Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Dreadful low-budget fantasy is hard to watch.
Parents Need to Know
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Jurassic School
Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 12 parent reviews
Parents say the film tends to divide audiences, with some appreciating its campy charm and educational value for young dinosaur enthusiasts, while others criticize its low budget, lack of special effects, and poor storytelling. Many reviewers shared that it engages younger viewers, making it a decent choice for children despite its shortcomings in terms of production quality and character development.
- campy charm
- educational value
- low budget
- not engaging for all
- poor production quality
- good for young viewers
Summarized with AI
Summarized with AI
Based on 10 kid reviews
What's the Story?
In JURASSIC SCHOOL, 12-year-old science whiz Tommy creates a dinosaur using his computer, plastic toys, some yellow fluid, an ostrich egg, and a heat lamp. A corrupt researcher named Reynolds (Jon Briddell) reluctantly leads a middle school competition sponsored by his tech company but actually wants to steal any good ideas produced and then claim them as his own. His favorite boy scientist, Ethan (Ashton Pulis), sometimes sabotages the more creative Tommy's work and sometimes tries to take credit for Tommy's project when it seems to succeed. Ethan threatens to have Tommy kicked out of the sponsorship unless Tommy cooperates. The dinosaur Tommy creates gets loose, with Reynolds in hot pursuit and Tommy, his sister Chloe (Amber Patino), and Ethan, now on Tommy's side, trying to save the creature. The police get involved and the dinosaur, whose health is failing, makes a miraculous recovery.
Is It Any Good?
This movie's filmmakers seem to think that if their plot features extremely smart children, their movie can be extremely dumb. Jurassic School is dreadfully written and dreadfully executed. Anyone older than 5 will find its logic and plotting painfully inadequate, to the degree that it's unwatchable. Tommy inexplicably crumbles under pressure to do the bidding of the oily little manipulator Ethan, when he could easily show his work to someone other than the mean old Dr. Reynolds and get full, deserved credit. Creating new life is something the local newspaper might be interested in, no? And when the dinosaur hatches but Tommy decides to hide the creature instead of showing it to everyone immediately, the reason he gives for waiting makes no sense.
Making fantasy movies as cheaply as possible is no crime, but one of the main characters is a dinosaur and around 90 percent of its scenes feature a long green rubber tube with an unblinking dinosaur head attached to its end. Clearly someone off-screen is moving that tube to the left or right as scenes require in the thing's "interactions" with human actors. Also, the plot depends on the staggering availability of ostrich eggs, large numbers of which are required to conduct Tommy's many experiments. None of it makes sense and all of it is awful.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about what it means to follow one's passions. Tommy loves science and perseveres in his quest to hatch a dinosaur in Jurassic School. What passion projects do you want to see through to the end?
Cloning and DNA research are making it seem as if it might be possible to re-create extinct animals in the lab. What other scientific feats would you like to see accomplished?
How does this compare to other dinosaur movies you've seen?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : January 31, 2017
- Cast : Gabriel Bennett , Amber Patino , Ashton Pulis , Jon Briddell
- Director : Mark Atkins
- Studios : GAIAM , The Asylum
- Genre : Family and Kids
- Run time : 85 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : October 9, 2025
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