When Dinosaurs Roamed America (2001) Review

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(More customer reviews)Five years ago, I probably would have given When Dinosaurs Roamed America a rave review. It is a good dinosaur special, well done overall and with interesting effects. But in the post-Walking with Dinosaurs era, it's a bit of a letdown. The animation is not as good, nor is the writing as sharp.


One other note: John Goodman is really not up the level of either Kenneth Branaugh (British version of Walking with Dinosaurs as well as the DVD version) or Avery Brooks (the version of Walking With Dinosaurs shown on the Discovery Channel). The latter two treat it as a serious nature special. Goodman's narration makes it sound like he's narrating a children's TV special, not a nature special.

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Take a journey back to prehistoric America when mighty dinosaurs ruled the continent.From New York to New Mexico, these powerful animals lived, hunted and died in the very place you call home. Watch millions of years of violent evolution unfold before your eyes. By combining state-of-the-art computer animation with beautiful live-action landscapes, you’ll witness these fearsome creatures roar to life. Faster, stronger and fiercer than ever, these dinosaurs are based on the most recent and scientifically accurate research ever assembled. Faithfully recreated, these dinosaurs move, look and sound like you’ve gone back in time. You’ll meet the never-before-seen Zuniceratops, a uniquely North American creature that was first of its kind to have horns over its eyes. You’ll also visit all your favorites including the T-Rex, Triceratops, Stegosaurus and the ferocious Raptor, with a startling new appearance that’ ll surprise you. You won’t see more authentic and terrifying dinosaurs anywhere...except buried in your own backyard.

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Dragon's World: A Fantasy Made Real (2005) Review

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(More customer reviews)To produce a scientific study of a creature that never existed, then place it in a format that makes it seem credible, should be considered a sci-fi/fantasy flick, right? Nope, the good folks over at Animal Planet took the time to create an entire biological and environmental make-up for dragons, and then presented it in a format similar to all of those dinosaur documentaries such as "Walking With Dinosaurs."
By doing this, we are asked to believe in the "what if" factor. The documentary, scattered with recreations of T-Rex and dragon fights, mating rituals, hunting, and other day-to-day happenings in a dragon's life, follows the work of a small British scientific team who research a creature found in Romania. There mission is to prove or disprove a hoax.
The team, headed by a very enthusiastic rookie, begins to explain how dragons might have been able to fly, survive the K/T incident, adapt to colder climates and, most importantly, breathe fire. They explain how this precious fire gives them an edge on all of the other animals that inhabited their world until man comes along.
Though some of the science is sketchy and hard to swallow, you have to let your mind go and "pretend" that dragons actually could have roamed the earth. The acting in the flick is pretty good, though the lead scientist seemed to be forcing his emotions. The special effects are wonderful for a documentary. They are right up there with "Walking With Dinosaurs" and easily outperform any flicks put on by the SciFi channel.
Overall, an enjoyable flick that gives hope to those who have always wondered if dragons really existed. Perhaps Animal Planet will do more show like this explaining the science of creatures like Bigfoot, Chupacabra, griffins, etc.
Highly recommended for the whole family. There is just a little bit of violence, and it is all handled very well.

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DRAGON'S WORLD:FANTASY MADE REAL - DVD Movie

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Walking with Dinosaurs (2006) Review

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(More customer reviews)This series is brilliant. The special effects are truly impressive, the style (made like a fake nature documentary, as if the filmmakers are just observing the dinosaurs in the wilds) is clever, and it's all just fascinating. Some of it is quite graphic with dinosaurs battling each other, eating each other and dying off in lots of different ways, so I was worried that my almost-four-year-old wasn't ready for it. But he's started to ask questions about dying and animals eating each other and this has actually been a nice segueway into those discussions. We've especially enjoyed the "making of" featurette - lots of information there well beyond how they acheived the special effects.

