by Andi Hopkins ’12

Everyone loves a good dinosaur movie. Does “Jurassic Park” ring a bell to anyone? The Jurassic Park trilogy of films, which captured audiences from 1993 to 2001, brought dinosaurs back from the dead and made them a thrilling, and often scary, source of entertainment. FOX’s “Terra Nova” has made sure dinosaurs continue to wander the earth.

The show is initially set in 2149 when Earth and its creatures have succumbed to their greed and can no longer survive because of lack of oxygen, holes in the ozone layer and excessive exhaust fumes. As scientists looked for a way to save humanity, they found a rift in time that goes back 85 million years into the past. Exploration of this past caused the scientists to want people to move there to save their race, and the people would call that place Terra Nova.

The characters really grab the attention of the viewers. The father, Jim Shannon, assaulted a unit of officers after they threatened to take away his youngest daughter Zoe and was sent to jail.

Preceding the arrest, Jim’s wife, Elizabeth Shannon was drafted to be sent to Terra Nova as a doctor, but could only take her two eldest children, Josh and Maddy. The family then planned to bring Jim and Zoe to Terra Nova with them, the father breaking out of prison and stowing away with his youngest daughter.

Then came the actual part in Terra Nova with some dinosaurs. Beautiful brachiosaurus, terrifying pterodactyls and so many I’ve never seen. The transition between the death and the revival of humanity had never been more precise and fluid as it was in “Terra Nova”. If humans were to ever fall victim to their faults and desires, I would not mind jumping through the time rift. Though, I might want to keep a few things in mind.

With the plot of the story established, the danger of the situation then sets in. Innocent people are killed within days of their arrival because they went beyond the gates which protect them from the dangerous, prehistoric world around them.

Would they have been safer if they stayed back home with their friends, or was it better to be fighting for survival? In my opinion, they could not have made a better choice, for the eliciting story of the Shannon’s struggle for survival makes for a thrilling plot, and I couldn’t be more entertained.

Putting together the dawn and dusk of civilization with the mix of dinosaurs and survival brought back the love of dinosaur stories. Step back, “Jurassic Park”! There’s a new show in town and it’s coming on strong!