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8.2/10
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The final installment in the "Walking with" series is a 90-minute documentary about the evolution of life before the dinosaurs.The final installment in the "Walking with" series is a 90-minute documentary about the evolution of life before the dinosaurs.The final installment in the "Walking with" series is a 90-minute documentary about the evolution of life before the dinosaurs.
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
- 1 win & 1 nomination total
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10tankace
Walking with Monsters is the last of the Walking with series which truth to be told brought the prehistory to life. This one focuses on the life before the age of dinosaurs when creatures, even stranger than those we saw in the previous installments,walk the earth. The animation looks terrific and the story here is pretty much the who our bodies and all the bodies of any organism alive today.From my point of view makes sense to do that because back then was the time when all the organisms were much more closely related and to see the way they became was a awesome experience. To see these series end, made me express bitter- sweet feelings .From one hand you feel like when the summer vacations before going to college are over, you know only too well that ,that this time is going to be be the most relaxed time that you will ever have. But on the bright side you are happy to see what you put so much time end in a high note and not milked to death like the movie franchises with sequel after sequel and horrible spin offs. In conclusion I love it, although the fact that it was only three episodes long in bug me ,but apart from that I have no reservations suggesting to someone who love good documentaries in general.
One more in the stunning series from BBC television. The first, "Walking with Dinosaurs" was the best, in my opinion. They put a lot of effort in these productions with top shelf animation that will satisfy viewers of any age. "Walking with Monsters" goes back in time before the dinos to a truly overlooked period in life's evolution. Animals that defied taxonomy branched off and went their own evolutionary route that ended in the greatest mass extinction in earth's history about 250 million years ago. It'll never be known how those animals would have turned out since 95% of all species died. And it may never be known what they looked like and what their behavior was, but the producers of this work filled in the unknowns with brilliant speculation and imagination. They make it seem like it's a wildlife documentary. Wide eyed kids aside, I'll bet the biggest fans are paleontologists. Not to be missed if you're interested in this genre. (Spoiler - they eat each other)
The latest Walking with special follows life from one celled animals in the sea until the advent of dinosaurs. Its a thrilling trip that is the equal to the original series. Here the series looks not only at life at various times through the ages but also gives you a sense of how the various creatures may have evolved by having time lapse shots of the creatures moving up the evolutionary ladder. This is great stuff and the perfect way to begin a marathon look at how life has grown and changed over the eons. While there is the inevitable eat or be eaten theme to the whole thing you do get a nice sens that there is more to it all then just that. Also what we see here dovetails nicely with the other Walking specials so that when put together you get a sense of how life moves and evolves not only for dinosaurs but even now.
A must see, especially when coupled with the other series
A must see, especially when coupled with the other series
Interesting docudrama about life on Earth before the dinosaurs. Excellent CGI and scientific information is marred by an overly simplified and sensationalized presentation. Hundreds of millions of years of evolution are condensed into about a half-dozen scenes. Information about ecology and the food web is ignored in favor of scenes of large carnivores attacking each other.
I am curious how they determined the behavior, colouration, and sounds of these creatures. The arthropods are so loud that one would think that prey would be able to hear them coming. I was also not aware that amphibians and reptiles roar like lions.
I am curious how they determined the behavior, colouration, and sounds of these creatures. The arthropods are so loud that one would think that prey would be able to hear them coming. I was also not aware that amphibians and reptiles roar like lions.
Waling with Dinosaurs may be the most fondly remembered of the series, but I'd place this as the best of the Walking With series. Talking the lessons learned from the prior series, the filmmakers seek to push the limits by giving the audience what is quite literally a more in-depth look at the fascinating life before the dinosaurs. It may be shorter than the others, and inevitably suffers from some inaccuracies, but it's nonetheless an engaging and thrilling experience.
Did you know
- TriviaVery late into production it was discovered that Megarachne, the basis of the giant spider seen in the Carboniferous segment was actually an eurypterid or sea scorpion like those seen in the Silurian part. The crew decided then to rename their now obsolete creature "Mesothelae", after the most primitive group of living spiders. There were Mesothelae spiders in the Carboniferous, but just not that big.
- Alternate versionsThere are two widely available variations of the show's original British version:
- One that has all three episodes being separate. This version has previews and recaps at the beginning and end of each episode. Also, at the very end there is a never-before-seen shot of an Allosaurus walking on a Jurassic plain.
- The other version combines the three episodes into a one-and-a-half hour long movie, with the episodes flowing together. This one lacks the new shot of the Allosaurus. It begins with primordial Earth being shown from afar, whereas the other version lacks this shot and starts out with a closer view. It also has an extended ending, with more stock footage taken from Walking with Dinosaurs (1999) as the narrator talks about the mammals' ancestors. The other version lacks this scene.
- ConnectionsEdited into Primeval: The Chase Continues (2009)
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Before the Dinosaurs
- Filming locations
- Devils Postpile National Monument, California, USA(Devonian scenes)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime
- 30m
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.78 : 1
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