Chased by Dinosaurs

I saw this a while back, and it was pretty cool. Its been a while, so I don't quite remember everything. But I do remember that it was done terrific. Nigel was great, and the CG and live-action blended seamlessly. It's a definite for anyone who loves all of the Discover Channels Dino-Documentaries. It combined elements of Walking With Dinosaurs and When Dinosaurs Roamed America, with elements of Nigels own Wild Animal Docs. Its really interesting, the dinos look amazing, and its even a bit funny. The one draw back is the length of time. Being a dinosaur lover, I would like for a really epic doc, and even though Chased is entertaining, and it's not too short, I would just like to see longer docs, or maybe more of these. Anyway, if you get the chance, check it out.

SPOILERS

Tim Haines and Jasper James, creators of Walking with Dinosaurs and Walking with Beasts team up yet again to deliver more prehistoric action. Up until now, all "Walking with" programmes were shot with no people except the narrator. But now a there's a presenter in there interacting with and reacting to the dinosaurs. In these three adventures, animal-enthusiast Nigel Marven travels back to several different points in prehistory. In "The Giant Claw" Nigel visits Late Cretacous Mongolia to find a therizinosaurus, a dinosaur with a claw over two-feet long! In "Land of Giants", he visits South America in the Early Cretacous to watch the biggest meat-eating dinosaur bring down the biggest plant-eating dinosaur! And in the "Sea Monsters" trilogy, Nigel visits seven prehistoric seas, each one deadlier than the last. Along the way he has a lot of memorable - and terrifying! - experiences: running through a nesting-site, waving a red flag like a matador; flying with a flock of pteranodons or riding on the back of a giant archelon turtle. He also meets a collection of nasty and bizarre creatures such as scorpions the size of dogs, dinosaurs with feathers, giganotosaurs ( predatory dinosaurs larger than T-rex ) and megalodon a shark that makes the modern great-white look like a goldfish! The creators put a lot of hard work into this, but the person who worked the hardest was Nigel. He needed to have us believe that he was actually there among dinosaurs. He can certainly put on a frightened face when someone else looks upon him as lunch and a convincing grin when he sees something astounding. He has been up close in personal with nature today so he certainly knows what he's doing. The BBC has come a long way since Walking with Dinosaurs and I hope a lot of people know and appreciate that.

After three ground-breaking programmes that utterly redefined television documentary making, along came this mess of a show. Clearly the objective was to build upon the populist daring of the likes of the late Steve Irwin. Only one problem though: Irwin had charisma, this guy has none. And I mean none. Even the mosquitoes steal some scenes.

But, I hear you saying, haven't the dinosaurs got even better? Sadly no. If anything they're actually reduced to a walk on role in long shot or "chasing" the host. I estimate 70% of screen time has Nigel mumbling something either uninteresting or unfunny or warning us about what could happen when the dinosaurs do turn up. Trying to "scare" us in other words. He doesn't need to try. This show IS scary, but for the wrong reasons. It's contrived and boring and an embarrassment to all involved. Don't even bother trying YOUTUBE. Save your money and download limit.

This is a terrific show! - a mix of natural history, sci-fi and drama. Nigel has bags of charisma and really helps the show to both educate and entertain, all at the same time.

Overall it's original, exciting and a testimony to all involved (hence the well deserved Emmy). I hope that the team assembles for a modern version!

I have nothing but absolute praise for this documentary! There are so many things to love about this documentary! First, the CGI is - as always in the Walking with Trilogy - absolutely perfect. The animals look like they are actually in the landscapes that are being filmed. You won't find any documentaries from other producers that look better. Also, Nigel Marven's acting is really good and convincing. Even though the creatures will mostly be added in later, he still acts as if there were real creatures he's interacting with him. Also, the storytelling is really good. For example, Nigel tells us that Therizinosaurus was probably a carnivore, like most theropods. It's over the course of the show that he finds out Therizinosaurus is actually one of the strangest herbivorous dinosaurs ever.