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New Blood, Time of the Titans, Cruel Sea, Giant of the Skies, Spirits of the Ice Forest, Death of a Dynasty. Ride the ultimate time machine from the beginning of dinosaurs to their spectacular end! Using the latest in computer animation, this series puts you in the middle of Jurassic stampedes and T Rex battles, through 155 million years of pre-history.

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Prehistoric Planet - The Complete Dino Dynasty (2002) Review

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(More customer reviews)Ignore the reviews bashing this program for recycling footage from the BBC Walking With series. Of course it's recycled, that is EXACTLY what the package says! It was reworked into a Saturday morning show for a younger audience. And it succeeds wonderfully at reaching that target audience. This show is great for young kids, about 3-8 years old. Hopefully, they will be able to eventually also enjoy the more academic original series of programs. But these are more accessible and I am thrilled to have them be preferred viewing over many of the other programming available on TV. Definitely, if you have a young paleontologist on your shopping list, this is a must!

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The BBC's award-winning Walking With Dinosaurs is now available in an all-new, kid-friendly format: Prehistoric Planet: Dino Dynasty I! The same breathtaking CGI and state-of-the-art digital effects that wowed millions has been given an incredible make-over with all-new music, educational fact files, and a younger, hipper voiceover by actor Ben Stiller. But the star of the show remains the totally lifelike, utterly amazing dinosaurs themselves -- great lumbering giants such as Diplodocus and Stegosaurus, fearsome predators like Allosaurus and T-Rex, all brought to life so realistically, you'll believe we sent our camera crews back in time. Prehistoric Planet: Dino Dynasty I is a wild, truly awesome journey into the ancient past that will leave your kids so awe-struck, they won't even realize they're learning!

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Go Diego Go - The Great Dinosaur Rescue (2005) Review

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(More customer reviews)Both of my children (girl-2yrs and boy- 3yrs) were captivated by this DVD. I love hearing them interact with their cartoons instead of mindlessly watching the screen. Both my son and daughter could be heard answering Diego and singing from the other side of the house! Great DVD and a wonderful addition for mothers of boys!

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"It’s Diego and You to the Rescue!" From the creators of Dora the Explorer comes a whole new adventure – Go Diego Go! This animated, preschool, action adventure series stars Diego Marquez, an 8-year-old bilingual, Latino, animal rescuer with in intense love of nature and the animals around him. In each episode Diego partners directly with the view on a high stakes animal themed adventure.

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The Complete Walking with... Collection (2000) Review

