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Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend - Blu-ray Review

Movie Review

2 beersWhen in the jungle, it would be wise of happily married (and still sexually active) couples to actually keep the noises of their lovemaking down. It might attract all kinds of beasts once thought extinct…like the brontosaurus family at the center of Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend. This is what happens to paleontologist Dr. Susan Matthews-Loomis (Sean Young) and her husband George Loomis (William Katt) when they go monster hunting in Central Africa.

And they get their tent toppled by a curious and once thought extinct little beastie. Welcome to the weird and wacky world of Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend, a film that is best remembered thanks to Jerry Goldsmith’s rip-roaring score that merges bombastic orchestrations with electronic soundscapes. Goldsmith, according to interviews, is still fond of the experience of recording the score and continues to insist that it be included in his career retrospective collections.

The composer is not wrong. Thankfully, director Bill L. Norton (Three for the Road) has that going for him because – outside of a few recurring jokes and a villainous turn by Patrick McGoohan (The Prisoner) as Dr. Eric Kiviat and Julian Fellowes as Nigel Jenkins, Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend simply has nowhere to go – even for a B-movie. Katt might be solid in his performance as the hero in charge of keeping his wife safe from an army of nationalists led by Colonel Nsogbu (Olu Jacobs) as she goes all in for saving the brontosaurus baby they’ve rescued from being captured but that doesn’t really make up for a directionless script penned by Clifford and Ellen Green.

I remember, as a youngster, being fairly impressed by the special effects in the movie. Audiences – almost six full years before Jurassic Park went full blown CGI – got to see three Brontosauruses out in the wild. Its novel animatronics, of course, but that doesn’t negate that the illusion of very practical effects worked to elicit some emotion from us as Baby watches the death of its father and the stunning of its mother. You would mew, too. And probably charge the army responsible for the death.

This live-action film from Disney – released under their Touchstone moniker – was much darker than their previous work. There is death by electrocution, animal killings, swearing, and even Sean Young loses her top for some ill-timed lovemaking. With far less humor and a weak stab to make this a bit more Indiana Jones-like than it really wasn’t, the film – even among the people who liked it – just failed to produce anything but casual fans. Kino Lorber Studio Classics, recognizing that there is – however limited – STILL a fanbase for this film, has just issues Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend on blu-ray, thanks to a blistering remastering job.

The Mokele-mbembe are real, ya dig? Deal with it.

 

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Movie Details

Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend - Blu-ray Review

MPAA Rating: PG.
Runtime: 95 mins
Director: Bill Norton
Writer: Clifford Green, Ellen Green
Cast: William Katt, Sean Young, Patrick McGoohanGenre: Family | Sci-fi
Tagline: The greatest adventure ever born!
Memorable Movie Quote: "All I ever wanted to do was find my very own dinosaur."
Theatrical Distributor: Buena Vista Pictures
Official Site: Release Date: March 22, 1985
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: February 13, 2018
Synopsis: Time is running out to save the greatest discovery in 200 million years! Join the thrilling expedition deep into the forbidding African jungle, where two modern scientists are on the trail of an amazing discovery! While studying rare fossils, they uncover a living, breathing legend - an enormous pair of Brontosauruses and a hatchling dinosaur alive in the heart of the rain forest! To protect this rare find, they must escape a world of unseen and certain danger. Through a tribe of mystical native warriors, and into the grasp of an evil scientist, it's the ultimate battle to survive!

 

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Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend - Blu-ray Review

Blu-ray Review

Blu-ray

Blu-ray Details:

Home Video Distributor: Kino Lorber
Available on Blu-ray - February 13, 2018
Screen Formats: 2.35:1
Subtitles: English SDH
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; single disc
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A

With a 2.35:1 aspect ratio and a 5.1 stereo surround track, Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend looks brand new and crisp again. The leafy greens of the jungle are expressive and so too are the muddy bodies of water. Blues are strong and so are blacks, with the shadows maintaining their depth. The action sequences – full of rescues and rampaging dinosaurs – are vivid and expressed with a new clarity thanks to HD upgrade. Sure, the dinos look fake as hell but that’s to be expected. The sound is presented in an adequate DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround & 2.0 Audio.

Supplements:

Commentary:

  • None

    Special Features:

    • Fans get two NEW interviews with this release. One is with William Katt who talks about the making of the movie and what he best remembers about the shoot and an interview with the film’s director, Bill Norton.
    • Interview with William Katt
      Interview with Bill Norton
      Original Theatrical Trailer

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    Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend - Blu-ray Review

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