In Dino Veritas
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Seasons 1 & 2
DVD Box Set
Region 1 NTSC
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Seasons 1 & 2
DVD Box Set
Region 2 PAL
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(Sliders Story No. 17, starring Jerry O'Connell)
- written by creative consultant Steve Brown
- directed by Oscar L. Costo
- music by Anthony Marinelli
- produced by Mychelle Deschamps
(and Jon Povill, Tony Blake and Paul Jackson)
- Production # K0813
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Story: Still wearing truth-collars from a world
obsessed with enforcing honesty, the Sliders find themselves
in a forest with no sign of San Francisco anywhere, and
a possible dinosaur stalking them. Separated from both
Quinn and the lost timer, Wade, Rembrandt, and Arturo
take refuge in a cave and find themselves caught in
awkward confrontations with its occupants and each other.
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Buyers' Guide Review
by Martin Izsak
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(A more in-depth analysis, containing "SPOILERS" and intended
for those who have already seen the program, can be accessed
here.)
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Although the "Sliders" staple of pinching premises from popular
feature films won't come into full swing (and the heights of ridiculousness)
until later in season three, you have to applaud their ambition of trying
to cover the same CGI territory of "Jurassic Park" on a television
budget and schedule in the spring of 1996, just shy of three years after
Spielberg's revolutionary effects phenomenon hit theatres.
But even if the "Dino" remains
the most memorable aspect of this adventure, it really is the often forgotten
"Veritas" angle that provides the story enough dramatic substance
to flesh out its 45-minute time slot.
A very entertaining hook on honesty-world nicely sets up the whole
backstory with the truth-collars. Apparently,
honesty has bred trust on this world, and so its inhabitants are on a bit
of a fast-track in learning about and believing in things like sliding.
An excellent demonstration ensues, nicely bringing up to speed any audience
member who might be completely new to the show. Nice one.
The dinosaur world provides our main characters with much to explore,
and they waste no time sinking their teeth into it. Good.
All is not clear sailing though. As the story goes on, one clearly
gets the impression that the script wanted more CGI dinosaur than they
eventually had time and money to execute, even if it is just one
allosaurus they need to deal with. The time factor may have been
even more hampered if indeed this was the second-last episode shot for the
season as the production codes suggest, and a studio over-excited by the
effects premise rushed it to air closer to the middle of the season.
POV shots eventually
all but take over to make up for unavailable dino shots, and while this is
made to work, you can't help feeling that they've stretched themselves
a bit TOO thin this time.
Perhaps budget consciousness is what caused most of the episode
to get stuffed into a dark old cave with a minimal supporting cast.
In itself, this creates anticipation that we will have to endure a
typical TV "filler" plot that goes nowhere for the middle 70% of the episode,
before some quick and obvious ending puts all the characters back where
they belong. Additionally, it looks like Jerry O'Connell was busy with
other work or something for most of the episode's shooting, as Quinn
doesn't appear at all during the middle half of the adventure. This is
quite reminiscent of the missing Doctor phenomenon frequently encountered
in 1960's Doctor Who
("The Celestial Toymaker" [Doctor Who story no. 24]
is a good parallel)
or the double-banked episodes from 2006 onwards.
The big question usually arising there is
whether or not the remaining regular/main characters successfully carry
the adventure on their own, and if not, the episode usually becomes
a chore to sit through.
Luckily, what actually ensues in "In Dino Veritas" is a lot of good
stuff, even if the audience doesn't see it coming. Wade, Arturo, and
Rembrandt still make an awesome team without Quinn, and manage a lot
of great character moments between themselves - of course all with the
truth collars putting an interesting angle on it.
Arturo, Wade, and Rembrandt also get to explore
the situation of this world through the character of the ranger, who
is additionally interesting when
bringing a very different bit of effects eye-candy to the episode.
Quinn does wind up with some good stuff to do in the episode's final
turns. The concluding action is exciting, despite what's missing
from it, although not exactly the heroic ideal.
Perhaps Wade fares better than the others here.
Finally we end with a little coda
which is okay, but not great.
In the end, Sliders has presented us with another decent episode,
enticingly ambitious beyond its means, solid in more average ways,
important to the characters' development in the series, yet not quite
outstanding or with a great draw for what it delivers on best. It still
remains a nice cog in a successful series.
This story has become available on DVD.
Click on the Amazon symbol for the location nearest you
for pricing and availability:
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Seasons 1 & 2
DVD Box Set
Region 1 NTSC
for the North American market:
in the U.S.
in Canada
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Seasons 1 & 2
DVD Box Set
Region 2 PAL
for the U.K.
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Season 2
DVD Box Set
Region 1 NTSC - new for 2012
for the North American market:
U.S.
Canada 1
Canada 2
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