Cheap Dinosaur Planet - Real Big Stories (DVD) Price

Related Products

Customer Reviews of Dinosaur Planet - Real Big Stories

Dinosaur Planet
This much hyped four episode show tries to duplicate BBC's phenomenal Walking with Dinosuars series, but doesn't do it very well. Now, Walking with dinosaurs was by no means an accurate portrayal of dinosaurs, but Dinosaur Planet doesn't even try to be. Despite its taglines that insist that it is a look at how real dinosaurs would have lived, this is basically a CGI The Land Before Time if the dinosaurs didn't talk. These dinosaurs have names, hold grudges, make friends with other species and have mortal lifelong enemies. Its pure fiction.

The narration by Christian Slater of all people is pretty lackluster and often annoying. The script he has to work with makes repeaded use of the world "instictivly" to explain absolutly everything that happens, which gets old quickly. Also agravating are Slater's frequent made up slang. Its so bad its funny.

The animation is sometimes passable, but more often then not is of poor quality. You can see herds of dinosaurs going through identical walk cycles at the same time. Often even the simplest motions are poorly animated. The Saltasaurs, for instance, have a "sticky-feet" walk that looks like they are putting far too much energy then they should be in each step. The compositing is poor, and whenever the CG animals interact with their enviorment, the timing is off. There is also brief use of a lifeless puppet that moves extremly woodenly.

Overall Dinosaur Planet is disapointing. I'm sure it would be fun for kids to watch, but they might get bored. I got bored watching this and I usually love this type of show.

---

Dinosaur Planet
The latest entry in the post-"Walking with Dinosaurs" craze, "Dinosaur Planet" follows "When Dinosaurs Roamed America". Composed of four hour-long episodes - White Tip's Journey, Pod's Travels, Alpha's Egg, and Little Das' Hunt - this series is better in both animation and story telling than its predecessor, though it is still no "Walking with..."

What most people might find interesting about this series is that all of the episodes feature dinosaurs that most people probably never hear of. Most everyone is familiar with Velociraptor, Iguanodon and Maiasaurus, but how many passing dino fans have heard of Shuvia, Daspletosaurus, Saltasaurus, or Pyroraptor? This series opens up the world of dinosaurs that most people have never heard of.

The Episodes are:
White Tip's Journey - a young female Velociraptor travels the Gobi desert searching for a new pack. Along the way she must dodge rival Oviraptors and angry Protoceratops.

Pod's Travels - a male Pyroraptor looses his two sisters in a tsumami and ends up on and island populated by smaller versions of the animals he's used to.

Alpha's Egg - a Saltasaur's life is followed from birth to her first egg clutch. It's a bumpy ride to adulthood, especially with all the predators about. Alpha's chief rival, though, is Dragonfly, a hungry carnosaur that's got her in his crosshairs.

Little Das' Hunt - Little Das, a juvenile Daspletosaurus, tries his hardest to help his older sisters and mother in the hunt, but he always seems to mess things up! But just as he's on the verge of proving himself, a volcanic eruption changes the balance of power.

Despite the animation quaility and good narration, there is a glaring flaw in this series. The producers appear to have been less selective in where they put their dinosaurs than the "Walking with Dinosaurs" team. The dinosaurs in "Planet" are shown wandering about in grass filled landscapes, a plant that did not exist in that age. The "Walking with..." creators were more careful, and this laziness on the part of the "Planet" producers prevents this series from getting five stars.

Overall, a good series, but with flaws that could have been easily avoided.

---

Great Stories
I think Dinosaur Planet is a great DVD. I don't agree with some of the criticisms that other viewers have written. I like Slater as the narrator and I like the animation.

Probably the strongest aspect of these stories is the study of the animals as intelligent creatures that have feelings and personalities. You get the feeling that you know these animals in the same way that you might know the neighbor's dog.

I would say the stories are consistent with current theories about how dinosaurs behaved. This is enforced with segments that show a real paleontologist talking about fossils and other things.

Jeff Marzano