Terra Nova
FOX | Release Date: September 26, 2011
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
64
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
11
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
Boston GlobeMatthew GilbertSep 21, 2011
Season 1 Review: As a weekly series, the effects need to remain impressive and the writers need to avoid falling into "Lost" and "Walking Dead" band-of-survivors rehash. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesMary McNamaraSep 26, 2011
Season 1 Review: Terra Nova manages to introduce a panoply of narrative threads and themes while telling a remarkably clean story, both in terms of plot line and tone; Terra Nova is whole-family friendly. Read full review
75
HitfixAlan SepinwallSep 26, 2011
Season 1 Review: The Shannons overall are about the last reason I would recommend this show, after the cool visuals, some effective action set pieces and the expected strong supporting performance by Stephen Lang. Read full review
75
New York PostLinda StasiSep 26, 2011
Season 1 Review: Good family fun--providing your family doesn't include little kids who are scared to sleep. Ever. Read full review
75
NewsdayVerne GaySep 26, 2011
Season 1 Review: The opener is marred by a conventional plot. The producers--who include Steven Spielberg--show almost complete indifference to science (or sci-fi). That said, TV's most ambitious new series has some promise. Read full review
75
RedEyeCurt WagnerSep 26, 2011
Season 1 Review: If they keep the cute at bay for more dinosaurs and dirty dealings, this should be a great ride. Read full review
75
USA TodayRobert BiancoSep 26, 2011
Season 1 Review: Luckily for Terra Nova, fans of the genre are often at least temporarily willing to overlook bad writing and performances if the battles are exciting and special effects convincing, and they are. That should buy the show time to improve. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesLori RacklSep 22, 2011
Season 1 Review: Now that the premise of the show has been established, it would be nice to see more shades of gray and less black and white. Read full review
75
Washington PostHank StueverSep 21, 2011
Season 1 Review: 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. Read full review
70
Zap2it (Inside the Box)Mikey O'ConnellSep 26, 2011
Season 1 Review: Terra Nova is another vehicle for a familiar story. It's one we're happy to watch, just maybe not with the fervor FOX is hoping for. Read full review
70
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenSep 26, 2011
Season 1 Review: Terra Nova walks a fine line and how well it manages to stay on that path will likely determine its ultimate success or failure. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineMatt RoushSep 26, 2011
Season 1 Review: If you can make it past the exposition, and the earnest family cliches--a rebellious teenage son, an awkward brainiac daughter--there's plenty of satisfying dino action. And it all looks gorgeous. Read full review
70
VarietyBrian LowrySep 26, 2011
Season 1 Review: In the good-news department, Terra Nova is big, noisy and wildly cinematic, and Fox has pulled out all the stops with an Allosaurus-sized campaign to ensure the series opens--all the things that ought to generate sampling in a big-screen HD era. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalNancy DeWolf SmithSep 23, 2011
Season 1 Review: Terra Nova stakes out its own universe, and the fact that we have been on such journeys before may enhance the experience of this one. Read full review
67
Boston HeraldMark A. PerigardSep 26, 2011
Season 1 Review: So long as the dinos roam, Terra Nova has a future. Read full review
63
People WeeklyTom GliattoSep 27, 2011
Season 1 Review: Even with Steven Spielberg listed among the executive producers, this distant world doesn't inspire much awe. [3 Oct 2011, p.45]
60
SlateTroy PattersonSep 26, 2011
Season 1 Review: Indeed, it is hard to knock Terra Nova overall, such does it succeed on its own terms, which involve working over the pituitary brain and the sympathetic soul. Read full review
60
The Huffington PostMaureen RyanSep 26, 2011
Season 1 Review: The idea that in the long-ago past there were differing versions of how to reinvent humanity's future could make for compelling drama, and those kind of story lines are more likely to be more intriguing than what will transpire among the Shannons, unless this bland family's character development takes a great leap forward very quickly. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsDavid HinckleySep 26, 2011
Season 1 Review: After you've suspended about a 10-year supply of disbelief, Fox's new epic drama Terra Nova turns out to be an okay adventure story. Read full review
60
PopMattersMarisa LaScalaSep 26, 2011
Season 1 Review: There's a lot of clunky setup, a lot of piece-moving to send the main characters back to Terra Nova, and a lot of explaining of rules once they get there. Read full review
60
The New York TimesMike HaleSep 26, 2011
Season 1 Review: The question is what they'll be given to do going forward, beyond generic relationship material, domestic comedy and the occasional action set piece. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterTim GoodmanSep 22, 2011
Season 1 Review: There is a lot of potential in this series. It's just a shame that it appears to be veering away from something completely different--something darker and more sci-fi and ambitious, and settling into the feel-good, be-safe vibes of both Jurassic Park and Avatar. Read full review
58
Uncle BarkyEd BarkSep 26, 2011
Season 1 Review: Terra Nova certainly doesn't lack ambition and scope, which is a plus. But its first two hours fall short in the storytelling department. Read full review
50
SalonMatt Zoller SeitzSep 28, 2011
Season 1 Review: Nothing in this pilot is as compelling as the idea for the show, which begs philosophical and ethical questions that Spielberg and company (for now, at least) aren't interested in addressing. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleDavid WiegandSep 26, 2011
Season 1 Review: The slowdown of the show's pace is one thing, but the real issue here is that the family element often feels inauthentic and just isn't up to the quality of the CGI-fueled action sequences. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineMike LechevallierSep 26, 2011
Season 1 Review: It's no mystery how the overproduced Terra Nova managed to turn out so drastically underwhelming. Read full review
40
Philadelphia InquirerJonathan StormSep 26, 2011
Season 1 Review: The show lacks important elements that have been available to storytellers for 2,000 years, most notably compelling character development. Read full review
30
Miami HeraldGlenn GarvinSep 26, 2011
Season 1 Review: By the end of a couple of episodes, most viewers will be wishing Spielberg and his henchmen had spent more time on scripts and less on special effects, even if it meant splicing old outtakes of Barney and Friends into the action sequences. Read full review
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