Nick Carlson
When I was 6 I received Walking with Dinosaurs, The Ballad of Big Al, and Walking with Beasts on VHS cassette tapes. It was the kindling for my fascination with dinosaurs and prehistoric life, and now, 12 years later, I still am as crazy about them as I was back then, thanks to this.Most documentaries featuring prehistoric animals are composed of about 75% talking scientist heads and shots of paleontologists digging in the desert, and 25% brief and repeated clips of CG dinosaurs. Walking with Dinosaurs takes this one step forward – and beyond. It chooses to portray the dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures in the same format as a documentary about animals one would expect to find on Animal Planet (or at least that's how it used to be, before it turned into Pets and People Planet). Using spectacular (for its budget and time it was shot) CGI and animatronics and puppetry, it brings these long-extinct creatures back to life as realistic flesh- and-blood animals. The focus of each episode is on the dinosaurs, and the dinosaurs only, with no inclination of modern-time influence, with the exception of a well-written narration by Gilderoy Lockhart (Kenneth Branagh), who delivers the lines in a soothing, professional voice, flawlessly articulating complex dinosaur names with impeccability. Six episodes make up this series, covering different times in the Mesozoic from the genesis of the dinosaurs, to their inevitable extinction. The behavior of the animals (did I say animals? I meant computer graphics and puppets – I forgot they were fake) is so realistic and confidently portrayed one would think the filmmakers were actually there. If I had any qualms with this, it's that sometimes the CGI can look a bit hokey, and it's (sometimes) painfully obvious when puppetry is utilized in placement of special effects (the puppetry is reserved for heads and necks 99% of the time, so that can be a bit jarring too) . I can let this pass because this was made in 1999, and for television.Another thing I may mention is that the dinosaurs are portrayed as actual living animals, and it is a documentary format, so there is a lot of blood and violence and killings and the spilling of guts, and yes, dinosaur coitus. And a particularly bizarre scene where a sauropod lays her eggs Alien Queen-style. Walking With Dinosaurs is a fantastic example of a television documentary, plain and simple. 10/10
dinolove453
Walking With Dinosaurs is an amazing Documentary, educational for both the Ignorant of Dinosaurs and Dinosaur-Lovers (like myself) alike. I admit, I was very young when I saw this on Discovery, but I was obsessed with it immediately. (Spoliers!!!!!) The series contains 6 episodes, going from the Late Triassic when dinosaurs were just first evolving to the Late Cretaceous, at the end of Reign of the dinosaurs. When I first saw this film, it was like I really had traveled back in time. The majesty of the Diplodocus, the adventures of Opthalmosaurus, and the caring mother version of T-Rex all astounded my family and me. It is an amazing film, and I believe that BBC managed to do just what they set out to do. Awesome job!
bumleg-1
SPOILER WARNINGI got this dino-documentarie on DVD at Christmas 2004. I had longed to see it and was by no means disappointed. The score is memorable ( myfavourites were the "Sauropod" theme song and the "Winters Coming" song ). The effects were dazzling, you could almost believe they were there. You actually learn something too ; Stegosaurs MAY have been able to pump their plates with blood. Female T-Rexes MIGHT have gone on a killing spree before laying their eggs. I know there's a lot of people who thought this was based too much on speculation, but there will always be questions that we can only guess at. And there is a lot of hard-core, undeniable FACT as well. We KNOW that some dinosaurs travelled in herds, we KNOW that Diplodocus swallowed stones to grind up vegetation in their stomaches. Despite this "speculation" the series did extremely well. So well in fact, that it spawned a followup, a prequel and several specials. If you're a dino-fan, then this IS for you. It makes Jurassic Park look small and weedy.
Movie Nuttball
This is a very good program that aired on the Discovery Channel on and I think that this program was very interesting and informal one with theories and it is narrated very good by Kenneth Branagh and Avery Brooks. It shows many incredible life-like CGI Dinosaurs that vary in size from the size of small rodent to the size of a school bus! The CGI is excellent! Next to the Jurassic park film This is really the most realistic dinosaurs ever in My opinion! If you can watch this on TV and like the subject and like to see some of your favorite Dinosaurs get the spotlight and being focused on in small stories then check out this amazing feature today or buy it on DVD! Strongly Recommended!