the epic adventure and music had me on the edge of my seat.

 

One of the new characters was also one of the best moves they did. Buck, voiced by Simon Pegg, was a very interesting character that brought life into the series and a zing that made this movie so exciting to watch. I cant get enough of him since he’s so exciting to watch. I still holding out hope that he will return in the fifth installment, since he was such a great character.

 

This movie also introduced a lady Scrat named Scratte that adds more drama for Scrat and his nut, and he soon gets once again caught up in another adventure.

 

The action sequences in the underground world was some of the best I have ever seen and kept me fascinated by it, and it was one adventure I hated that ended. There’s so many times in my life that I have a desire to personally visit that world and explore it.

 

The voice cast was excellent as always: With Ray Romano as Manny, John Leguizamo as Sid, Denis Leary as Diego, Simon Pegg as Buck, Queen Latifah as Ellie, Seann William Scott as Crash, and Josh Peck as Eddie.

 

The rating I would give this movie is five out of five stars; this movie was by far the best movie in the entire series. It was excellent from start to finish, and told an epic story that I love to this day. The voice cast was great as always, including the addition of Simon Pegg as Buck. The visual effects and music were once again stunning and excellent. And this is by far, one of the best animated movies I have ever seen.

Movie Review: Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006 Film)

Ice Age 2: The Meltdown is now available on DVD and Blue-Ray

Its day two of Ice Age week! Where I review the second installment of the Ice Age film series, The Meltdown.

 

Produced by 20^th Century Fox and Blue Sky Studios, Ice Age: The Meltdown is a fun entry to the series that adds a thrill of excitement for the entire family!

 

The story follows our hero’s Manny, Sid, and Diego who our in a heated area that starts to melt the ice and cause a huge flood. There only link to survival is to reach a huge boat that will save them from the disaster. Along the trek to reach it, they meet a girl mammoth named Ellie, and two opossums named Crash and Eddie. Together they go through a series of mini-adventures from falling rocks, to mini sloths, to geysers, to dangers animals.

 

Let’s dive into this one! This movie was nicely done for an old animated movie; it was most definitely not a letdown. The visual effects were stunning and the mini-adventures throughout the movie kept me entertained. Though the running time may be short, the movie was well paced and had enough time to tell its story completely from start to finish.

 

The voice cast was excellent as always: With Ray Romano as Manny, John Leguizamo as Sid, Denis Leary as Diego, Queen Latifah as Ellie, Seann William Scott as Crash, and Josh Peck as Eddie.

 

The rating I would give this movie is about four out of five stars. It had a good story, a great cast, nicely done visual effects, splendid action, and a great scrat story which always make the movie fun to watch.

Coming Soon: Ice Age 5 (2016 Film)

You can own all the Ice Age adventures now on DVD and Blue-Ray!

Its time again! Where the Hollywood Star brings you reviews from favorite trilogies of the time! This week will be Ice age week! From 2002 to 2012, 20^th Century Fox and Blue Sky Studios has produced four feature length animated films following a wooly mammoth named Manny, a sloth named Sid, and a saber-toothed tiger named Diego.

 

As for Ice Age 5, not much is currently known at this time. But, 20^th Century Fox has already set the release date for July 15, 2016, so that means were less than two years from the fifth installment. And before the release date was announced, John Leguizamo (The voice of Sid) spoke of a fifth installment saying; “It sounds like they’re working on something. So hopefully the answer is YES, but I cannot say for sure.”

 

The franchise has proved to be successful over many years, with the most recent installment, Ice Age: Continental Drift grossing over $877 million worldwide.

 

Most of the cast will be expected to reprise there roles from previous installments. One character that I’m hoping to see again is Buck from Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. He was what made the movie so great and a brief cameo in the fourth movie seemed like a waste of his character. I’m still holding out hope he will get a lead role again.

 

Make sure to tune in for my latest reviews on the Ice Age franchise later this week!

 

This week’s schedule on reviewing these films will not be done in order, instead done in a different way.

