After the events of "Ice Age: The Meltdown", life begins to change for Manny and his friends: Scrat is still on the hunt to hold onto his beloved acorn, while finding a possible romance in a female sabre-toothed squirrel named Scratte. Manny and Ellie, having since become an item, are expecting a baby, which leaves Manny anxious to ensure that everything is perfect for when his baby arrives. Diego is fed up with being treated like a house-cat and ponders the notion that he is becoming too laid-back. Sid begins to wish for a family of his own, and so steals some dinosaur eggs which leads to Sid ending up in a strange underground world where his herd must rescue him, while dodging dinosaurs and facing danger left and right, and meeting up with a one-eyed weasel known as Buck who hunts dinosaurs intently. Written by
Plot Synopsis:
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Ellie (Queen Latifah) and Manny (Ray Romano) are expecting their first child, and Manny is obsessed with making life perfect and safe for the family, since his first experiences as a husband and father went bad when his family were killed by hunters. At the same time, Diego (Denis Leary) finds himself unable to catch a cocky gazelle (Bill Hader) he has been stalking and decides to leave the herd, believing that he is losing his predatory nature as a tiger. Sid (John Leguizamo) grows jealous of Manny and Ellie and adopts three apparently abandoned eggs that he finds in an icy underground cavern and call them Eggbert, Shelly, and Yoko. Manny tells him to put them back, but Sid instead looks after the eggs, which hatch into baby Tyrannosaurus the next morning.
Although Sid tries his best to raise the three dinosaurs, their rambunctious behavior scares away all the other animals young and ruins a playground Manny built for Ellies baby. A female Tyrannosaurus, Momma, whose eggs Sid stole, soon returns and carries both Sid and her young underground, with Diego in pursuit. Manny, Ellie, Crash, and Eddie (Seann William Scott, Josh Peck) follow as well and discover that the icy cavern leads to a vast jungle populated by dinosaurs thought to be extinct. Here, an Ankylosaurus threatens the herd despite Diegos efforts to fend it off; they are saved from a further crowd of angry reptiles by an insane, one-eyed weasel named Buckminster, or Buck (Simon Pegg).
Buck has been living in this jungle for some time and is chasing Rudy (a huge albino Baryonyx), intending to avenge the eye he lost to it. He agrees to lead the herd through the jungles perils to Lava Falls, where Momma has taken Sid and her babies. In the meantime, Sid and Momma try to outdo each other in feeding the offspring; he loses this contest, but is soon welcomed into the family regardless. The next day, however, Sid is separated from the family and attacked by Rudy. Sid is knocked onto a loose rock slab that is floating on a river of lava and about to plummet over the falls.
As the herd moves toward Lava Falls, Ellie goes into labor and a Guanlong pack strikes, causing a rock slide that separates her from Manny and Diego. Manny doubles back to protect her and Diego fends off further attacks, while Buck takes Crash and Eddie ahead to rescue Sid. Just as he goes over the falls, the trio swoops in on a commandeered Pteranodon only to been chased by a flock of Quetzalcoatlus on the way and saves his life. Manny reaches Ellie, and there is suddenly a reaction, the cry of a newborn baby, then he sees that it is a girl. He wants to name her Ellie, or Little Ellie, but Ellie instead names her Peaches after the fruit (and the codeword they had chosen for Ellie to use if she went into labor during the trip). Sid is saddened at the fact that he never had a chance to say goodbye to "his" children as he returns to the herd and learns of Peaches' birth.
Before they can exit the jungle, Rudy attacks at full force; Buck lures Rudy away from the group and is nearly eaten himself, before Diego saves him at the last second. They then ensnare him briefly, but he escapes and resumes his onslaught. The herd is saved by the timely arrival of Momma, who charges at Rudy and knocks him off a cliff before roaring her victory. As she and her children wish Sid well, Buck now without a purpose in life since Rudy is gone decides to join the herd and live on the surface. However, a distant roar tells him that Rudy is still alive; he changes his mind and sends the herd home, blocking off the path to the underground jungle at the same time so that no one else can go down there. Manny and Ellie welcome Peaches into their frozen world and admit that Sid did a good job looking after Momma's children (though Manny tells Diego that he will never let Sid babysit Peaches). Diego decides to remain with the herd, while Buck stays where he wants to be: underground, battling it out with Rudy.
