5.5 | / 10 |
Users | 4.2 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.7 |
Action, adventure, documentary feature, based on the 1999 BBC documentary series, which projects computer-animated dinosaurs into live action settings to tell the story of a young Pachyrhinosaurus. Patchi and his siblings Scowler and Juniper are born into the dangerous world of the Cretaceous period, where predators such as Gorgon the Gorgosaurus would be only too happy to make a meal of them. Can Patchi make it to adulthood and overcome the many hurdles required to become herd leader?
Starring: John Leguizamo, Justin Long, Tiya Sircar, Skyler Stone, Angourie RiceAdventure | 100% |
Family | 91% |
Fantasy | 77% |
Animation | 77% |
Action | 43% |
Documentary | 13% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1
Russian: DTS 5.1
Estonian: Dolby Digital 5.1
Greek: Dolby Digital 5.1
Latvian: Dolby Digital 5.1
Lithuanian: Dolby Digital 5.1
Romanian: Dolby Digital 5.1
Ukrainian: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH, Portuguese, Spanish, Estonian, Greek, Latvian, Lithuanian, Romanian, Russian, Ukrainian
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
UV digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
It’s probably just an unfortunate coincidence that Karl Urban, the actor playing “Bones” McCoy in Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness, plays a paleontologist in bookending sequences that surround the main story in Walking With Dinosaurs. “Bones” McCoy might have made one of his infamous “he’s dead, Jim” (or perhaps more appropriately “it’s dead, Jim”) pronouncements about this visually spectacular but relentlessly dunderheaded film which combines CGI dinosaurs (and other primeval beasts) with live action backgrounds. Walking With Dinosaurs began life as a 1999 documentary series produced by the BBC and narrated by Kenneth Branagh (I have a vague recollection of having actually reviewed the series back in the DVD era for another site, but I can’t find evidence of that particular fossil). The television series was made at the relative dawn of the CGI era, and so suffered somewhat from some rendering issues which hobbled an otherwise laudable, and at times incredibly informative, look at our prehistoric nemeses. Technology has of course advanced by leaps and bounds since the late nineties, but unfortunately you can’t force screenwriters to similarly up their technique, and Walking With Dinosaurs is about as rote as you can get from a storytelling perspective. Even worse, evidently after some early test screenings put the fear of God (and/or low box office receipts) into Fox executives, the film was retooled, omitting what was planned to be a largely purely visual experience (with some occasional narration) into a voiceover filled carnival for actors like John Leguizamo. The executives may have thought that having the various characters “speak” would help the film’s accessibility, especially for younger audiences, and yet these same bean counters wouldn’t spring for additional animation to actually have the characters’ mouths move, and so we get what is in essence a “narrated” film that simply features lots of different narrators, all evidently telepathically communicating with each other.
Stumbling is more like it.
Walking With Dinosaurs is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Whatever the dramatic failings of this retooled version (see our Walking With Dinosaurs: The Movie 3D Blu-ray review for information on the "original" cut of the film, which is available on that edition as a supplement), there's not much to complain about with regard to the film's high definition presentation. Colors are bright, bold and vividly saturated, and the CGI offers some exceptionally well done detail. The live action footage is seamlessly blended with the animation, and several of the outdoor vistas offer superb depth of field. The overall image is sharp and precise, though there are a couple of very minor stability issues when the camera pans across some landscapes.
Walking With Dinosaurs' lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is fantastic as far as the film's foley effects and score are concerned, though somewhat less so with regard to what often seems like slathered on voiceovers. Several key sequences, including some dino on dino battles as well as the aforementioned forest fire, feature superb immersion and surround activity as well as some very effective LFE. Dialogue is always cleanly presented, and is occasionally fairly directional as well, but considering none of the creatures' mouths ever move, it just seems ridiculous after a while. Fidelity is top notch however, and dynamic range is extremely wide.
- Pachyrhinosaurus (1080p; 4:03)
- Gorgosaurus (1080p; 1:57)
- Hesperonychus (1080p; 1:18)
- Troodon (1080p; 2:05)
- Pterosaur (1080p; 1:39)
- Ankylosaur (1080p; 1:09)
- Edmontosaurus (1080p; 1:55)
- Parksosaurus (1080p; 1:08)
- Chirostenotes (1080p; 1:10)
- Alphadon (1080p; 1:23)
- Alexornis (1080p; 2:18)
Had Walking With Dinosaurs been allowed to debut without the added voice work, it would have been a much more effective piece, as the "Cretaceous Cut" included on the 3D edition more than proves. What's here is visually spectacular, but the pasted on story via the "dialogue" actually detracts from some relatively solid, if patently derivative, storytelling. The technical merits of this Blu-ray are top notch, so fans of the film can purchase with confidence, and dinosaur aficionados with smaller children may want to check this out as well. Get the 3D edition in any case—the included "Cretaceous Cut" is a significant bonus, and the 3D version has included 2D versions anyway, so even if your home theater setup isn't 3D compatible, you'll be fine.
2013
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