December 08, 2009.

Wonderful collection.

Rating: 5
I got this for my son who is interested in dinosaurs. He really enjoys watching this collection of educational DVDs about dinosaurs and prehistoric animals. I would recommend this collection to everyone. The dinosaurs and animals look real and it really is a good educational collection of DVDs. The DVDs are not boring at all. Entertaining.

December 22, 2008.

very important breakthrough show. .

Rating: 5
This show and the whole series of walking with...
were an important breakthrough in reaching the public and awakening
people to the wonders of the past. Technology finally allowed filmakers
to at least try to recreate what scientists think these ancient creatures looked and behaved like. These type of effects had been used before in great films but this was science made vivid and popular. The series won a emmy and it deserves a place in history because it helped to bring about a greater understanding of the bird-dinosaur link. It's hard to believe that before this show many people still believed dinosaurs were slow moving tail dragging reptiles in spite of the great books from great Paleontologists like Bakker and Horner
and hit movies like "jurassic park". Others couldn't accept that birds were descendents from the dinosaurs but this is now accepted by most everyone. One reason is after watching these shows it was easier to see the connection. The shows were top notch and alot of fun. The dvd's are excellent and well made as well with clear pictures and everything else you'd want. These shows should be seen if you haven't seen them and collected by anyone who loves the prehistoric past with all of it's wonders.

December 19, 2008.

James Arndt.

Rating: 5
A most impressive piece of work. This video brings to life the period of the Dinosaurs in a most realistic manner. When I first watched this series years ago, it impressed me so much that I bought all the Walking with series. Never before have the dinosaurs been brought to life like they have here, it makes a great educational instrument for children. Evolution has produced impressive species and life forms, and the great ones we know as dinosaurs, which nature selected for extinction, are brought to life in great respect with this video. These series are very realistic video, and appear so real that you would think they live today. This video took much work, and dedication, and the people that produced this series should be much commended for this work. All the Walking with series are very impressive work, a wonderful piece of work to be proud of.

December 18, 2008.

"The Complete Walking with... Collection"!.

Rating: 5
"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 Torosaurus) 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 trailers


This 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 more


Just 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 (nope) 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

- Storyboards


I 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!

December 03, 2008.

The Complete Walking with Dinosaurs Collection.

Rating: 3
Thanks, my kid loves the "Rowrs"...... but I'm sick of the Limey / British narrator already!