Scrat and Scratte
Like the previous Ice Age films, the film opens with the saber-toothed squirrel Scrat (Chris Wedge), who does everything he can to retrieve his precious acorn. This time, he falls in love with his female counterpart Scratte (Karen Disher), with the song "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine" by Lou Rawls playing in the background, but an acorn appears instead after the music stops. The two fight over the acorn with Scratte is flung off the ground. As Scrat tries to save her, the two hold onto the acorn and the music starts back. Suddenly, she demonstrates her ability to glide like a flying squirrel, leaving Scrat falling to the ground. The two eventually fall in love after Scrat saves her from falling to her death in the lava river while she is unconscious. He even chooses to focus his attention on her instead of the acorn until the end of the film, when he tires of her finicky nature and reverts to his old ways. The ensuing fight between the couple leads to a volcanic explosion that hurls Scrat and the acorn back to the surface, leaving Scratte trapped underground. However, as Scrat is about to enjoy his acorn, a stray piece of ice falls on him and knocks the acorn back into Scratte's hands. He screams in frustration, having lost both his acorn and Scratte.
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bearfaceproductions from Puerto Rico
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Ice age 3 was really funny and it stays true to the series. Same old characters, a whole new adventure that everyone at any age can enjoy.
I saw the critics and I thought to my self that it would be good, but I didn't expect much, but I really did enjoy it more than I thought. It may not be the best compared to the other Ice Age films, but it still a great thrill ride that the audience can enjoy.
And if you find a theater near you that has it in digital 3D, go and watch it in 3D, because the action and adventure will excite you even more than it actually does.
Normally people think since it's a third part, then the movie won't be that great, but hear me when I say that keep that thought out of your mind and parents, take your kids with you, they are sure to leave with a smile and a long lasting excitement for more.
100% enjoyable, its a 10!
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Sa'ar Vardi (saarvardi@walla.co.il) from Kfar Saba, Israel
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My wife and I attended an early press screening for the third Ice Age installment two weeks ago and had a wonderful time. The film easily tops the second outing of the series, and is right on par with the first - with just the right mixture of new characters and settings vs. the older ones we've all grown to love (especially Scrat. I can watch a whole movie with this guy).
This time around, Manny and Ellie are expecting a baby mammoth, something that leads to unexpected responds from Diego and Sid. When Sid decides to become a parent himself in return, he steals three giant eggs he accidentally bumps into, only to later realize they're dinosaur eggs that belong to a pretty angry mother. When mother-dinosaur kidnaps Sid, it's up to Manny and friends to return him home safely. Adventures ensue as they find out that underneath their icy world lives a land filled with enormous and sometimes menacing dinosaurs, one which our friends would need to cross in order to rescue Sid.
Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs is cute but not insulting, the visuals are stunning and if you forgive the obvious historical loophole (there were no dinosaurs during the Ice Age) you can actually have quite a good time. The dinosaurs add a lot to the plot, and there's actually a very cool, nice sense of adventure throughout the film, one that was somewhat missing (in my opinion) from the previous installment. All this adds to a fun and thrilling experience - alongside the visuals, jokes and general good atmosphere.
To sum things up - Ice Age 3 is an above average animated film, that'll appeal to grown-ups and kids alike. I gave it 9 out of 10.
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RichardSRussell-1 from United States
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I haven't had so many laff-out-loud moments in a movie for a long time. There's about an even mix of verbal and visual gags in this 3rd installment of the Ice Age family saga, they're all fresh instead of hackneyed, and they all work. You wouldn't think a film set in the age of mammoths would be able to run a parody of the old "red wire vs. blue wire" time-bomb scenario, but they find an ingenious way to do it.
Now those among you who haven't fallen prey to creationism are well aware that mammoths are very large mammals (and hence quite recent in geological time), while the last of the dinosaurs went extinct 65,000,000 years ago. So how does the plot explain their coexistence? Well, it seems that there's this entire hidden tropical world underneath the eponymous ice, and our heroes literally fall into it. (Don't overthink it.)
Suddenly Manny the mammoth and his pregnant mate Ellie discover that they're not only not the largest creatures on Earth, as they'd thot, but actually pretty petite compared to the Mama T. Rex, who in turn has to look up to Dad. It's a classic tale of nature red in tooth and claw, except for nobody actually getting eaten. (Well, several critters are swallowed whole but subsequently disgorged, slimy with saliva but basically unhurt; family film, y'know.)
The animation is terrific. Judging from the end credits, apparently the Astor beaver trade, long thot to be extinct, has experienced a renaissance in the animated-fur factories of California. Dino babies and mammal kids are ridiculously endearing. The 3-D is likewise terrific, well used where appropriate (especially in conveying a sense of scale for the underworld) but not overdone. The one carp I have is that 3-D simply does not lend itself to dissolves between scenes; I'm guessing the filmmakers figured this out themselves, as most of the time they used cuts.