 

Monday: I am looking at what’s known on Ice Age 5 and bringing you up to date on it

 

Tuesday: I will be reviewing Ice Age 2: The Meltdown, the second movie in the trilogy.

 

Wednesday: I will be reviewing Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, the third movie in the trilogy

 

Thursday: I will be reviewing Ice Age 4: Continental Drift, the fourth movie in the trilogy.

 

Friday: Since this day is my Blast From The Past column day every week, I will be reviewing the oldest Ice age in the entire series, that being the first movie.

 

So make sure to stay tuned for these great animated films in the Ice Age series!

Coincidence? Or a pattern?: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Ice Age: Continental Drift

Now you might be wondering, what does Disney’s Pirates and 20^th Century Fox’s Ice Age have to do with each other? Well in this article, I’m going to show you patterns of these two franchises that seems to much like a coincidence. I remember reading a couple of articles about the two, and noticed something I want to share.

 

1. Both series run on fumes in there fourth installment.

 

This is not really a coincidence, anytime a series gets to there fourth installment, they start to run out of ideas. Pirates seemed to be running on fumes with the fourth one, but still maintained a level that can be enjoyed by people like me and Pirate fans. Ice age still maintained a level of good story telling, but it to was running on fumes.

 

2. Both movies were heavily criticized by Movie Critics.

 

Like both movie franchises, both were heavily criticized by movie critics. This is a toss-up between coincidence or not, seeing how one series is meant for children, while the other is meant for teens-adults. Ice Age: Continental Drift currently holds 37% on Rotten Tomatoes, While Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides currently holds 33% on Rotten Tomatoes as well.

 

3. Despite mixed reviews from critics and audiences, both were very successful.

 

Like many popular series, despite being hit by movie critics with negative reviews, the movies persevere and become huge box office successes. This can be a coincidence; then again it may not, seeing how both series are huge with audiences, even if they are running on fumes.

 

4. Both movies made nearly 80% of there money in Foreign markets.

 

This one is too much of a coincidence, the fact that there success relied totally on Foreign markets. Another weird coincidence is that both Ice Age 4 and Pirates 4 both hit bottom with domestic and both making the least in there franchises. Ice Age 4 hit a low in there franchise, grossing only $161 million in the US. Pirates 4 also hit a low in the US as well, grossing only $241 million (Which is still good amount, just its at the bottom out of the 4 movies.) But for overseas, it was a different story. With Ice Age 4 grossing $715 million worldwide for a total of $877 million. While Pirates 4 grossed over $804 million for a total of 1.045 billion. Looking at those numbers, it makes you think, there not doing bad, but indeed good.

5. Both movies featured Father & Daughter storylines.

 

Now let’s move on from statistics and move on to storyline. There was one coincidence that also had me wondering, Father & Daughter storyline. For Ice Age 4, Manny and Peaches. For Pirates 4, Blackbeard and Angelica searching for the Fountain of Youth with Captain Jack Sparrow leading the way. This can be a coincidence, then again it may not. But its weird that they come out with Father and Daughter storylines in there 4^th movie.

 

6. Both featured new pirates (I mean Ice Age to.)

 

Another coincidence is that both featured new characters and both were pirate characters. On Stranger Tides featured the evil Blackbeard, his daughter Angelica, and a new crew on the Queen Ann’s Revenge. In Continental Drift, the pirates were Captain Gutt and his evil crew, along with Diego’s new romance Shira. This is not a huge coincidence, but was interesting with it both featuring new characters that are both pirates (Well of course, Pirates of the Caribbean will feature pirates.)

 

7. Both are making sequels that are being released in 2016.

 

This is way to much of a coincidence, the fact that both franchises will be going at it with a 5^th movie in both franchises. Ice Age 5 is already set for July 15, 2016, while Pirates of the Caribbean 5: Dead Men Tell No Tales still does not have a release date, but is certain that they will be set to go for summer of 2016. though they will not be compete in the box office due to release dates, its certain that both will be challenged on what they got with there fifth installment.

 

So what do you guys think? A pattern between the two? Or is it just a coincidence? Let us know in the comments below.