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Prehistoric Planet/Allosaurus - A Walking With Dinosaurs Special

Prehistoric Planet/Allosaurus - A Walking With Dinosaurs Special

List Price: $29.92
Your Price: $17.93
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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Better than the usual BBC
Review: Well,I have to say that I have seen this one,and it was better than the usual "Walking with Dinosaurs". This time,they have a real storyline,although it`s just a documentary film. And the dinosaurs seems a lot more full of life,although their look isn`t different. It`s a pity these series were not included in the book.
I this 30-minute special,we follow the allosaurus named Al from beeing an egg to his death. In fact,this could truly have been the life of an allosaur. But there are still a few things which I don`t understand (and it has happend TOO many times in "Walking with Dinosaurs"): why does he always start arguing with a female of his own kind?Why didn`t they let him fight another male to get the female instead?That would have been a little more realistic (and a more usual thing to happen in the dinosaur world as well).
Well,I know the filmmakers weren`t made out of cash,but I think this documentary could have been a little longer - 30 minutes was too short. It should have been about an hour. Then we would probably have had more time too learn about Al`s dangerous and wondrous world,and the fantastic creatures living there.
Still,I think this was a very nice addition to BBC`s most expensive project so far,and it is recommended watching both for dino-loving kids as well as for adults and anyone interested in dinosaurs & computer animations.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Top 100 Reasons We're Glad They're Extinct - The Special
Review: When I was a little kid, I used to dream of a world teeming with dinosaurs. I used to imagine what it would have been like when those skeletons I saw on exhibit lived, and how someone needed to play tour guide to that realm and how I should twist the handle. Sadly, no matter how I tried that doorway, it always remained closed, my time machine not quite working the way I would have intended, and dinosaurs were left either in bone formation or in the movies as monsters.
There was never an in-between.

With the creation of the Walking With Dinosaurs series, however, everything began to change and I, still that boy with an interest in that hobby, found myself addicted. The key that separated this series and made it "unique" - a word I try to use sparingly - is in the way the dinosaurs, our main actors and actresses, are portrayed. Instead of turning then into a depiction of a colossal, toothy menace or dryly discussing their lifespan in the way one discusses ancient relics, the series showcases dinosaurs by allowing one to walk with them through their terrain. From the flora and the fauna, the insect life and dinosaurs themselves, a depiction of CGI effects, prosthetics, and of "dinosaur knowing" comes to life. Here, you see the landscape the way it would have been, the animals roaming free and observed naturalistically, and the experience is incredible because it looks so vibrantly realistic.

In Allosaurus: A Walking With Dinosaurs Special, the Allosaurus "Big Al" is showcased as he struggles from the cradle while trying to grow into something fearsome. In sixty minutes, the fifteen years from the egg to the eventual demise it faces are depicted, showing a person that going to the head of the class wasn't easy in that age. Here, other dinosaurs walk as well, and the efforts of one of the top predators of its age seem a tad on the hard side - making me rethink the allure of being the biggest kid on the block. Survival while growing, it is dramatic and enlightening experience, and its pretty interesting how harrowing an introduction can be and how brutal it can be.

For anyone that has yet to watch this series, I'd recommend tuning in as soon as possible and catching up on all those moments you missed out on. I would recommend starting with Walking With Dinosaurs, however, and moving on from there. Still, that is far from being a bad thing. Besides this video that focuses on Big Al and a few of species, other DVDs house other forms of life that are entrancing. Wonderfully fast predators, Megladons swimming the high tides and eating enough to be interesting, and other strange species await you. And they, all the DVDs released thusfar in this series, simply look fantastic. --This text refers to the DVD edition


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