PREHISTORIC EARTH: A NATURAL HISTORY - DVD review

Ever since world-renowned biologist Sir Richard Owen coined the term "Dinosauria" in 1842, our fascination with long-extinct creatures has been increasing at a steady pace over the years. It's a safe bet to say that the dinosaur craze reached an all-time high in 1993 when Michael Crichton's best-selling novel, "Jurassic Park," was adapted into a screenplay for the blockbuster film by Steven Spielberg. In fact, the topic and state-of-the-art CGI technology used in the breakthrough film inspired filmmaker Tim Haines to develop one of the BBC's most successful documentaries.

"Walking with Dinosaurs" magnificently re-creates entire lost worlds, but instead of using the cloning angle as in "Jurassic Park," the series observes dinosaurs in their natural habitats. In the style of a wildlife program with a dramatic narrative provided by Kenneth Branagh, we get to see what they may have looked like, how they may have lived, and even how they may have died out. It doesn't stop there, either, as Haines' crew even consulted with the research and advisement of over four hundred paleontologists for the sake of accuracy. To me, that alone shows just how much heart went into this production.

Haines' team also had to travel the globe to find locations in our time that would be suitable for certain periods of the past. The scenery is obviously hand picked because each backdrop is breathtakingly gorgeous. It's packed with lush green fern forests, mountainous sunrises, and even the deserts in times of severe drought are eye-catching.

Although "Walking with Dinosaurs" generally received highly favorable reviews around the world, a few "creationists" criticized the series for the way it presented certain theories as fact. After going through the entire collection, though, I really have no clue why anyone would make such ridiculous claims. While it's true that dinosaurs are long gone, they did exist and the proof is in the pudding. The entire run of the "Walking with..." documentaries uses fossil evidence and scientific guesswork as a template to reconstruct possible outcomes, and the filmmakers even admit themselves that there might be mistakes. That's how it goes with science. It's a continuous learning process and new things are discovered on a daily basis. I'd be concerned if the show had a group of young female Stegosaurs playing hopscotch in a playground, but it doesn't. The truth is, fossils tell a lot and one of the only true mysteries of dinosaurs is their color, so that had to be imagined using common sense of what we know of creatures that exist today.

"Prehistoric Earth" gathers the entire groundbreaking "Walking with..." series in a spectacular collection that instantly transforms home theaters into a virtual living museum.

"Before the Dinosaurs: Walking with Monsters"
The first documentary of this masterful set is actually the most recent, produced in 2005 as a sort of prequel to "Walking with Dinosaurs." However, "Walking with Monsters" travels back even further, to a time long before the dinosaurs roamed the planet.

"Walking with Monsters" weighs in with a production cost of £3,000,000, taking three years to put together the three half-hour episodes. I could tell immediately that a lot of money went into producing this series, and after a few years of advancement in computer-generated effects, I have to say that the animation is even a slight improvement over the original "Walking with Dinosaurs." The movements are more natural and fluidic, and I could even make out the tiny scales of the Petrolacosaurus. Simply put, the details and texture are outstanding.

Program one (29:01) opens with a brief explanation of the theory of how our planet and moon were formed 4.4 billion years ago when a planet-like mass known as Theia collided with an early form of Earth. It then takes a leap to the Cambrian period of the Paleozoic where viewers can witness Brontoscorpio, a metre long sea scorpion with gills as well as primitive lung function key for the evolution of land-dwellers, and other creatures like Cephalaspis, one of the earliest fish with a complex brain. In the Devonian, some of these fish further evolve teeth and limbs giving birth to early amphibians like Hynerpeton, a meter and a half long giant salamander with developed lung sacs not much different from ours.

In program two (28:59), the show jumps ahead to 300 million years ago, where much of the Earth is covered in swamps and giant insects rule the planet. This episode touches on some of these creepy crawlies such as the Mesothelae spider meeting an untimely death when lightning strikes it in its burrow during a thunderstorm, and Arthropleura, an ancient millipede the length of a car. It also features Petrolacosaurus, a reptile pioneer with one of the first complex hearts, giving way to the first giant reptiles like the herbivore Edaphosaurus.

