Before the Dinosaurs: Walking With Monsters

We have been watching dinosaur/prehistoric animals/sharks shows for 4 years now. These DVDs are pretty decent, certainly good enough for young enthusiasts.

I found this "walking with" to be very good, even in comparison to Dinosaurs and Beasts. I liked how they made it different from the others; such as showing the evolution from one era to the next and the insides of some of the animals.They also didn't make it as long as the others, but it was actually better having shorter. I found it easier to watch.There was one thing i didn't like about it and that was some of the effects. Although the cgi upclose seemed to work, the animatronics weren't as impressive as the previous films. The parts that get me (and if you haven't seen it yet you may want to skip this!) are the ones such as where the giant spider attacked the petrolacosaurus and it was half cgi and half puppet. Why wouldn't they have just done it all cg? another one was where the chasmatosaurs attacked the lystrosaurs in the river. At one point the animatronic chasmatosaur bites the lystrosaurus and there is a spray of blood, which is clearly being done by someone off camera. However the lystrosaur animatronics are quite well done, especially considering its operating in the water. I forgot to mention, the chasmatosaur puppets have no intricate movements at all. There jaws are always open, there eyes never shut, there tounges nor nostrils don't move at all. At one point they're on the beach apparently sunbathing, and they don't move at all. They even used the same head in the water as they did on land! Other than those slight mishaps, the special effetcs were top notch.All the episodes are wonderful, and they all have intresting animals, spectacular effects, great storylines and up-to-date facts squeezed in. However the last episode was kind of short and not as good as the others. It kind of lacked content, but it works. the bonus features on this disc are also quite enjoyable.I'm glad i bought this DVD, and if you liked Walking with dinosaurs and prehistoric beasts, you'll love this adventure through the beginnings of our world.

迫力のある内容でした。子供が喜んで見ていました。他のシリーズも購入しました。

The whole Walking With series is just wonderful! It began with the dinosaurs, but then expanded to the less well known, but far more interesting life forms that have inhabited this planet. Walking With Monsters goes back to the earliest life on Earth and progresses through the ages right up to the time when dinosaurs begin to appear. You will be amazed by the diversity of creatures that have inhabited this planet. Walking With Monsters has a neat little subplot: the evolution of humans. In each episode we learn of another adaptation that has evolved and then has been maintained through countless generations. This show is good for anyone interested in animals, biology, geology, and evolution. Don't worry though, all the science is presented in a "you are there witnessing the action" fashion, so you are learning without even realizing it!

Nobody should confuse this with a course of paleontology. Nobody should even confuse this with a broad survey of the subject. Instead, it is a magnificent flight of imagination based upon some real science but which does not let the science take precedence over the wonder. It is wonderfulThis is a series of three programs. Each deals with prehistoric life before the advent of the dinosaurs.In the first program, we are treated to one theory of the formation of our planet and introduced to the Cambrian seas. There are not dinosaurs here. Fish barely even exist. That does not stop the cycle of predation in a world of gigantic marine scorpions and the proto-fish prey. We see the colonization of the land by the first plants and encounter the first amphibians, learning a little bit about the evolutionary pressures that drove their emergence. The program ends with the first true reptiles and the hard shelled egg.The second episode takes place more on land. Gigantic arthropods contest with gigantic amphibians and the odd reptile here and there. We see the first strains of reptile that will eventually give rise to the mammals. Life is still a contest of the predator and the prey.The third episode advances the story through the lives of some early, pre-dinosaur reptiles. The motif of eat and be eaten is still the rule of the day. The episode ends with the apprearance of true dinosaurs, where the series first began.There is a lot of speculation in this work. Some of it is well reasoned and logical. Some of it is much less so. Only a few species are looked at with any degree of detail. The great Devonian age of the fishes is bypassed in a short sentence. That does not stop the wonder of it all. It is fascinating seeing the fossils come to life even with the speculations.The DVD also includes a "making of" segment which covers all three of the series. It too is worth watching.This will never replace real coursework and has all of the depth of the old, "Mutual of Omaha Wild Kingdom" but neither was ever intended to teach zoology. Both were meant to kindle a sense of wonder. Both accomplish that end.