The skeleton was seized from the institute by the federal government, followed by a 10-year-long battle with the FBI, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Maurice Williams, the landowner on whose property the bones were discovered.

The site's critics consensus states: "It's undeniably slanted and doesn't cover as much of the story as it should, but Dinosaur 13 makes for gripping documentary viewing, flaws and all".

[12] Eric Kohn from Indiewire in his review said that "A subset of the recent scientific-documentary-as-thriller tradition epitomized by The Cove and Blackfish, Todd Douglas Miller's Dinosaur 13 is both awe-inspiring and tragic".

[13] Donald Clarke of The Irish Times had praised the ending of Dinosaur 13 calling it "bittersweet" and "genuinely unfair", adding plainly and simply "Do not miss [it]".

[19] Following its release on Blu-ray, the film was reviewed by Brian Orndorf of Blu-ray.com, who said that "If The Cove and Blackfish taught us anything, it's that documentaries don't necessarily require facts and figures to support a subject matter".