Rating: 
Summary: An Eye Opener
Review: I've read the negative comments on this installment of the "Walking With" series and can only partially agree with them. The production could have been better, but I think we have become spoiled by watching computer generated animals done extremely well and realistic. This version contains many human actors and thus the whole "feel" of the production is different.Also, not everything produced on Discovery is meant for children. There are still many, many adults who wish to learn about the past and appreciate a more academic presentation then would occur if a show such as this were aimed at a more younger audience. I guess it is taken for granted by a lot of the media that once one becomes an adult, all that matters are sports competitions and sitcoms. This series thus was extremely refreshing to watch. That being said, I came away from watching "Cavemen" with a newfound respect for our ancestors. All too often they have been portrayed as comical dimwits, running around with clubs and dragging women by their hair. Now I realize this is actually very disrespectful and totally inappropriate. These very ancient ancestors managed to learn to survive some of the worst environmental conditions imaginable, grew more creative over time and with this creativity laid the foundations of modern civilization. As stated in the series, the discovery of fire not only chased away the denizens of the night, but also provided an opportunity for homo sapiens to learn to create,to reflect, become more emotional creatures and allow for the development of higher brain functions. Neanderthals especially have had to bear the brunt of many a joke. Although their species did not survive, they can hardly be termed a failure. They too were resilient, developed the ability to exist during an Ice Age that we, even with all our modern conveniences, would be hard-pressed to endure. They lost the race in the final stretch, yet their accomplishments are deserving of further study and a more accurate (and respectful) portrayal. It is no longer funny to see some dumpy looking, grunting renditions of distant homo sapiens. This vision of them is not only misleading, but extremely far from the truth. "Walking With Cavemen" made me realize that because of their temerity, strength and creative thinking, we can today enjoy a world whose origins rest with these long gone, but still amazing, ancient homo sapiens. A wonderful, and thoughtful, addition to the series.
Rating:
Summary: An Eye Opener
Review: I've read the negative comments on this installment of the "Walking With" series and can only partially agree with them. The production could have been better, but I think we have become spoiled by watching computer generated animals done extremely well and realistic. This version contains many human actors and thus the whole "feel" of the production is different. Also, not everything produced on Discovery is meant for children. There are still many, many adults who wish to learn about the past and appreciate a more academic presentation then would occur if a show such as this were aimed at a more younger audience. I guess it is taken for granted by a lot of the media that once one becomes an adult, all that matters are sports competitions and sitcoms. This series thus was extremely refreshing to watch. That being said, I came away from watching "Cavemen" with a newfound respect for our ancestors. All too often they have been portrayed as comical dimwits, running around with clubs and dragging women by their hair. Now I realize this is actually very disrespectful and totally inappropriate. These very ancient ancestors managed to learn to survive some of the worst environmental conditions imaginable, grew more creative over time and with this creativity laid the foundations of modern civilization. As stated in the series, the discovery of fire not only chased away the denizens of the night, but also provided an opportunity for homo sapiens to learn to create,to reflect, become more emotional creatures and allow for the development of higher brain functions. Neanderthals especially have had to bear the brunt of many a joke. Although their species did not survive, they can hardly be termed a failure. They too were resilient, developed the ability to exist during an Ice Age that we, even with all our modern conveniences, would be hard-pressed to endure. They lost the race in the final stretch, yet their accomplishments are deserving of further study and a more accurate (and respectful) portrayal. It is no longer funny to see some dumpy looking, grunting renditions of distant homo sapiens. This vision of them is not only misleading, but extremely far from the truth. "Walking With Cavemen" made me realize that because of their temerity, strength and creative thinking, we can today enjoy a world whose origins rest with these long gone, but still amazing, ancient homo sapiens. A wonderful, and thoughtful, addition to the series.
