How sad is this?

Good concept, poorly executed.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Dinosaur 13 sheds a huge amount of light on the problems that Paleontologists face on a daily basis, fighting among themselves over who is "qualified" more so than the other. It also sheds light on the ridiculousness that the United States government serves to its people. The sheer fact that the government would issue a claim to a fossil that was not even (technically) discovered on US soil and later retract their own claim shows how truly money hungry they are. It also shows how dishonest and shameful the Native man, Maurice, was to the paleontologists he claimed were his friends. I am a dinosaur enthusiast myself, and I have taken some university classes on Paleontology. It sickens me to know that a fossil like Sue, who has so very much to teach the scientific community, could be purchased by some rich private collector only to be stored away in a room somewhere. I feel that scientifically important specimens should immediately be surrendered to a museum or a university to be studied, not to be another material possession for man to soil with his money and greasy hands. If you are as intrigued by Paleontology as I am, then this Documentary will have you yelling at your television screen and crying right along with the people of the institute at the travesties that our own people have committed against themselves.

I think it was good, and very emotional. It still wasn't what I expected. I thought I was going to watch a documentary about excavation of dinosaurs and all that is around them, instead 80% of movie is around the law case that was built around the dinosaur.If you want to watch a movie precisely about dinosaurs, how they are found, how they are dug up, what were they, and how to they study them, this is not your movie.Instead, most of the movie involves only a huge series of law sues and dispute about the ownership of the fossils. Yes, it is still done well, and it's interesting and most of all very emotional and makes you think the official authorities, and I had no problem watching it to the end, even though I noticed it wasn't I expected. It's just that, I guess I would have given better score, or received it better myself, had I known what this really was about. About law and court rooms, not dinosaurs. That was kind of disappointing.

I grew up in Hill City South Dakota. And, I was part of the National Guard in Rapid City for a while. This story is very close to me and to any of those who lived in South Dakota. This movie should bring GREAT clarity why judges should be held "accountable" and why the ridiculous politics of tribal land and millions upon millions of laws stacked to the roof isn't what the forefathers who help found this country intended. One of the most ridiculous and telling events of how America's government does business, and how the system allows such travesties against good outstanding people to take place. And most important, how the government covers up it's failures when it beats up the little guy! Judge Battey may your soul rot in hell and may "YOUR" bones someday be considered just LAND!

Spoiler ALERT!!! This movie is surprisingly stupid. The creator of this film is trying to show the government treading on a paleontologist discovery. But what I notice is 4 to 5 college educated people, who are not poor, educated people who also lived through the Reagan era of Reaganomics and free market capitalism ideals, decide to trust the land owner over digging up dinosaur bones on his land with $5000, no contract, and a hand shake. THAT WAS STUPID. Because when the landowner found out what was the real worth of "Sue" was he doubled back on the deal and tried to claim it as his own. The best part is that the landowner is on video agreeing to the terms and accepting a check for $5000. The landowner won the case and over 7 million dollars after auctioning "Sue'. I'm sure he had signed contracts when he auctioned her off too, not just a handshake. Final footnote, Native Americans also had a claim to "Sue" but of course the courts said they had no claim even though they had contracts with the Dept of Interior in South Dakota stating nothing will be sold off the land without the permission of the Sioux tribe people who lived there. This right was not recognized by the court. So this documentary in a nutshell is about a landowner on stolen land, stealing a dinosaur find from paleontologists, on stolen land, with the help of the National Guard but more importantly with the help of the biggest thieves ever, McDonalds and Disney. The moral of the story kids, is always get signed contracts not handshakes.