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(More customer reviews)"The Complete Walking with... Collection", is a compilation of "Walking with Dinosaurs", "Allosaurus - A Walking with Dinosaurs Special", and "Walking with Prehistoric Beasts". All the discs in this fold-out cardboard case are exactly the same as the original individual DVD releases.
No one has gone into much detail about the DVD itself, so I'll do so here..."Walking with Dinosaurs"
Walking with Dinosaurs Program Description:
The Journey begins 220 million years ago with a trip back in time to the reign of the dinosaurs!
Using the latest scientific findings, Walking with Dinosaurs examines the 155-million-year history of these great creatures, from the aggressive Coelophysis, the first animal to hunt in a pack, to Tyrannosaurus Rex, the most terrifying carnivore on the planet. Feel the ground tremble as dueling Triceratops (that's a mistake, they're actually called Torosaurus in the program) lock horns, and soar with Ornithocheirus, who could travel over 300 miles on a single flap of his powerful wings.
Program Titles:
1. NEW BLOOD
2. TIME OF THE TITANS
3. CRUEL SEA
4. GIANT OF THE SKIES
5. SPIRITS OF THE ICE FOREST
6. DEATH OF A DYNASTY
Extras:
- 29 minutes of behind-the-scenes picture-in-picture footage
- 50 minute "making of" documentary
- Promotional trailersThis is an excellent program, and definitely my personal favorite of the three. Everything is incredibly realistic, to the CGI models, animatronics, locations, and even the story-lines. I must have watched it at least 10 times by now. (and I'm only talking about this DVD collection; I must have watched this series 50 times on our VHS recording)
The features are very good, and filled with plenty of jokes with the dinosaurs not doing what they're supposed to and the like. It's really neat to see them on location filming nothing or creating the animatronics and what-not. All the other features are excellent too."Allosaurus - A Walking with Dinosaurs Special"
Allosaurus - A Walking with Dinosaurs Special and Big Al Uncovered Program Descriptions:
In 1991, the most complete allosaurus skeleton ever found was discovered in Wyoming and fondly nicknamed "Big Al". Through careful excavation and restoration, scientists have pieced together a detailed biography of this one dinosaur. Using the same computer graphics and animatronics techniques that amazed viewers all over the world in "Walking with Dinosaurs", this program vividly recreates the 15 years from Al's birth to his untimely demise.
In Big Al Uncovered, Al haunts modern-day museums and dig sites as scientists explain how they picked up clues and traced the evidence of one dinosaur's life story.
Extras:
- Picture-in-picture sequence with over 40 storyboards
- Photo gallery
- CD-ROM sampler of screensavers, video clips, wallpaper and moreJust as good as "Walking with Dinosaurs" and very interesting to see more of Allosaurus from the second program from "Dinosaurs".
Big Al Uncovered was also very interesting and, again quite amusing. The rest of the features were also very good. "Walking with Prehistoric Beasts"
Walking with Prehistoric Beasts Program Description:
When the dinosaurs disappeared from the Earth, they did not leave an empty planet behind them. A succession of extraordinary creatures came and went over the following millennia. The award-winning team behind "Walking with Dinosaurs" and "Allosaurus" invites you to take a trip to this amazing new world. Here, flightless birds as tall as a man kill with a single snap of their powerful beaks, early ancestors of man struggle for power and territory as they try to defend themselves from the famous saber-toothed tiger. And even the saber-tooth cannot take on the Glyptodon - the massive two-ton armadillo that is the most heavily armored mammal ever.
It's an extraordinary trip through history and evolution that begins with the end of the dinosaurs and ends with the rise of even more mysterious creatures... the first humans.
Program Titles:
1. NEW DAWN
2. WHALE KILLER
3. LAND OF GIANTS
4. NEXT OF KIN
5. SABRE TOOTH
6. MAMMOTH JOURNEY
Extras:
- Two 50 minute behind-the-scenes featurettes
- Interviews with the creators
- Fact files
- Photo gallery
- StoryboardsI felt, although this was almost as good as the first two, it was a little off its mark. Some camera shots could not really be filmed realistically, (like a Basilosaurus engulfing the camera with its mouth, effectively eating the cameraman) which took a little away from the realism, but this didn't happen very often. And, I personally could have lived without the slow-motion scenes. I also thought they focused a little too much on the hunting aspect, but again they didn't overdo it. Still a great program, and really neat to see some prehistoric mammals which are often overlooked.
The features are also quite good, and the interviews with the creators were very interesting.The video transfer for all three are perfect as well as the sound, and all the features are very interesting and pretty funny too.
All in all, this collection is top-notch and quality entertainment, highly recommended!

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Finally all three programs from the Emmy Award- winning Walking With...series -- Walking with Dinosaurs, Allosaurus: A Walking with Dinosaurs Specialand Walking with Prehistoric Beasts-- are available for the first time as a collector's set on DVD and VHS. The epic begins with a journey back 65 million years ago to a virtual lost world which has been recreated with spectacular digital effects and animatronics. The series continues as we follow the life and death struggles of 'Big Al,' the most complete allosaurus skeleton ever found. And finally, we explore our planet after the reign of the dinosaur and the succession of extraordinary creatures that came and went over the following millennia. The end of the dinosaur was only the beginning!

