Random Bizarre True Story Behind Weirdest '90s Movie (13 items)

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  (#6) It Was So Bad It Set Records

  There's no wrong way to set a new record, right?

   

  (There are, actually, there are several and Theodore Rex did a few of them.)

   

  As far as failures go, Theodore Rex can at least say that it's one of the biggest failures that ever existed. The overall cost for this buddy cop film set in an alternate future where dinosaurs are both a) alive and b) occasionally detectives, was a cool $33.5 million, the most expensive budget for a direct-to-VHS movie at the time.

   

  Not content with setting just one bad record, Theodore Rex was also the first (and as of this writing only) direct-to-VHS movie to be nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award, the awards dedicated to truly horrible moments in film.
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  (#11) This Movie Is A Tonal Mess

  It never feels good to tear down a piece of art, but it's hard to imagine that there's anything good buried inside this melange of family friendly science fiction tropes. First of all, the film doesn't just look bad - it's as if you asked 20 different people to describe the meaning of "dystopia" and made that into a stylistic choice. On top of the film looking dreadful, the acting choices are all over the place. It's never clear how anyone is supposed to feel or if they're even in the same movie. Theodore is an overly sincere character that was described by a producer as "idiot-like" while Goldberg's Coltrane waffles between being dismissive and malicious. 

  The film may have begun as a gritty science fiction film about cloning, but the addition of a talking dinosaur, a series of extended fart jokes, and a clothing montage managed to turn the film into a kaleidoscope of unnecessary details.  
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  (#9) All Dinosaurs Share A Psychic Connection

  This detail is something that comes up twice and it's never discussed again. The film begins in a dream that informs Theodore that one of his dino-brethren has been murdered. He then goes on a Dale Cooper-esque hunt through the city to find the person that committed the "dinocide."

   

  After initially mentioning the psychic connection to Goldberg's character early in the film, it's not mentioned again until Molly Rex (voiced by Carol Kane!!!) also brings up the dream of the dino-death. But then that's the end of discussing the psychic connection between the dinos. There are moments in the film when the characters could actually use their powers to communicate with each other, but instead the film simply devolves into screeching and third act horseplay.
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  (#1) Whoopi Goldberg Was Forced By Law To Be In This Movie

  Whoopi Goldberg did, at one time, want to be in Theodore Rex and agreed to play the lead for $5 million and a share of the profits, but she quickly changed her mind and tried to back out (good instincts, Whoopi!). Goldberg had to learn the hard way that it’s just not that easy to simply walk away from expensive movies starring talking dinosaurs (a lesson we all could learn from). Because she had agreed to do the movie, the producers sued her for $20 million when she tried to back out. After an answering machine recording of Goldberg surfaced where she said she was "100% committed" to the project, she was forced to choose between appearing in the film or paying out the nose for a dinosaur detective movie that she agreed to appear in. There’s a famous saying in Hollywood: “The only thing worse than appearing in a terrible dinosaur movie is paying $20 million NOT to appear in a terrible dinosaur movie,” so Whoopi opted to appear in the terrible dinosaur movie.
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  (#10) Theodore Rex Looks Like It Was Filmed On The Set Of Batman Returns

  Despite taking place in an unnamed metropolis Theordore Rex feels incredibly claustrophobic. According to the film's production designer, Walter Martishius, he wanted to drape the city in"purples and blues and yellows" to "dull the sci-fi edge." Unfortunately, the softening of the film's sci-fi edge makes the movie feel like it was filmed on unused sets from Batman & Robin and the Super Mario Bros. movie.  In an alternate reality, the crew snuck onto the unused sets in the middle of the night to save money. Unfortunately they actually spent money on this faux-Blade Runner nightmare. 

  Additionally, because Teddy Rex had a non-detachable, five-foot-long tail, every single set needed to be designed with that tripping hazard in mind. Every interior needed to be big enough to accommodate the tail and whenever a scene called for Teddy to sit in a chair, Walter would have to build a new chair with a hole for the tail. It's easy to see how production can spend $33 million when every chair is a custom build.
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  (#4) Whoopi Was Never Supposed To Be In This Movie

  If you've watched Theodore Rex, then you know that Whoopi Goldberg plays the tough as nails detective. (Also, if you've watched Theodore Rex, what on earth is wrong with you and where did you find a working VHS player??) Originally, the part was written for someone with a little more machismo. Someone who was used to getting into Big Trouble and dealing with The Things while Escaping from New York. That's right, before Goldberg took on the meaty role of Katie Coltraine, the producers wanted Kurt Russel to take the part.

   

  Unfortunately, before the producers were able to nail down the '80s action daddy, they came to the conclusion that a bigger star would help them increase the budget. Ferrari told Slashfilm, "We were thinking of someone like Kurt Russell. But then the budget for the film grew a little bit and what happened was Richard realized that in order to really raise the money for this film, we needed to get a star. And eventually he came up with the idea that Whoopi Goldberg would be very good for this.”

   

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