The characters, familiar now from the 2 previous films, are well acted with distinctive personalities, and the comic-relief possums have an expanded role. New to the cast is Scratte, a long-lashed female squirrel who, in a running subplot (including mini-cartoons to both start and end the flik), vies with the iconic acorn for the undying devotion of Scrat. As a devotee of the tango, I particularly appreciated their version of it. Also new is Buck, a bold, intrepid, 1-eyed buccaneer of a weasel, voiced by Simon Pegg with British accent in full flower.
Really, it's amazing to realize how much stuff they managed to cram into barely an hour and a half. Never a dull moment, never a missed step. Why, then, does it not get my top rating? Not at all because, as a comedy, it doesn't deserve to be taken seriously. After all, Dogma was a comedy, and it maxed out on my rating scale. But Ice Age 3 wasn't quite an entire story, more a collection of loosely related parts. Every one of those parts was well done, tho; indeed, I'd gladly take any of them over the entire 2.5 hours of the noxious Transformers; sadly, this much better film probably won't do nearly as well at the box office. Too bad.
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simonwest80 from United Kingdom
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OK big plus here - this film is better than the 2nd which i didn't particularly like and if you can go and see it in 3D (For the people who criticise this "gimmick" go and try it 1st rather than base your opinion on other "critics" opinions) do so as it is excellent and really beats the years earlier examples of 3D films (although i didn't see Coraline at the cinema so cant comment on a comparison).
The person who didn't laugh - go on ebay and find a sense of humor - the whole cinema was laughing through out the film and i really enjoyed the jokes - yes you saw most of them coming but hey its a kids cartoon.
The story is easy to follow and again those people moaning its not real jeez ITS A KIDS CARTOON - when do they need to make sense or be realistic..............???
Every kid i have spoken to loves it.
It does have one problem that it is pretty much instantly forgettable along with most the other sequels out at the moment but for the 1hr30mins it was all good fun and a nice way to spend a sat/Friday evening with the Mrs and kids.
Not gonna win any Oscars for originality but could take the gong for best CGI very very good job if you also consider the back drop and how well it works in 3D.
Ah and how can i forget Scrat - in typical Mr Bean style he returns and does not disappoint, come on guys give the mouse/rat thing his own movie!
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troykleasner from Dallas, TX
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Not a bad flick. I don't remember liking the first one, skipped the second one and the only reason I went to see this one was because it was a "sneak preview" that started right after the movie I had gone to see and it was in 3D. I recommend seeing this one in 3D as it was worth the extra couple dollars. I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed it. The story was really stupid and didn't make any sense (dinosaurs living under the ice???), but it kept me interested the entire movie, partly because of the hilarious side story with the acorn loving animal and an excellent job by Simon Pegg as Buck the weasel(I just got done watching his TV show "Spaced" so maybe I am a little partial), who I had no idea was going to be in the movie. This movie also did a wonderful job of keeping everyone in the audience interested. The theater was packed and the only things you heard besides the movie was popcorn chomping and laughter, lots of laughter. Definitely worth seeing at the theater.
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shanpanjwani from United States
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I saw this film earlier today, since it was a sneak preview, and I must say, it was fabulous! When I first heard about the sneak preview, I actually had some doubts about whether to go or not. I recently went to a sneak preview of the proposal, which wasn't half bad, but the theater wasn't even half full!!! when i got into this one, all but the fist two rows were completely full! Still i got a great seat. As for the movie, it was great. All the characters had their fair share of laughs, and they all were equally great! The story revolves around change: Manny and Ellie are together, she is pregnant, Diego wants to move on, and Sid wants to belong and have a family. In order to attain his goal, he goes to look for some friends, but falls through a sheet of ice in the process. He then sees three eggs which turn out to be dinosaur eggs, and believes that they were abandoned. He takes them, and chaos ensues. I would reveal more of the plot, but that could take hours! It may seem like a thin plot if you haven't seen the movie or read the script, but once you do, you will realize just how dense the storyline really is. The cinematography is spectacular, the pop culture references(past and present) are very creative, and the addition of real d 3D just adds more to the film: it is perhaps the best 3D I've seen! Also, all the characters, as said earlier, are also great, but new additions, such as the dinosaurs, and of course Simon Pegg as Buck, are also very funny. There is also times where some of the jokes from Manny seem like the material that made Ray Romano a household name! However, the tie that binds the movie together is the emphasis on the main theme-family and friendship. There are some very dramatic scenarios that display them throughout the movie, and even allow you to feel like you can relate. Since most triquels like Shrek the Third and Spiderman 3 are considered to be clunkers, this will surely be a breath of fresh air to the sub-genre, and is definitely worthy of being an addition to the Ice Age trilogy. A must see in 3D!!! 9/10
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popcornposse from United Kingdom
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Its all about family in essence. Starting one, keeping one, becoming one, protecting one. A family film about family is always going to ring the right bells (unless Eddie Murphys in it), and this is no exception! It's funny, its sharp, it's clever, and when it wants too will tug on your heart strings. It's everything a great family film should be. It has just as much humour to keep the grown ups happy as it does the kids.