The final program (28:56) flashes forward to the late Permian 250 million years ago, after all of the continents drifted into one giant land mass called Pangaea. The drying climate and loss of atmospheric oxygen put an end to the age of giant insects, and "mammal-like" reptiles like the Scutosaurus and the burrowing Diictodon enter the picture. It was Euparkeria, a small insect-hunting lizard with hips adapted for walking upright, though, that some scientists believe served as the initial blueprint for the dinosaurs.

"Walking with Dinosaurs"
Next, the second disc of "Prehistoric Earth" delivers the original "Walking with Dinosaurs" in all of its glory.

I've already mentioned earlier in my review the style of the program and the beautiful scenes, but I just can't stress enough what kind of detail went into this show. One of my favorite clips was when a pair of Tyrannosaurus chicks scamper up to a snake to check it out, and it even shows the snake's perspective as it detects their heat signatures just like in the movie "Predator." Blood sometimes splatters onto the lens and every once in awhile the cameras might get a nudge from the creatures on screen, too. I know that this isn't really a huge deal, but it's still a nice touch that just enhances the sense of realism.

"Walking with Dinosaurs" is composed of six half-hour episodes:

1) "New Blood" (29:15). The dawn of the dinosaurs came around 220 million years ago in the late Triassic period. This episode has a central focus on the Coelophysis, one of the earliest known dinosaurs to exist. The Coelophysis tries to survive the intense heat and drying climate as it searches for waterholes and hunts the small burrowing Cynodonts as well as the Placerias - the biggest mammal-like reptile of the time.

2) "Time of the Titans" (29:01). The second episode takes place an estimated 152 million years ago in the late Jurassic era, and primarily follows the lifecycle of the Diplodocus. The massive dinosaurs lay and bury their soccer ball-sized eggs at the edge of the forest so the hatchlings can use the trees for safety as they grow. Throughout their early years, the young Diplodocus stick together to face dangers such as the swinging spiked tail of a Stegosaurus and the voracious appetite of the carnivorous Allosaurus. When mature, they seek out a herd of their own kind to find a mate and complete the circle of life.

3) "Cruel Sea" (28:51). Also in the late Jurassic, this episode shifts the point of view from the land to the treacherous seas. Ophthalmosaurus, a dolphin-like reptile with large round eyes, is shown giving birth to live young tail-first in order to prevent drowning. The pups use the cover of coral as a refuge from larger predators such as sharks and the enormous snaggletoothed jaws of the Liopleurodon.

4) "Giant of the Skies" (29:14). Soaring back to 127 million years ago, the fourth episode studies the largest pterosaur of the time, Ornithocheirus. Using it's twelve-metre wingspan as it glides over herds of Iguanodons being stalked by vicious Utahraptors, Ornithocheirus provides a bird's eye view of the landscape during it's epic 14,000 km journey to it's mating grounds.

5) "Spirits of the Ice Forest" (29:12). By the mid-Cretaceous, dinosaurs covered every part of the globe, which includes the South Pole. During this era, the Antarctic is the only place on Earth with a lush seasonal forest with cold winters. It's home to a clan of nesting Leaellynasauras, and migrating herds of herbivore Muttaburrasaurus travel south to feed on the plant life during the spring and summer months.

6) "Death of a Dynasty" (29:11). In the late Cretaceous period 65 million years ago, the final episode concentrates on the life of the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex. Wildlife is suffering from poisonous gases unleashed by volcanic eruptions, and a Tyrannosaurus struggles searching for food while defending her eggs from marsupial scavengers like the Didelphodon. This foreshadows the rise of mammals, after sixty-five percent of life on the planet is wiped out when a massive comet strikes Earth.

"Allosaurus"
While the Allosaurus has cameos in the "Walking with Dinosaurs" episodes "Time of the Titans" and "Spirits of the Ice Forest," a televised special was put into production inspired by the discovery of one of the most complete sets of adolescent Allosaurus remains ever discovered. The show first takes viewers on a trip to the University of Wyoming to meet the skeletal fossils of "Big Al," and using forensic evidence taken directly from his bones, the filmmakers are able to piece together a plausible account of Big Al's life story.