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Discovery Essential Dinosaur Pack (2008) Review

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(More customer reviews)
Finally, after waiting years for several shows to come out on DVD from Discovery Channel. Yes, we get these shows all on two DVDs! Including the very popular Dinosaur Planet. Here is a list is a shows that are one the two DVDs.
- Valley of the T-Rex
- When Dinosaurs Roamed America
- Utah's Dino Graveyard
- Dinosaur Planet (includes all 4 episodes!!!)
- The Mystery Dinosaur
- Dinosaurs: Return To Life
- T-Rex: New Science, New Beast
Trust me, this is a must have for anyone who loves dinosaurs and loves to learn about them and be entertained. Buy this set! It's worth the cost, which is pretty good. It's eight hours of pure entertainment!


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Now for the first time, all of Discovery's very best dinosaur programs in one two-disc set! From the complete Emmy Awardr-winning Dinosaur Planet to the groundbreaking discoveries of Valley of the T. Rex to the intriguing possibilities of Dinosaurs: Return to Life? and much, much more, the whole family will enjoy this thrilling collection!

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Arctic Exposure With Nigel Marven (2007) Review

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(More customer reviews)I have a five year old who has been obsessed with arctic animals for well over six months now. This is the longest obsession of her short life. We've gotten just about every non-fiction, age appropriate book on arctic animals that is available (which, granted, isn't that many), as well as a few for adults that we've gone through too. For instance, we read "Arctic Fox: Life at the Top of the World," a 232 page book, piece by piece, night after night, for her bedtime stories. Naturally, we've also gotten arctic themed movies and/or story-telling documentaries like "Arctic Tale, "Knut & Friends," and (this one I didn't like) "The Great Polar Bear Adventure." When I saw "Arctic Exposure," I thought we'd give it a try, and I have to say that it's probably my favorite book or movie about the arctic of all the ones we own.
For one, you get to see just about every arctic animal, and not just the always glamorous polar bear. You see arctic foxes, lemmings (!), walruses, harbor seals, beluga whales, arctic wolves, musk oxen, ptarmigans, arctic terns, snowy owls, you name it. You can also see them in both their winter and summer coats when applicable (some don't change). And as much as I like nature documentaries, sometimes I could do without all the slow-motion shots of one animal (a polar bear, let's say) killing another (a ringed seal). "Arctic Exposure" shows a few animals eating others, but it's certainly not the focal point, and the movie doesn't linger over this. Because of the lack of violence, I found "Arctic Exposure" to definitely be kid-friendly, while at the same time, it was interesting to me as an adult.
Also, I found Nigel Marven to be very warm (especially considering his surroundings!) and charming. He seemed like he was just so happy to be in the arctic seeing all these animals and explaining how life works there. His friendly narration was excellent.
Overall, if you or your child is interested in the arctic, this was a great DVD, and I highly recommend it.

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Intrepid zoologist, Nigel Marven, spends nine months exploring wildlife and the surrounding area in the Canadian Arctic. His expedition takes him from the icy wasteland of the far north, across near-endless tundra to the vast boreal forest in the south.

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National Geographic: Bizarre Dinosaurs (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)National Geographic is finally on board!
For some years now the BBC has dominated the dinosaur documentary market with Walking With Dinosaurs and all of it's spin offs. The Discovery Channel was right on their heels with another line of CGI dinosaurs filling our eyes and ears with all manner of beasts. Happy Happy Joy Joy!
After the hugely disapointing Super Croc it was as if Nat.Geo. was just not well funded enough to present a presold public with new images to go with their ongoing prehistoric research. They did a very good job on fossil mammals some years ago. And now, finally, they have shown us that dinosaurs are in production! In fact, there are probably more differant kinds of dinosaurs in this one hour than in any other dino DVD yet released.
The digital dinosaurs themselves are not quite as life-like as the BBC creatures. They look less leathery, more shiney or slick somehow. Younger viewers probably will not be bothered by this. Theorhetical adults,like myself always want at least Jurrasic Park quality from the start. Honestly, this imagery isn't quite that good. But it will do just fine.
The subject matter, Bizarre Dinosaurs is a visual feast. Anytime I get to see "live" dinosaurs I am happy. But because of the productions over view of the weird and extravagant dinosaur species,almost all of these creatures have never been shown before.
So a fun time is to be had by all.
I almost forgot!!!! The DVD includes an additional 50 minute feature! The Prehistoric Predators series last year included a spectacular episode spotlighting The Terror Birds. As big or bigger than a man,these flightless monsters got as close to replacing the dinosaurs as birds could ever get.
The graphics are fantastic,and the info is amazing. A real treat on an already delightfull DVD.
Concider the title, Bizarre Dinosaurs for a bit.
Is it just me, or aren't all dinosaurs bizarre? I mean, the whole race of animals was half bird and half reptile with more than enough weirdness to go arround. They ranged from the size of crows to the size of rail road cars or buses. The only thing close to them in the human imagination is midevile dragon. If they were alive today they would be the most dangerous, violent, ravenous,gigantic, and dominant creatures in any place they could live. Had it not been for a global catastrophy they would STILL be the most successful animals this planet has ever seen.
What part of that is not bizzare?
'nuff said, John Fischner