It's not perfect; it starts fairly slowly with scenes we've already scene twenty times in the trailer, but the further you go into this adventure the more fun you will have.
A fantastic new addition to the franchise is "Buck" (Simon Pegg) a looney tune hermit possum who joins the herd around half way through. When he enters the scene, the whole movie shifts up a gear! Some of the stuff he comes out with will have you rolling in the isle! If you have the chance, you must see it in 3D! It's amazing how this new version of such an old and dated technology can suck you even deeper into a film! The chases are more exciting, the locations more real, it works so well! And it doesn't give you a migraine!
Overall - Like a franchise should, Ice Age gets better and better and better! If you liked the first, you'll love the second! If you loved the second, you'll go crazy for the third! 2D - 8/10 3D - 9/10
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ccthemovieman-1 from United States
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Frankly, I was shocked this movie was so good. I mean, sequels aren't supposed to this entertaining, are they? This Ice Age series - three films, so far - just keeps getting better and better, funnier and funnier.
I think the key to their success is discovering what the movie's fans liked and putting those two characters in larger roles. I am speaking of "Sid The Sloth," who is always hilarious and voiced magnificently by John Leguizamo. "Sid" has more lines in this movie than the other two, I would venture to say.....and that's fine with me and most other folks.
The other "character" is "Skrat," the squirrel, who is joined by a female squirrel. "Skrat" has the hots for her, but she's still no competition when it comes to the elusive acorn. Nothing is more important than holding onto one of those and both squirrels are very funny in their battles for possession of that acorn.
As for the story, just picture Sid pretending to be a mom to a threesome of baby dinosaurs. That's all you need to know - it's pretty wild. In all, this is an extremely funny film which also looks, as the other two did, fabulous on Blu-Ray.
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fred-kolb from USA
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--Some minor spoilers, skip the part that describes the plot if you don't want to know anything about it--
Personally, I didn't like the second "Ice Age" movie that much. I thought it just wasn't original enough, and couldn't make an impact compared to the great original. So, since movies franchises often have the tendency to get worse with each sequel, I wasn't expecting very much of the third Ice Age movie "Dawn of the Dinosaurs". But, I have to admit, it was quite entertaining and funny, with many jokes and funny situations. The change of location from the white ice world, the main characters inhabited in the first two films, to the lush and green jungle, also did the movie some good, because the optic is just different and more exciting. While the first Ice Age movie still remains unreached by either of the sequels, the third one considerably improves on the second one, with more humor, better action and interesting ideas.
Manfred and Ellie, the two mammoths, are expecting a baby, and Manfred, who is really happy to become a father tries everything to make his wife more comfortable and happy. Meanwhile, the saber-toothed tiger Diego, has to deal with the fact, that he is not the youngest anymore, and that his instincts and reflexes are getting worse. He decides to leave his herd, because he feels his life is coming to an end. Sid, the sloth, wants to have children of his own, and when he discovers three abandoned eggs in a cave, he decides to take them with him. One morning, he realizes that three dinosaurs have hatched from the eggs, and to make matters worse their mother is already looking for them. She attacks Sid and her three babies and abducts them to her world, a large, lush and green jungle, that is located directly under the thick layer of ice. Manfred, Ellie, the two opossums Crash and Eddie, decide to save Sid and eventually meet up with Diego on the way again. They are then joined by the mad wannabe pirate Buck, a weasel, who lost his eye to a gigantic monster, named Rudy, that lives somewhere deep in the jungle. Sid, meanwhile, tries to convince the dinosaurs' mother, that he can provide more for the children than her, but eventually has to accept that children belong to their real mother. The squirrel Scrat, once again reunited with his precious nut, has to deal with an entirely new problem. A femme fatal squirrel, who uses her charm to take Scrat's nut away from him. Being a lot smarter and trickier than him, she gets to keep the nut for most of the time, but eventually falls in love with Scrat, after he saves her from deadly lava. But what is more important to Scrat, his nut or his new girlfriend?