"Allosaurus" is primarily done in the same style as the rest of the series with the exception of the brief scenes from the University. This special is much more thorough since it concentrates heavily on the Allosaurus, although other dinosaurs like the Brachiosaurus and Stegosaurus wander into the range of the cameras as well. What I liked most about it, though, was the logical explanations regarding the injuries found on the fossils. Of course, nobody knows for certain what truly happened to Big Al, but the presented theories make sense.

"Walking with Prehistoric Beasts"
The sequel to "Walking with Dinosaurs" released in 2001 and takes place in the third geological age, the Cenozoic, millions of years after the giant meteor strike caused the extinction of most of the dinosaurs. It mainly concentrates on the birds and mammals of the past, including favorites like the sabre-tooth cats and Woolly Mammoths.

While "Walking with Prehistoric Beasts" ranks in the same range as the others for scientific educational content, I thought that this program suffered a bit in the visual department. Some of the movements of the computer-generated creatures seemed off, especially the apes known as Australopithecus. To be fair, I'm sure it's a much more difficult task to try and animate hairy mammals using digital technology, but the finished product just isn't on the same level as "Walking with Dinosaurs." Another thing was that this time the filmmakers decided to throw in the odd "Matrix"-style effect, which some people might find cool, but for me I thought it was a little over-the-top.

All six episodes of "Walking with Prehistoric Beasts" are included:

1) "New Dawn" (29:02). A new reign on our planet begins, 16 million years after the extinction of the dinosaurs. Enter the world of the Leptictidium, a small shrew-like mammal, as it forages for food on the forest floor and builds nests to raise their young. The first episode also features the amphibious mammalian Ambulocetus, a four-limbed early ancestor of the whale, and a giant carnivorous flightless bird called the Gastornis.

2) "Whale Killer" (28:39). An ocean famine occurs 36 million years ago as the polar ice caps freeze over spiraling the world's climate into chaos. A massive early whale called the Basilosaurus becomes pregnant, and the mother-to-be has no choice but to leave the open ocean and move into the shallower mangrove swamps to search for food in order to stay alive.

3) "Land of Giants" (28:46). It's the late Oligocene, approximately 25 million years ago in Mongolia. A baby Indricotherïum, the largest land mammal ever to have walked the earth, is born. The entire program concentrates on the three years the calf spends growing up under the watchful eye and protection of his mother.

4) "Next of Kin" (28:32). 3.2 million years ago in the Pliocene era, we take a close look at a tribe of Australopithecus. Often referred to as the "missing link," these apes are among the earliest known hominids to have walked upright. The episode focuses on their social behavior, hierarchy, and coexistence with other animals such as the massive Deinotherium, an ancestor of the elephant only three times the size.

5) "Sabre-Tooth" (28:37). During the early Pleistocene about one million years ago, we observe a pride of the largest sabre-tooth cats called Smilodon in Paraguay. The dominant male of the pride, Half-Tooth, must face a threat of two male rival brothers challenging his leadership to take over the pack. The episode also features Doedicurus, an armadillo-like creature the size of a car, and Megatherium, a giant ground sloth.

6) "Mammoth Journey" (28:40). The series concludes during the late Pleistocene, 30,000 years ago. This episode follows a herd of Woolly Mammoths as they migrate from the North Sea to the Swiss Alps, overcoming dangers along the way like thin and unstable ice, and of course, man.

"Walking with Cavemen"
The last series included in "Prehistoric Earth" is "Walking with Cavemen," which aired in 2003 and dissects the evolution of our ancestors. The title is somewhat misleading since most of the hominids shown in the program weren't actual cave dwellers at all, but the term "cavemen" is a stereotype that most people recognize so the filmmakers went with it.

Personally, I wasn't expecting too much from this one as it uses actors in make-up and prosthetics to fill in for the different species like Homo habilis and Homo neanderthalensis, but overall it pleasantly surprised me. It wasn't quite in the same boat as the others, and Andrew Sachs replaces Kenneth Branagh as narrator (which was a disappointment), but I found it just as informative as the rest of the collection. Just like the others, it delivers breathtaking scenery such as beautiful sunrises and vast endless salt flats to keep the show visually interesting. In short, it's a great finish to a fantastic set.

