Land Before Time Retrospective #5
Released: 1997
I watched the film just yesterday. I mentioned in my reviews of the first three films that I’d seen them as a kid and, though I’d forgotten large chunks of them, I could still recall various scenes and snippets here and there when I finally saw them again years later. Meanwhile, I didn’t remember anything at all about the fourth film and so I’m pretty sure I never saw that one before as a kid.
This one I had seen previously, although it wasn’t familiar to me at first. It wasn’t until around halfway into the film where I began to think, “Oh yeah, I remember this.” But even there, the only parts I could recall were:
– The kids travelling across that rocky path to reach the island, only to have the path get swallowed up by the ocean.
– When the Plated Sharptooth first shows up, as I had remembered Chomper’s parents along with a third, more openly antagonistic adult Sharptooth. And then the final battle between Chomper’s parents and the Plated Sharptooth, before they knock him into the drink. (Although curiously, I’d forgotten about Chomper himself.)
Anyway, this was a solid sequel. It has a great plot hook with the kids trapped on a mysterious island all by themselves. I only wish it had lasted longer, to spend more time with the creepy atmosphere and having the kids scavenge for survival and avoiding various dangers. Hmm. Maybe that’s something I could expand upon if I were to do a fanfiction novelization of the film.
Speaking of the Plated Sharptooth, I thought he was the best antagonist of the sequels up to this point. He was reminiscent of the very original Sharptooth from LBT 1. Granted, by comparison, I do feel they could’ve gone further with the Plated Sharptooth’s menace. Still, it was refreshing to have an otherwise serious villain this time around. Likewise, Chomper’s parents made a welcome return.
Great Ducky line: “Yuck, yuck, yuck!”
I’m still not really digging the songs, although “Big Water” and “Always There” are two of the better ones so far. I liked that “Always There” touched upon the fact that Littlefoot misses his mother.
I give this film 6 out of 8 tree stars.
