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Walking with Monsters - Life Before Dinosaurs | 
 enlarge | Director: Tim Haines
Actor: Kenneth Branagh
Studio: BBC Warner
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.98
Buy Used: $12.99
You Save: $6.99 (35%)
New (36) Used (9) from $12.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  46 reviews
Sales Rank: 8744
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd-video, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 90
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: WARDE2418D
ISBN: 1419819054
UPC: 794051241825
EAN: 9781419819056
Theatrical Release Date: 2005
Release Date: January 17, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Good disc and case, light wear, plays fine, full refund if you're not happy, i ship 6 days a week
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Product Description
Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 01/17/2006
Amazon.com
Many people think of the dinosaurs as the first inhabitants of the earth, but this prequel to Walking With Dinosaurs puts viewers in the midst of a host of strange creatures that inhabited the earth millions of years before the dinosaurs ever existed. With the help of complex computer animation and the research of hundreds of paleontologists, the BBC presents an extremely realistic picture of the earth's earliest, most primitive aquatic inhabitants and chronicles their evolution to the precursors of man himself and the mighty dinosaurs. The first Walking With Monsters episode begins in the Cambrian period 530 million years ago, showcasing how a simple jellyfish-like sea creature evolved over 200 million years into new creatures with eyes and protective external and internal skeletal systems. These adaptations resulted in the world's first fish, arthropods, amphibians, and land-loving reptiles. The second episode details the giant insects of the Carboniferous period 300 million years ago and demonstrates how evolution empowered amphibians and reptiles by creating mechanisms to regulate their own body temperature and developing specialized teeth. The final episode begins in the late Permian period 250 million years ago when the earth was essentially one large desert full of volcanic activity. While much of earth's life was extinguished during this period, adaptation and evolution continued, bringing the development of a specialized hip in a tiny reptile called the Euparkeria that would prove to be the forerunner of mammals and evolve into the dinosaurs in the Triassic period. While some criticize this project as a somewhat overly dramatic presentation of speculative paleontology as fact, this program utilizes scientific inference to bring pre-history to life and highlight the amazing adaptations and evolution of the earth's earliest inhabitants. The bonus "Trilogy of Life" feature details the research, vision and hard work inherent in the creation of the Walking With Monsters, Walking With Dinosaurs and Walking With Prehistoric Beasts. (Ages 6 and older) --Tami Horiuchi
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| Customer Reviews: Read 41 more reviews...
 A Few Facts, Lots of Speculation and Worlds of Wonder February 13, 2006
51 out of 51 found this review helpful
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 wonderful
This 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.
The best Walking With......yet! The trilogy is complete April 1, 2006
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
After the astounding Walking with Dinosaurs and Walking with Beasts, the time had come to tell the story of life before the dinosaurs. Many people probably know less about this strange collection of creatures than they do about the prehistoric mammals of Beasts, but nonetheless these are fascinating animals.
Many familiar Walking With locations are used, such as New Zealand and Argentina. The animation is probably best in the entire series. From the undulating body of the Pterygotus sea scorpion to the incredibly detailed legs of the giant Arthrofleura, the animation team really should give themselves a pat on the back.
My only problem? Sometimes this show seems to have a feminist slant. All of the giant predators are females!
Great piece of animation explores life before the dinosaur February 26, 2006
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This documentary is a view of life on earth before the dinosaurs. The film begins with the creation of the Moon by the impact of the hypothetical planet Theia with the Earth. Starting with the Cambrian period 530 million years ago, the evolution of life on earth is documented, starting with the earliest of man's ancestors, the Haikouicthys, an orange "fish" the size of a thumbnail. The progress of the sea-dwelling creatures is charted as they evolve into being able to exist on land and ends where the documentary "Walking with Dinosaurs" picks up, at the end of the Triassic period, with the first dinosaurs walking the earth and forcing the smaller mammalian creatures into a nocturnal existence of hiding.
DVD extras include a thirty-minute documentary entitled Trilogy of Life. This documentary covers all of the Walking with series (Dinosaurs, Beasts, and Monsters). There are numerous interviews with the filmmakers and producers of the series. There is even footage of the real locations and backgrounds before the animated beasts were inserted by computer. It's funny to see the filmmakers kicking up dust and moving trees with wires "pretending" to be the dinosaurs since the dinosaurs would be inserted later.
The documentary itself is presented with a great deal of detail and authority, as if the filmmakers know for a fact that this is exactly what took place, when in fact it is all quite hypothetical. However, you have to watch it understanding that its purpose is not to present an academic thesis. Instead, its purpose is to bring prehistory to life, just as if you were watching present-day animals being filmed, complete with animated prehistoric beasts occasionally bumping into an imaginary camera.
My stepchildren absolutely love this documentary. This film just goes to prove that science can be made interesting, inviting the viewer to further investigate what is being presented. That is the purpose of the film, and it does succeed brilliantly.
Walking With Monsters DVD January 12, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
The movie is beautiful done and artfully narrated. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys animals species and learning about the biological and social facts behind them.
Hypnotic! April 9, 2006
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
I caught this on the discovery channel or at least the one that they are broadcasting under a different title and it was engrossing. Very visually stimulating and the topic very interesting. I recommend it for children and adults alike!
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