"Walking with Cavemen" is presented in two episodes. The first combines "First Ancestors" and "Blood Brothers" from the original televised broadcasts, and the second episode merges "Savage Family" and "The Survivors."

1) Episode 1 (49:07). The first half of the program journeys back 3.2 million years to take a peek at Australopithecus afarenis, one of our earliest ancestors known to walk upright. It re-creates the life of "Lucy," the famous fossilized remains of the species discovered in 1974 in Afar, Ethiopia.

The latter half goes back 2 million years focusing on the herbivore gorilla-like Paranthropus boisei, and also takes a look at the apemen scavengers Homo habilis that used very primitive tools to get at nutritious bone marrow - which was key for outliving its afarenis neighbors. Finally, it touches on Homo rudolfensis, Homo habilis' similar and taller cousins.

2) Episode 2 (49:49). Approximately 2 million years ago in Africa, Homo habilis evolves into the nomadic Homo ergaster. The species is important in evolutionary terms since it's larger brain gave way to communication, the formation of tribes, tracking animals, and developing more complex tools like stone axes, and eventually became Homo erectus in Asia that crossed paths with ancient giant apes known as Gigantopithecus.

The episode concludes about 500,000 years ago with the emergence of Homo heidelbergensis, as they hunt giant elk called Megaloceros using more advanced weaponry such as spears. Changing environmental weather divides Homo heidelbergensis into two separate species. The Ice Age of northern Europe creates the Homo neanderthalensis, skilled hunters of woolly mammoths; and in the droughts of southern Africa, Homo sapiens evolve. It's their imaginative thinking process, like burying stashes of eggshells containing water to save for future use, which allowed them to survive and triumph over the Neanderthals.

Video:
All of the main "Walking with..." features and most of the bonus documentaries are presented in anamorphic widescreen with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. Images are sharp, colorful, and full of highly detailed textures. Some scenes even had the three-dimensional feel that comes through on high-definition releases. I did notice some heavy grain here and there in a very small number of scenes, but in those cases I think it was actually an intention by the filmmakers to simulate different filming techniques such as night-vision in order to give the illusion of reality. If it wasn't, then it definitely qualifies as a "happy" mistake, that's for sure.

Audio:
The audio for the entire collection features a pretty decent Dolby Digital 2.0. The instrumental music as well as the assortment of sound effects of the creatures accents an exceptionally clean narration. It's easily a top-notch stereo track, even though I still would have preferred having the inclusion one of the 5.1 surround options. English subtitles can be activated for the hearing impaired.

Extras:
I don't normally give a perfect score for bonus features since my general philosophy is that there's always room for more, but I have to make an exception here. "Prehistoric Earth" is packed with so many hearty extras that if one isn't careful, the set could flip over Fred Flintstone's car.

On disc one, "Trilogy of Life" (28:28) is a documentary on the making of "Walking with Dinosaurs" trilogy. The filmmakers explain how they got the ball rolling to create the series, what kind of show they wanted it to be, and provides a look behind the scenes of production. What I was most impressed with was how the filmmakers took the time to address some of the negativity the series was receiving from a few hard-nosed critics. The documentary features narration by Mark Halliley.

The third disc has four more additional documentaries. "Big Al Uncovered" (29:01) is a companion documentary to "Allosaurus" that takes a look behind the scenes of the discovery and fossil excavation of Big Al, and digs deeper into the science behind his story. I found it informative and was surprised that it even incorporates a bit of humor to explain certain facts. Kenneth Branagh reprises his narrator role.

The "Making of Walking with Dinosaurs" (51:09) is a behind-the-scenes look at the production of "Walking with Dinosaurs." It covers the paleontology aspect, choosing appropriate locations for the period, bringing the dinosaurs to life using animatronic and virtual models, and much more. Kenneth Branagh narrates this documentary as well.