With so many animated movies flooding the market these days, it becomes quite hard to come up with new ideas. Talking animals certainly isn't one, but if the characters have enough history and emotion, it really doesn't matter. "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" really profits from a slightly new approach to the material, which includes some very obvious parodies. The new character of Buck was most definitely inspired by Jack Sparrow from "Pirates of the Caribbean" and the final battle could have directly come from one of the "Star Wars" movies. Then we have the dinosaurs, who are, of course, extremely evil and always hunt down the main characters. All in all, the movies appears slightly stretched and has some relatively slow bits, for which the beginning and ending compensate, though. Especially the first 20-25 minutes, are some of the funniest in any Ice Age movie. And the scenes involving Scrat and his new girlfriend are just as funny as they have always been.
Then we have once again, the actors who give the characters their voices. Ray Romano, who has such a unique voice, speaks Manfred, Denis Leary is Diego, John Leguizamo is Sid and Queen Latifah is Ellie. Buck, the pirate, is voiced by British actor Simon Pegg. Animated movies can never be judged according to acting, because the true leading actors here are the animators. But just as we are used to, the previously mentioned actors put their best effort into providing their character's voice.
So, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs is entertaining and enjoyable, but certainly not the best animated movie of the year. Still it is a good 90 minute time filler, and those who enjoyed the previous Ice Age films, will definitely also like this one. (3.5/5)
The third installment in the Ice Age movie franchise is funny and entertaining, with some very original ideas, but certain lengths throughout the entire film.
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Claudio Carvalho from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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Manny is anxious with the pregnancy of Ellie and builds a playground for the offspring. Meanwhile, Scrat disputes an acorn with the female Scratte and they fall in love with each other while Diego feels old since he is unable to catch a gazelle. The lonely Sid feels jealous of Manny and Ellie and when he finds three dinosaur eggs in an underground cave, he steals and brings them to the surface. He hatches the eggs during the night and on the next morning, three dinosaur babies believe that Sid is their mother and follow him everywhere.
Meanwhile, the real dinosaur mammy seeks their offspring out and when she finds the trio, she brings them back with Sid to her underground world. Manny, Ellie, Diego, Crash and Eddie pursue the dinosaur to rescue their friend and stumble with a dangerous underground world. But they are helped by the smart and talkative one-eyed weasel known as Buck that wears a patch and chases the dangerous Rudy, who was the responsible for the loss of his eye.
"Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" is a wonderful and entertaining tale of love and friendship, with adorable characters and witty situations. The love of Manny with Ellie is very beautiful; the triangle of love among Scrat, the acorn and Scratte is hilarious; the love of Sid with the three dinosaurs is funny and also heartbreaking. For me, the best scene in the story is when mammy dinosaur brings the three babies to the top of a tree and Sid is unable to climb it and says goodnight to the children. But maybe the most important is the friendship Manny, Ellie, Diego, Crash and Eddie with Sid, risking their lives to save their friend. My vote is nine.
Title (Brazil): A Era do Gelo 3" ("The Ice Age 3")
dinosaur|egg|rescue|weasel|squirrel|lost world|acorn|ice age|200th century b.c|20,000 b.c.|subjective camera|insanity|extended family|next generation|on the road|3d sequel to 2d film|rescue team|loneliness|baby girl|snow|computer animation|altered version of studio logo|no opening credits|surrealism|prehistoric times|family relationships|childbirth|skeleton|jungle|sloth|pterodactyl|pregnant animal|pregnancy|lava|ice cave|giving birth|eye patch|expectant mother|expectant father|child in peril|bridge|birth|baby tyrannosaurus|anachronism|allosaurus|3d|sabertooth tiger|mammoth|third part|sequel|
AKAs Titles:
Certifications:
Argentina:Atp / Australia:PG / Brazil:Livre / Canada:G (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Quebec) / Canada:PG (Ontario) / Denmark:7 / Finland:K-7 / France:U / Germany:o.Al. / Hong Kong:I / Iceland:L / Ireland:G / Japan:G / Malaysia:U / Mexico:AA / Netherlands:6 / Norway:7 / Peru:PT / Philippines:G (MTRCB) / Poland:7 (TV rating) / Portugal:M/4 (dubbed version) / Portugal:M/6 (original version) / Singapore:G / South Korea:All / Spain:T / Sweden:7 / Switzerland:0 (canton of Geneva) / Switzerland:0 (canton of Vaud) / Taiwan:GP / Turkey:G / UK:U / USA:PG (certificate #45289)