Rating:
Summary: Robert Winston is NOT in this release
Review: In case anyone thought from the review below that this is the same as the UK version they should know that it does NOT have a presenter. Instead the wonderfully imagined scenes of what our ancestors were like are presented more in the style of Walking with Dinosaurs, as if you are there, with a voiced narration explaining what you are seeing.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as real as it gets anymore
Review: Let me just say I love Walking with Dinosaurs and Walking with Prehistoric Beasts. Those two are such absolute masterpeices. After over a year of waiting I finally got a nother walking with. Boy is this a disapointment. First of all we did not need a movie about human evolution. The discovery channel has already done several specials on human evolution. Also Walking with Prehistoric Beasts also did a section on human evolution. But grading this by itself it was low in quality and includes nothing we haven't seen before. My biggest problem was the costumes. The apemen in Walking with Prehistoric Beasts were computer animated and have movement that was not quite ape or man it looked inbetween and perfect. The men in monkey suits hear move fully human and completly unrealistic. The neandertals didn't look right either. There noses were to small. Neandertals had bigger noses then that. As for action there is very little. The first three Walking withs had plenty of action. In this we get two short action sequences in its two hour length. I hope the next Walking with will be a CGI filled and action packed like the rest. I think it should be before the dinosaurs. That will be something never done before. Unlike this.
Rating:
Summary: The BBC has done better
Review: Over the duration of the 'walking with' series, I've really come to question what validity it has. I know that there is probably some merit in seeing recreations of what the earth's past may have been like, but all too often the actual educational value seems to get lost amidst the need to tell little stories about the animals in question. This started with Walking with Dinosaurs and I didn't find it too annoying there, but there were plenty of times it didn't work. Instead of documentary, it had turned dino-drama. Now I can really enjoy the concept of a dino-drama, but trying to do that and be educational and do both well is a pretty tall order. One might also wonder why they felt the need to tell a story with every episode but that becomes clear once you realize how expensive it must have been to make their characters. It simply wouldn't be economical to show a creature for 30 seconds that you spent a load of money designing the cgi models for, puppets, etc. And now we come to Walking with Cavemen. For some reason, the creators of the film still feel obligated to stick to prehistoric drama (and by now the novelty has more than worn off), while the quite educational 'making of' disc has been dropped entirely. Looking back on the whole series, one must accept that it's a sort of magic trick, all smoke and mirrors--but innitially, it works. The problem is, by 'Cavemen' we can cleary see the man behind the curtain and the thing falls flat on its face. The stories are, to be blunt, stupid. The best acting in the world can't keep the costumes from looking rediculous, nor make the story convincing. Ultimately, it's a bunch of people paid to run around in furry suits or naked (as in the later episodes) pretending to be pre-humans. It worked in Kubrick's 2001, I don't know why it doesn't work here. With all that said, I would have enjoyed a good BBC special on human evolution. The efforts of the team that made this series, the actors, etc. are very much appreciated, but I feel that while this may hook some of the kids, it does so at a great sacrifice. Teaching science is ultimately about getting students to open their mind and question the world around them--that means that when we make assertions in a science program like Homo erectus not having a spiritual life, we actually provide some evidence. Demonstrating the process of inquiry and deduction is more important than the costumes, more important than flashy cgi or creative cut-scenes. It is the core of what a good education program should be about. Instead, we have the creative presentation of content. Just content. Not science. If you follow that line of reasoning you might come to see why I've given this 2 stars. This is a talented team working for the leaders in quality science programs. I think they can do a lot better.
