Underplayed Gems

Rex (1993)

Rex poster
Original title
REX 恐竜物語
Directed by
Haruki Kadokawa
Genre
family, adventure
Country
Japan
Runtime
1h 46m
Rating
5.5 of 10 from 11 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A young girl named Chie becomes friends with a baby Tyrannosaurus rex that hatches from an egg her father discovered. She raises the dinosaur and protects it as it grows.

heartfeltwhimsicalgentlenostalgicslow-pacedfamily-orientedmildly adventuroustender

What happens

Rex: A Dinosaur's Story (Japanese: REX 恐竜物語, Hepburn: REX: Kyōryū monogatari) is a 1993 Japanese film directed by Haruki Kadokawa, based on a manga written by Masanori Hata and illustrated by Clamp. The film stars Yumi Adachi as Chie, a young girl who befriends a young Tyrannosaurus rex after it hatches from an egg co-discovered by her paleontologist father (Tsunehiko Watase). The film grossed ¥2.2 billion on an estimated ¥2 billion budget, and a total outlay of ¥2.45 billion once the marketing costs of ¥450 million were factored in. Nonetheless, Rex was a box-office failure, despite being the second-highest-grossing Japanese film of 1993, seventh-highest-grossing film in Japan of 1993 and Shochiku's highest-grossing release at the time (it was surpassed by Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in 2002). Commentators have suggested that the film aimed to capitalize on the success of Jurassic Park, which debuted a month prior. At the 17th Japan Academy Film Prize in 1994, Adachi won the Newcomer of the Year award for her performance. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? You can browse by genre, country and year, or take this one into the 3D catalogue and ask the Catbot for something closer.