Customer Reviews

Chased By Dinosaurs

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The premise for these videos is that Nigel, an Action Zoologist (the name I give to moronic zoologists/amateur naturalists who go around chasing animals instead of just watching them) is able to travel back into time to watch dinosaurs. He visits some very interesting time periods, including the biggest sauropod versus the biggest carnivore (i.e., the biggest land animal ever versus the biggest land carnivore ever). He then visits an animal with massive claws, trying to determine just what it ate. Finally, he ends up exploring the six most dangerous seas of all time. That translates into him visiting the six most dangerous marine predators of all time. I quite enjoyed this series, but all were well done.

As you can guess, I'm not the biggest fan of Nigel all the time, and like most Action Zoologists, I'm half cheering for him to get eaten most of the time. What keeps this video collection at 5 stars is that there is a superb documentary, almost an hour long, on the science behind the first episode of giant herbivore versus giant carnivore. It's well presented for even children, yet the accuracy and thinking are good enough for older, more scientific audiences.

So this is a win-win of education and entertainment, and well worth the money.

Both my son and I love this video! The special effects are so realistic you'd swear these dinos are real, especially the Most Dangerous Seas segment. A must see for any dino enthusiast.

BBC's Walking with Dinosaurs shows have always been a guilty pleasure of mine, even though each one is more ludicrously inaccurate then the one before it. Still, watching computer generated dinosaurs in simulated nature photography has yet to get old. I live in the US and don't get cable so I have to wait for these shows to appear on DVD in order to watch them. Chased by Dinosaurs adds a new twist to the series, adding Nigel Marvin into the mix. I assume he is Britian's answer to the croc hunter, and he was interesting enough here for me to look for some of his other shows. The croc hunter method of storytelling makes everything much less serious and gives us about 70% less dino screen time then before, but it is still very entertaining and unique. Who doesn't want to see Nigel trying to lure a Sarcosuchus out of the water with a stick?

There are five 30 minute episodes on the disc. The first two explore soem of the most interesting mezezoic ecosystems, mid cretaceous south america and late cretaceous Mongolia. It's about time these awesome enviorments got Walking with Dinosaurs treatment, and it really is a pleasure to see Giganotosaurus, Therizinosaurus, Protoceratops and others brought to life by framestore's animators. Anybody with even the most marginal knowledge of dinosaurs will be frustrated by glaring in accuracies, but if viewed soley as entertainment you'll have a good time. This show has much more of dinosaurs fighting and doing "cool stuff" then the other Walking with dinosaurs shows.

Then there is the 3 part Sea Monsters show. This show's very theme characterizes the creatures as monsters instead of animals, but again, just view it as entertainment. There is nothing to learn here, but its a really fun 90 minutes and I found myself really getting into it. Since they're throwing people in with the dinosaurs it would have been cool if somebody got eaten, but I suppose you can't have it all.

Excellent series. Reminded me of a cross between Crocodile Hunter, Jurassic Park, and Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. Getting yourself into danger for no apparent reason like Croc Hunter, exciting dino scenes like Jurassic Park (without the violence), and the sense that no matter how much danger Marlin Perkins seems to be in he won't get hurt like Wild Kingdom. Best for Children (my 3 year old was captivated), but adults can learn a few things too.

This thrilling DVD was a joy to watch. Nigel Marvin is great, and his filmed "adventures" in time seem extremely real. I had to sometimes tell myself that this was all scripted and not real. Amazing effects and good "acting" on Nigel's part really made you feel that way. I highly recommend this DVD, and would like to see more made. Let's hope if this happens, Nigel will return, and not be replaced by someone extremely irritating and dim-witted like Steve Irwin, a.k.a the "crocodile hunter".

I've enjoyed the BBC historical programs about prehistoric animals and dinosaurs. I thought this was the best of them, the technology and effects are mature, and the structure as an action animal adventure program is amusing.

Watched this DVD with my son.He and I were most impressed with the way it is narrated and so real like.
This is a great learning tool, an introduction into prehistoric life.

Having seen most of these episodes when they were
originally aired in the UK, I would buy this in a
heartbeat - were it not for the stupidity of DVD
region encoding, which means I wouldn't be able to
watch it here in England. Since it's not on sale
at all in the UK, that's a dead-cert sale that the
DVD industry has denied itself. Nice going.

These films are even more amazing than the original Walking with Dinosaurs. The animation is absolutly stunning, and Nigel Marven is great in the believable way he interacts with the creatures. True, adding a Human host does mean the Dinos get a bit less screen time than in the original "Walking" - but it's quality over quantity in this case, and there's still more Dino action to enjoy here than in all three Jurassic Park movies combined. This is by far the best, and most realistic portrayal of prehistoric nature ever, and I for one sincerely hope Mr. Marven takes on another prehistoric safari soon!

"Walking with Dinosaurs" was a technical marvel, and the BBC keeps spitting them out. This latest offering, "Chased by Dinosaurs", is no exception. This time, the narrator takes a back seat to our host, Nigel Marven.

The DVD is split into five episodes, each taking on a different time in history. In "The Giant Claw", Nigel tries to track down the owner of a huge claw in Cretaceous Mongolia, and what he finds is nothing like what he expected. "Land of Giants" finds our host in Cretaceous Argentina, where he witnesses a true clash of titans. And in the three part "Sea Monsters", Nigel takes to the water to observe the worst the prehistoric oceans had to offer.

Each episode is well written and well done, and as one reviewer mentions, the animation has truely improved since "Walking with Dinosaurs". Perhaps the best of the offerings is "Sea Monsters", where each episode ends with Nigel and crew facing a peril of some kind, and the viewer wondering, "What happens next?" As with the previous video releases, this is the original BBC airing, with no cuts.

Included with this DVD are trailers for "Walking with Dinosaurs", "Walking with Beasts", "Walking with Cavemen", and "Blue Planet". There are also fact files for each of the animals encountered in the series, as well as an extra program, "The Science of Giants", from the BBC series "Horizons". All in all, an must have for your "Walking with..." collection.