|
You can look at a rather nasty bird the height of an adult,
a horse the size of a cat, a whale with legs, a meat-eating
pig the size of a rhino, a mammoth, our alleged ancestors
in the trees (although I do know some knuckle draggers who
fit the bill) and the sabre-toothed cat.
Each one looks as if they had been filmed in the wild only
a matter of weeks before and boasts an astonishing level of
detail. The graphics are considerably more realistic than
in Walking With Dinosaurs.
There are six half-hour-ish episodes in the series, beginning
with the deaths of the dinosaurs and the new bosses on the
Earth (huge carniverous birds) - then moving into a look at
the seas and a ferocious whale, move slowly and follow a family
of giant herbivores, check out our monkey mates, sabre-tooth
cats and finally mammoths and easrly modern man.
One of the main things I noticed about the series is that
the ancient creatures may look like a modern equivalent, but
half the time it becomes something completely different. Classic
examples being the legged Basilosaurus, which looks like a
massive crocodile, but is actually on the way to being a whale,
or the tiny creature that becomes our modern horse.
The look of Walking With Beasts is exquisite. It is
sharp, perfectly coloured and toned, and is shot very much
in the documentary mode. The producers even take great pains
to cut the quality of the night shots to give a more authentic
and realistic feel to the imagery. Sound-wise, the stereo
presentation is more than acceptable for what is needed and
the commentary is clear as a bell.
Walking With Beasts is utterly absorbing and will
appeal to children as well as adults, and will become indispensable
for teachers.
Conclusion: Movie 95%, Extras 85%
Continued:
DVD details at a glance >
|
