Walking With Dinosaurs" is the kind of documentary that digital and other high tech methods of animation were made for! Granted, Spielberg used some similar methods to good effect in his dino-films "Jurassic Park" and "Lost World," but "Walking With Dinosaurs" is the current apex of animation technology for exctinct animals, and used for education, too!
I sat in awe as I watched these six wonderful segments on the natural history of dinosaurs produced by the BBC. I was particularly impressed by the segment on marine reptiles -- a group that receives relatively little press, since they're not dinos, and since they don't interact with most peoples' favorites, like T. rex, Allosaurus, or Stegosaurus, etc.
Never had I seen recreations of dinosaurs that were as life-like and convincing (except for the occasional animatronic effect) as the ones in this video.
Watching these segments about different time periods, places, and groups of dinosaurs I was once again reminded and impressed by the long reign of these animals on the earth. I also thought that many aspects of their biology and ecology were interestingly presented. No one was, of course, around to see what these animals actually did, so the way dinos are presented in the video are unavoidably informed guesses about how we think that these now extinct animals lived. I applaud the author and producer for their fine efforts!
Viewers should be aware, however, that there is a large and convincing alternative body of information (backed by a significant number of paleontologists) that suggests that carnivorous dinosaurs like Allosaurus, T. rex, and even Utahraptor did not run down their prey, bring them down, and kill them like a giant lion would -- i.e., overpowering and killing their prey immediately. The alternative proposal about how the meateaters did their business is akin to the way that monitor lizards, like the Komodo Dragon, bring down their prey. Dragons inflict a slashing bite, even a relatively small one on their prey. When they do that bacteria that live on their teeth are introduced into the prey's body. After a while the prey animal succumbs to the bacterial infection and the dragon can eat at will. Granted, this method of attack and subjugation is less dramatic than the hunt and kill method portrayed a couple of times in this video series, but it's an equally if not even more convincing story about how large meat eaters may well have done their business.
Those kinds of academic debates aside, this is a wonderful, brilliant series. The imagery is excellent, the soundtrack is supportive and enhancing, and the narration is outstanding! I will watch this series again and again.
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Walking with Dinosaurs, which must have surprised even its makers by reaching the viewing ... more
figures usually reserved for royal weddings, was the undoubted television event of 1999. (The companion book and soundtrack album became bestsellers, too.) Extend...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Walking with Dinosaurs, which must have surprised even its makers by reaching the viewing ... more
figures usually reserved for royal weddings, was the undoubted television event of 1999. (The companion book and soundtrack album became bestsellers, too.) Extend...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Imagine you could witness a prehistoric sunset - imagine you are watching insectivorous ... more
pterosaurs chase moths in the moist evening air and bull Triceratops lock horns over a young female. This is no longer a dream. 'Walking With Dinosaurs' makes that ...
From 220 million years ago until just 65 million years ago dinosaurs walked and ruled the ... more
earth. Now is your chance to witness their history from their first appearance to extinction. The BBC's ground-breaking television series 'Walking With Dinosau...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Advantages: Superb Graphic completely complementing the superb BBC Documentary Style Disadvantages: May too violent for the more sensitive and small children
![Walking With Dinosaurs : Complete BBC Series [1999] [DVD]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/116872978.jpg "Walking With Dinosaurs : Complete BBC Series [1999] [DVD]")
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