"Extreme Dinosaurs: The Science of Giants" (48:51) is narrated by Paul Brightwell. It presents some of the largest dinosaurs ever to walk the planet discovered by paleontologist Rodolfo Coria's team in the Patagonia region of South America. The discovery sends paleontologist Phil Currie on a long quest to disprove the theories that large meat-eating dinosaurs were entirely solitary creatures.

David Attenborough narrates "Living with Dinosaurs" (48:00), another interesting documentary that covers the meteor strike that caused the extinction of most of the dinosaurs, and the few survivors such as crocodiles and turtles that are still with us today.

Disc four contains a bunch of bonus features associated with "Walking with Prehistoric Beasts." First up are two featurettes: "Triumph of the Beasts" (49:03) studies how mammals survived through the ages, and "The Beasts Within" (49:02) focuses on the evolution of primates. Both are packed with useful knowledge and are narrated by Kenneth Branagh.

There's a "Photo Gallery" featuring colored images of the animals, and "Storyboards" for all six "Walking with Prehistoric Beasts" episodes.

"Beast Fact Files" are educational facts for pretty much all of the creatures shown in "Walking with Prehistoric Beasts" and include informative details like size, weight, diet, closest living relative, where the fossils were found, and much more.

Rounding out the disc is a set of "Production Interviews" (23:52). It spotlights executive producer Tim Haines, series producer Jasper James, lead animator Max Tyrie, Jeremy Gibson Harris from Crawley Creatures and Associates responsible for the animatronics, and researcher Alex Freeman.

The final disc is loaded with extras for "Walking with Cavemen." First we have a series of brief interviews and behind-the-scenes clips that were filmed on location during production. "Series Producer" (2:24) with Peter Georgi, "Movement Director" (7:08) featuring Wendy Allnutt, "Physical Effects" (2:18) with Nicolette Van Wyck, "Actor" (2:44) with Florence Sparham, and "Lunch with the Boisei" (1:56) featuring Florence Sparham and Rachael Essex trying to overcome the difficulties of eating while in full Boisei prosthetics.

Three additional interviews include: "Executive Producer and Director, Series Producer" (15:04) with filmmakers Richard Dale and Peter Georgi, "Series Actor" (3:38) features David Rubin who played eight different humanoid creatures, and "Director Animated Extras" (4:22) spotlights Nick Williams, the head of the Prosthetic and Animatronic Department.

There are two more storyboards: "The Kill" and "Mammoth Task" in concept drawing form, more "Fact Files," and another "Photo Gallery."

"Storyboard to Animatics to Film" enables viewers to see the storyboards, rough computer animatics, and completed scenes simultaneously in three separate windows for "The Kill" and "Mammoth Task."

"Animatics" (5:16) is a short soundless clip of the hunt sequences still in very rough computer-generated form.

There's even a section where viewers can listen to pieces of orchestral music from the original score of "Walking with Cavemen." The tracks are: "Title Music," "A Journey through Time," "Finding Our Ancestors," "All's Well, Or Is It?" "A Peaceful Day, But Danger Lurks," "Time Travel," "A New World," "Watch Out Lucy!" and "Lucy's Dead."

Finally, there's a bunch of trailers on startup: "Planet Earth" and "BBC America" (disc one),"Building the Great Pyramid" (disc two), "loveearth.com" (disc three), "Doctor Who: Series Three" (disc four), "Torchwood: Season One" (disc five), and "The Blue Planet" (disc six).

The Final Cut:
Every now and then the Discovery Channel has what they call "Shark Week," but I just did one better by having my own marathon "Prehistoric Week." It took me about that long to go through everything squeezed into "Prehistoric Earth," and it was worth every minute of it. There's enough scientific thought and stunning visuals here to satisfy practically everyone, although some younger children may find some of scenes frightening and it's probably worth mentioning that there is some brief nudity in "Walking with Cavemen."

If I had to rank each of the main documentaries individually, I'd give "Monsters" an 8, "Dinosaurs" a 10, "Allosaurus" a 10, "Beasts" a 9, and "Cavemen" a 7. I just hope those Geico guys don't take offense.