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While dinosaurs may have been some of the mightiest creatures ever to have walked the earth, they also could have been among the most bizarre.With extreme, exaggerated body parts, some predators were loaded with outlandish or disproportionately sized appendages.Join world-renowned paleontologists and travel the globe to unearth some of the lesser-known but most surprising members of the dinosaur family: Mamenchisaurus, whose neck alone was longer than the rest of its body; Chasmosaurus, adorned with a fashionable crown of frilly spikes to attract the eyes of potential suitors; Spinosaurus, with massive extensions from its vertebrae that could have supported a sail or a hump; and Parasaurolophus, whose tube-like head crest may look odd to us, but was a mating magnet back in the day.Why did these animals ever adopt such strange appendages?What was their purpose—and why did these evolutionary changes die out?

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Prehistoric Park (2006) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a fabulous, entertaining little series. My sons LOVE them- its kind of Walking With Dinosaurs meets the Crocodile Hunter. Nigel is wonderful, the dinosaurs are well-done, and the pace keeps right on movin'. Put this with Chased By Dinosaurs, and you have a ton of fun. I hope he does more seasons of this! We want to know what happens next, and what animals Nigel will bring back next, at Prehistoric Park!

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Join zoologist and wildlife expert Nigel Marven as he travels back in time to capture the most amazing creatures ever to exist. Step into the hostile climates of the Cretaceous, Pleistocene and Paleozoic time periods, learn what killed these incredible creatures as Marven brings them back to the most incredible zoo never to exist, Prehistoric Park.

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National Geographic: Sea Monsters - A Prehistoric Adventure (In 3-D) (2007) Review

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(More customer reviews)I first saw this movie in IMAX 3D and was truly impressed with a really good storyline and amazing 3D effects. When I saw this movie was released on Blu-Ray in 3D I was hesitant thinking the 3D at home would be a joke. I was proven otherwise. Even on the comfort of my couch the 3D is amazing. You still get all the feelings of the screen coming to life as well as objects projected so close you feel could be hit by them.

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Fun for the whole family — now brought to life through captivating 3-D! Journey 80 million years back in time to an age when mighty dinosaurs dominated the land — and an equally astonishing assortment of ferocious creatures swam, hunted, and fought for survival beneath the vast, mysterious prehistoric seas. Stunning, photo-realistic imagery re-creates the perilous underwater realm of two young, dolphin-sized marine reptiles called Dolichorhynchops, or Dollies, and follows their incredible journey through waters ruled by some of the most awesome predators ever to prowl the Earth\'s oceans. Interweaving ground-breaking fossil finds from around the globe with cutting-edge computer-generated re-creations, National Geographic\'s powerful storytelling immerses you in the life-or-death drama of an age when monsters ruled the seas! With original music by Peter Gabriel and The Footnote, and narrated by Liev Schreiber. Seen originally in IMAX® and other specialty theaters. Includes four pairs of 3-D glasses.

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