The Complete Walking with... Collection (2000)

Finally all three programs from the Emmy Award- winning Walking With...series -- Walking with Dinosaurs Allosaurus: A Walking with Dinosaurs Specialand Walking with Prehistoric Beasts-- are available for the first time as a collector's set on DVD and VHS. The epic begins with a journey back 65 million years ago to a virtual lost world which has been recreated with spectacular digital effects and animatronics. The series continues as we follow the life and death struggles of 'Big Al' the most complete allosaurus skeleton ever found. And finally we explore our planet after the reign of the dinosaur and the succession of extraordinary creatures that came and went over the following millennia. The end of the dinosaur was only the beginning!Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: CHILDREN/FAMILY UPC: 794051269720 Manufacturer No: E2697 Product Description

"The Complete Walking with... Collection"!

"The Complete Walking with... Collection", is a compilation of "Walking with Dinosaurs", "Allosaurus - A Walking with Dinosaurs Special", and "Walking with Prehistoric Beasts". All the discs in this fold-out cardboard case are exactly the same as the original individual DVD releases.

No one has gone into much detail about the DVD itself, so I'll do so here...


"Walking with Dinosaurs"

Walking with Dinosaurs Program Description:

The Journey begins 220 million years ago with a trip back in time to the reign of the dinosaurs!

Using the latest scientific findings, Walking with Dinosaurs examines the 155-million-year history of these great creatures, from the aggressive Coelophysis, the first animal to hunt in a pack, to Tyrannosaurus Rex, the most terrifying carnivore on the planet. Feel the ground tremble as dueling Triceratops (that's a mistake, they're actually Torosaurus) lock horns, and soar with Ornithocheirus, who could travel over 300 miles on a single flap of his powerful wings.

Program Titles:

1. NEW BLOOD

2. TIME OF THE TITANS

3. CRUEL SEA

4. GIANT OF THE SKIES

5. SPIRITS OF THE ICE FOREST

6. DEATH OF A DYNASTY

Extras:

- 29 minutes of behind-the-scenes picture-in-picture footage

- 50 minute "making of" documentary

- Promotional trailers


This is an excellent program, and definitely my personal favorite of the three. Everything is incredibly realistic, to the CGI models, animatronics, locations, and even the story-lines. I must have watched it at least 10 times by now. (and I'm only talking about this DVD collection; I must have watched this series 50 times on our VHS recording)

The features are very good, and filled with plenty of jokes with the dinosaurs not doing what they're supposed to and the like. It's really neat to see them on location filming nothing or creating the animatronics and what-not. All the other features are excellent too.


"Allosaurus - A Walking with Dinosaurs Special"

Allosaurus - A Walking with Dinosaurs Special and Big Al Uncovered Program Descriptions:

In 1991, the most complete allosaurus skeleton ever found was discovered in Wyoming and fondly nicknamed "Big Al". Through careful excavation and restoration, scientists have pieced together a detailed biography of this one dinosaur. Using the same computer graphics and animatronics techniques that amazed viewers all over the world in "Walking with Dinosaurs", this program vividly recreates the 15 years from Al's birth to his untimely demise.

In Big Al Uncovered, Al haunts modern-day museums and dig sites as scientists explain how they picked up clues and traced the evidence of one dinosaur's life story.

Extras:

- Picture-in-picture sequence with over 40 storyboards

- Photo gallery

- CD-ROM sampler of screensavers, video clips, wallpaper and more


Just as good as "Walking with Dinosaurs" and very interesting to see more of Allosaurus from the second program from "Dinosaurs".

Big Al Uncovered was also very interesting and, again quite amusing. The rest of the features were also very good.


"Walking with Prehistoric Beasts"

Walking with Prehistoric Beasts Program Description:

When the dinosaurs disappeared from the Earth, they did not leave an empty planet behind them. A succession of extraordinary creatures came and went over the following millennia. The award-winning team behind "Walking with Dinosaurs" and "Allosaurus" invites you to take a trip to this amazing new world. Here, flightless birds as tall as a man kill with a single snap of their powerful beaks, early ancestors of man struggle for power and territory as they try to defend themselves from the famous saber-toothed tiger. And even the saber-tooth cannot take on the Glyptodon - the massive two-ton armadillo that is the most heavily armored mammal ever.

It's an extraordinary trip through history and evolution (nope) that begins with the end of the dinosaurs and ends with the rise of even more mysterious creatures... the first humans.

Program Titles:

1. NEW DAWN

2. WHALE KILLER

3. LAND OF GIANTS

4. NEXT OF KIN

5. SABRE TOOTH

6. MAMMOTH JOURNEY

Extras:

- Two 50 minute behind-the-scenes featurettes

- Interviews with the creators

- Fact files

- Photo gallery

- Storyboards


I felt, although this was almost as good as the first two, it was a little off its mark. Some camera shots could not really be filmed realistically, (like a Basilosaurus engulfing the camera with its mouth, effectively eating the cameraman) which took a little away from the realism, but this didn't happen very often. And, I personally could have lived without the slow-motion scenes. I also thought they focused a little too much on the hunting aspect, but again they didn't overdo it. Still a great program, and really neat to see some prehistoric mammals which are often overlooked.

The features are also quite good, and the interviews with the creators were very interesting.


The video transfer for all three are perfect as well as the sound, and all the features are very interesting and pretty funny too.

All in all, this collection is top-notch and quality entertainment, highly recommended! July 18, 2008

The Complete Walking with Dinosaurs Collection

Thanks, my kid loves the "Rowrs"...... but I'm sick of the Limey / British narrator already! May 3, 2008

Walking With Collection

Excellent compulation DVD you get both Walking With Dinosaurs and Walking with Beasts. Excellent animatronics telling a story through the ages from the very first dinosaurs to the sabre tooth tiger and man. Highly recommended. May 2, 2008

Kids keep watching DVD

They love to watch. Pictures are excellent, describing so detail. Their imagination grow, and learned from it a lots. Also, contents are educational. March 31, 2008

Simply the best for understanding evolution

This 3 DVD collection is entertaining and engaging for all ages. 1st-Before the Dino's, covers evolution in the sea to land ending with mammal-like reptiles ... 2nd covers the age of Dino's where mammals and reptiles go their separate ways and the Dinos meet their end ... 3rd covers life from about 60 million years ago. Highly recommend starting with the film "Origins" that has great graphics and description of the forming of the earth and our solar system (however would have been greater with a brief description of the "Big Bang" theory) and then follow this series with "Walking with Cavemen" to cover human evolution. The 3 pack that I recently purchased for the Walking With series had both Spanish and English subtitle options, unlike the separate DVDs I purchased last year. January 30, 2008

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