Customer Reviews

Walking with Monsters: Before the Dinosaurs

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

 

 

The whole Walking With series is just wonderful! It began with the dinosaurs, but then expanded to the less well known, but far more interesting life forms that have inhabited this planet. Walking With Monsters goes back to the earliest life on Earth and progresses through the ages right up to the time when dinosaurs begin to appear. You will be amazed by the diversity of creatures that have inhabited this planet. Walking With Monsters has a neat little subplot: the evolution of humans. In each episode we learn of another adaptation that has evolved and then has been maintained through countless generations. This show is good for anyone interested in animals, biology, geology, and evolution. Don't worry though, all the science is presented in a "you are there witnessing the action" fashion, so you are learning without even realizing it!

I must say BBC has done it again, I like the special effects on this program and I find this program is worth watching and add to my collection.

I also give this program 2 thumbs up.

BBC is the best.

Im a fan of the new BBC show Primeval that has a new monster in every
episode, and once i knew that they used the same software to create their
creatures to make walking with Dinosaurs and other shows...i was hooked.
Walking with Monsters is great. Great scenery with incredible
monsters added is very nicely done...they sure look real. Boy, technology has really advance... its incredible eye candy.
If you are into monsters and dinosaurs...you should enjoy it.,
A keeper for sure.

Excellent, I watched it with my 8yrs old grandson and we both loved it..will be buying him more of this series.

This video series is really one long show split into three parts. They're not very long individually, maybe 45 minutes or so. They are shot in the same style as the Walking With Dinosaurs series. Generally speaking, the images are superb and well worth watching. I love the period of life before the dinosaurs, because Earth, and the animals on it, were quite different than they are now. Almost alien-like! For example, oxygen levels 20% lower, or 40% higher, or temperatures 60% higher, can all make dramatic differences in the kinds, number, and variety of life and landscapes on Earth. That was really interesting to see, and it's a subject that you don't often hear/learn about, making it well worth watching. On the negative side:

1- Some of the animals are again, acting too smart. This is a problem with all dinosaur shows. They were mental midgets (other than a very few at the end of the cretaceous), resembling fish more than mammals in their capacity for behavior.

2- The run time for the huge range of animals was quite short. This show spans a period almost as long as the reign of the dinosaurs, so three episodes only give you a glimpse of a small number of animals. Especially the Cambrian period, there were many fascinating kinds of animals never seen before or since. More about them would have been nice.

3- There aren't any extras to this DVD. No making-of, and no science-of. I find the latter especially disappointing, given how little is generally known about this area.

So with those limitations in mind, I'd probably give this a 3/5 if it weren't for the fact that it covers a period of Earth's history that you won't see anywhere else. That makes it well worth watching. Plus children are going to love the huge, strange animals that are so different from what they've ever seen before. Overall then, I recommend this DVD for parents, children, and anyone interesting in prehistoric life.

Okay, so you hopefully have seen other BBC "Walking with" movies- and all are pretty good. Well "Walking with Monsters" is almost the complete opposite! I'd say that the worst thing about the movie is the fact that it basicly is all one big episode; unlike previous movies like "Walking with Dinosaurs" where they had at least 6 different episodes to one movie.

I do have to admit that some of the creatures on the movie were pretty cool- In fact that's the only reason I give it a 2 star rating! Also, this movie is only worth adding to your collection of "Dino Documentaries" because it's from BBC.