Walking with Beasts

Lacking cable, I was unable to see "Walking with Prehistoric Beasts" when it premiered last December on the Discovery Channel. Therefore, I had to wait impatiently until February 2002 to purchase the DVD set. My anxious wait was not in vain. "Prehistoric Beasts" is awe-inspiring, provocative, informative, and ambitious, very nearly the equal of its precedessor "Walking with Dinosaurs". The scientific knowledge, care, production, and preparation the BBC crew expended on this program was well invested and deeply appreciated, at least by this paleontology buff. I've watched the "episode" DVD and "making of" DVD at least three times already. I will never get tired of it.

Why a shade below "Dinosaurs"? Well, dinosaurs have a unique marquee appeal all their own - they are truly exotic, mysterious, and alien. While the creatures featured in "Beasts" were all special and impressive - from the forest ants and hopping Leptictidium to the titanic Indricotherium - they're still just a tad too familiar. Nonetheless, I enjoyed all six episodes for their professionalism, information, and naturalism (except for some self-conscious camera work, as for example when the indricothere calf knocks over a camera and a mammoth sprays mud on another one - which I actually found amusing). The CGI and animatronic work was phenomenal for the most part, especially in the mammoth sequences - they seemed just like living hairy elephants. Only some of the renditions - like the Smilodon kittens and a couple of the Australopithecines- seemed just a tad artificial. But that is definitely a minor quibble. Also, digitizing out the mating Australopithecines was a bit distracting. As with the mating stegosaurs in "When Dinosaurs Roamed America", they should have just cut away before the deed was consummated.

My favorite episodes were the "indricothere" and "woolly mammoth" ones, because I am a sucker for giant mammals (megafauna). It's a shame these creatures aren't still with us. Some, like the megatherium, doedicurus, and mammoth, were alive only a few thousand years ago!

To those who did not enjoy the "Walking.." series because it is based on speculation and conjecture, I say, suspend your disbelief and savor the daring and original attempts to re-create a lost world based on the most up-to-date information. It is so well-rendered that if it didn't actually occur that way eons ago, it should have!

Again, kudos to the BBC for both "Walking.." series and their accompanying books (which I also own). I recommend they continue this paleontological quest; they are many more prehistoric beasts to feature!

Out of 10, I would rate "Walking with Prehistoric Beasts" a 9.5!

In terms of the age of our planet and in relation to 'Walking with Dinosaurs' set in Earth's distant past, 'Walking With Prehistoric Beasts' happened only last week so to speak. The series starts off with one of the first Mammals then finishing with Humans and the Giant Mammoths, with carnivorous Wolf like animals who's nearest modern day relative are Sheep! this is one big freak show from start to finish.

'Walking With Prehistoric Beasts' tells the story of how Mammals have come to dominate this planet we call home, with each part a different story about an individual, family or group and how they survive and cope in the harsh new Post-Dino world

If you enjoyed 'Walking with Dinosaurs' (it's predecessor) you're love this, the narration, models, FX & CGI have all improved greatly, with some of the `Beasts' in parts even interacting with the camera that is suppose to be filming them.

Great viewing for young and old

I always like watching these dramatisations (when they're well

done and don't dump the equivalent of Raquel Welch in a fur bikini

into the mix) because attempting to portray these animals in

graphic, moving form according to a present theory can give one

new ideas about that theory. I have to say that I enjoyed this series

more than the original Walking with Dinosaurs. Maybe it's the

novelty value. After Jurassic Park it's a bit hard to make dinos look

fresh with the same cgi tech.

Turning the cgi on animals with some living analogues, but that

don't often get covered, was quite fascinating, though. Yes, they

picked and chose which palaeontological theories they wanted to

show, but I thought they did well, overall. The first episode was

especially good, and I also liked the Ice Age sections. The whale

ep was compelling, too, though I ultimately found it a touch too

depressing. They were able to get across some very telling points

with a few images. One of the most striking for me came from the

Pleistocene ep where some wolves are feeding on an old, frozen

carcass--which turns out to be a Human who had straggled too far

from the group. That really brought home the idea that, until very

recently, Humans were not the top predators in the food chain.

Finally, for some reason, one of my cats found this series

absolutely fascinating. Being a cat, he of course has the attention

span of a fruit fly and ordinarily ignores the tv (unless a Wild

Discovery show is on--"'Cops' for Cats", I like to call that one). But

whenever I put this series on, he sits there, six inches in front of

the tube, for an entire 30 minute segment. I think it must have

something to do with the sounds, since the only ep he ignores is

the whale one. I have no idea what he thinks of it all, but I do

wonder if the makers of the show may have hit on something in

their recreation of the possible sounds these animals made.

Even has some humans in it, but none resembling Raquel Welch, nor the phony language.

It's a live-action documentary in six parts, ranging from the meteor that extirpated the dinosaurs up to the Ice Ages. The Cenozoic Era, largely overlooked, but most important in shaping today's fauna (including us!)--much more relevant than The Big Show that was the dinosaur period.

The most interesting sequences are on the giant animals of South America, the development of whales, and the battles for control of land between the survivors of the apocalypse at the end of the Cretaceous period (parts 5, 2, and 1, if I remember correctly).

This was produced by the BBC, following its big success with Walking with Dinosaurs. It's got the same mix of imagined local filmed drama, a la Wild Kingdom, with some basic paleontological exposition. The live action stuff is mostly realistic and there seems to have been considerable research on the backdrop. Each part is based on the fossil records of a particular location. I doubt this sequel was such a big hit, but for the reasons I've suggested above (and the general unfamiliarity of what you'll see), probably more valuable and educational.

Tim Haines made a real misstep in this sequel to Walking With Dinosaurs, in that he made the doc too much of a story, and not enough of a documentary. The smilodon segment, especially, seemed contrived, with the two "brothers" and a lone warrior smilodon named "Half-Tooth." They also take too many great pains to have the animals reacting to the camera.

On the other hand, the evolution of man is nicely done - and I strong recommend the Discovery Channel documentary Neanderthal as a companion piece.

Speaking of Discovery, once again they make a hash of the documentary, editing out the rougher scenes, and intercutting the Making Of... into it as well. Stockard Channing sounds robotic as the narrator as well.

I strongly suggest getting the DVD, which retains all the BBC UK stuff intact.