Walking with Monsters 

A 90-minute documentary about life before the dinosaurs.

Star:

Kenneth Branagh

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Kenneth Branagh	...	Narrator 3 episodes, 2005

Storyline

A 90-minute documentary about life before the dinosaurs. Starting from the Cambrian Period (530 MYA) and ending at the Early Triassic Period (248 MYA), Walking With Monsters shows the life and death struggles prehistoric creatures before the dinosaurs went through. It also portrays an accurate picture of our first ancestors.

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Plot Keywords:

dinosaur | 

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Very late into production it was discovered that Megarachne, the basis of the giant spider seen in the Carboniferous segment was actually an eurypterid or sea scorpion like those seen in the Silurian part. The crew decided then to rename their now obsolete creature "Mesothelae", after the most primitive group of living spiders. There were Mesothelae spiders in the Carboniferous, but just not that big.

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Alternate Versions

There are two widely available variations of the show's original British version:

• One that has all three episodes being separate. This version has previews and recaps at the beginning and end of each episode. Also, at the very end there is a never-before-seen shot of an Allosaurus walking on a Jurassic plain.
• The other version combines the three episodes into a one-and-a-half hour long movie, with the episodes flowing together. This one lacks the new shot of the Allosaurus. It begins with primordial Earth being shown from afar, whereas the other version lacks this shot and starts out with a closer view. It also has an extended ending, with more stock footage taken from Walking with Dinosaurs as the narrator talks about the mammals' ancestors. The other version lacks this scene.

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Connections

Referenced in Hewy's Animated Movie Reviews: The Top 10 Animated Dinosaur Documentaries (2011)

User Reviews

Visually stunning but shallow docudrama

Interesting docudrama about life on Earth before the dinosaurs. Excellent CGI and scientific information is marred by an overly simplified and sensationalized presentation. Hundreds of millions of years of evolution are condensed into about a half-dozen scenes. Information about ecology and the food web is ignored in favor of scenes of large carnivores attacking each other.

I am curious how they determined the behavior, colouration, and sounds of these creatures. The arthropods are so loud that one would think that prey would be able to hear them coming. I was also not aware that amphibians and reptiles roar like lions.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 November 2005 (UK)

Also Known As:

I giganternes verden

Filming Locations:

Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain

Company Credits

Production Co:

Impossible Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min (3 parts)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1