Rating:
Summary: The BBC has done better
Review: Over the duration of the 'walking with' series, I've really come to question what validity it has. I know that there is probably some merit in seeing recreations of what the earth's past may have been like, but all too often the actual educational value seems to get lost amidst the need to tell little stories about the animals in question. This started with Walking with Dinosaurs and I didn't find it too annoying there, but there were plenty of times it didn't work. Instead of documentary, it had turned dino-drama. Now I can really enjoy the concept of a dino-drama, but trying to do that and be educational and do both well is a pretty tall order. One might also wonder why they felt the need to tell a story with every episode but that becomes clear once you realize how expensive it must have been to make their characters. It simply wouldn't be economical to show a creature for 30 seconds that you spent a load of money designing the cgi models for, puppets, etc. And now we come to Walking with Cavemen. For some reason, the creators of the film still feel obligated to stick to prehistoric drama (and by now the novelty has more than worn off), while the quite educational 'making of' disc has been dropped entirely. Looking back on the whole series, one must accept that it's a sort of magic trick, all smoke and mirrors--but innitially, it works. The problem is, by 'Cavemen' we can cleary see the man behind the curtain and the thing falls flat on its face. The stories are, to be blunt, stupid. The best acting in the world can't keep the costumes from looking rediculous, nor make the story convincing. Ultimately, it's a bunch of people paid to run around in furry suits or naked (as in the later episodes) pretending to be pre-humans. It worked in Kubrick's 2001, I don't know why it doesn't work here. With all that said, I would have enjoyed a good BBC special on human evolution. The efforts of the team that made this series, the actors, etc. are very much appreciated, but I feel that while this may hook some of the kids, it does so at a great sacrifice. Teaching science is ultimately about getting students to open their mind and question the world around them--that means that when we make assertions in a science program like Homo erectus not having a spiritual life, we actually provide some evidence. Demonstrating the process of inquiry and deduction is more important than the costumes, more important than flashy cgi or creative cut-scenes. It is the core of what a good education program should be about. Instead, we have the creative presentation of content. Just content. Not science. If you follow that line of reasoning you might come to see why I've given this 2 stars. This is a talented team working for the leaders in quality science programs. I think they can do a lot better.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Series on the Origins of Mankind
Review: The BBC's "Walking With Cavemen" is a fantastic documentary series that recreates the evolutionary adventure that was the journey from our earliest hominid ancestors to modern humans of today. Using the latest research in the fields of antropology and evolutionary science, the series highlights several key steps along the way from the diminuative ape-like Australopithecus afarensis to, ultimately, Homo Sapiens Sapiens, showing the various stages of physical as well as intellectual advancements. The effects and makeup are well done and help to create an interesting and believable world where our earliest human relatives lived, hunted, fought, and died.
I was very pleased with this series and would highly recommend it and the other "Walking With..." films to anyone interested in ancient life and anyone who wants to get a fascinating glimpse of what life might have been like for our ancestors over the course of 3 million years.
Rating: 
Summary: Walking with Cavemen
Review: This documentary is totally inappropraite for children and should not be advertised as a part of the "Walking with..." series. Unlike "Dinosaurs" and "Prehistoric Beasts", this addresses issues and depicts situations which can not correctly be understood by children. Adult viewers:4 stars; Children: 1 star.
Rating:
Summary: Great educational DVD!! (Not for kids however)
Review: This DVD is wonderful and keeps the audiences attention till the very end. The video is very educational, but appeals to everyone. This video does contain nudity and violence though, so I would not recommend showing it to a classroom. The video walks us through step by step our evolutionary chain. Very little fiction, and everything is based upon facts and science. I would recommend this video to anyone, and it is exciting enough to watch with guests or to give as a gift.
Rating:
Summary: Witness the Evolution of us
Review: Were did we come from? we were born from our moms , no I mean were did homo sapiens come from? the answers to our evolution is on BBC's Walking with Cavemen." A prehistory timeline of our changes and life, from australopithicus to homo sapien sapien. How did invent our world languages,our house hold tools,our alphabet. The most advanched technology back then were sticks and stones and through centuries of evolution we have the internet and television. way Before our parents & grandparents these were are family members, our ancestors. If your interested in our prehistory, this is a good DVD for that. Remember if today were like back then, this DVD wouldn't exist. Thank earlier humans for evolving. see this, It's a blast into the past on a entertainment medium of the present and future.
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