'Terra Nova' reviews

The most anticipated show of the fall television season, "Terra Nova," debuted on Monday night with a two-hour special. Produced by Steven Spielberg. Guest-starring dinosaurs. What's not to love? Here's what some critics had to say.


In a nutshell, the plot involves humans on an environmentally ravaged Earth of 2149 traveling back in to the age of dinosaurs to reboot civilization.

From Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times Television Critic:

Easily the most exciting show of the fall season, Fox' "Terra Nova" has such obvious, instant and demographically diverse appeal — sci-fi fans, fantasy fans, 5-year-olds, 50-year-olds, Al Gore that you have to wonder why no one thought of it before.

From Hank Stuever of the Washington Post:

“Literally the biggest thing on TV this fall ... ‘Terra Nova’ has it all: time travel, misguided utopianism, ‘Swiss Family Robinson’-style cohesion and lots of hungry dinosaurs. It’s all pretty dazzling, but with so much time spent on special effects, the characters seem to be factory-direct. The script gets wordy, as the cast hurriedly speak in bursts of dialogue meant to give viewers all the background that, frankly, we don’t need. Even with a lavish two-hour premiere, ‘Terra Nova’ could stand to slow down and admire the world it has taken us to — Earth, 85 million years ago. Still and all, it’s a dazzling debut, with a variety of compelling mysteries to get itself going.” 

 From Mike Hale of the New York Times:

While that show was like a less grim version of Mr. Spielberg’s film “War of the Worlds,” “Terra Nova” harks back to his “Jurassic Park” movies, with visual and thematic nods to other jungle tales like “Avatar” and “Lost.” This time it’s the humans who are miraculously inserted into the dinosaurs’ world, rather than the other way around. 

From Laurel Brown of BuddyTV:

When I was a kid, they brought animatronic dinosaurs to our local science museum. Cool. A few years later, Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park hit theaters, bringing along the most realistic dinosaurs anyone had ever seen. Very cool. This week, FOX brings us (again from Spielberg), the action-adventure series, Terra Nova, and all its cool dinosaur-vs.-people goodness. And you know what? Those dinosaurs are still cool.

The rest of Terra Nova, however, is a bit less cool. While a lack of coolness is not altogether a bad thing for viewers, it does make one worry about the future of this expensive show.

From Steve West of Television Blend:

I’m excited to see where Terra Nova goes, because it’s a show with vast potential. Sometimes it’s OK to have fun and play in a dinosaur sandbox. I hope that the creative team behind the show never forgets that as they plot out the future of the series.