Dinosaurs: Giants of Patagonia

Synopsis: We follow in the footsteps of a Giganatosaurus and Argentinasaurus as they grow up in a desolate prehistoric world of predator and prey.
Viewed on: Dailymotion

I initially saw this in a theater at a science museum and it a a fun time especially because it was in 3D, not a fan most of the time but on that occasion is was well done. The narrator is Donald Sutherland and his voice lends a friendly yet regal delivery of the spoken science material. I especially loved the beginning when he narrates the timeline of our galaxy and how vast time on Earth really is. The visual guide showing me what he's talking really made me comprehend how far back deep time is. After that the next thing that will probably pop out for audiences is the cinematography. This film was shot for IMAX screens I presume so you can tell that a lot of shots were set up to be beautifully captured like waterfalls or the fossilized footprints in a quarry. Id say if you can watch this movie on big 4K TV you could really appreciate the the gorgeous cinematography of the Argentina badlands.

The story we follow is that of a Argentinasaurus and a Giganatosaurus. Technically the movie describes them later as a more distinct sub species but I'm just going to refer them as Argentinasaurus and Giganatosaurus. The Argentinasaurus story is kind of a "been there, done that" scenario. Typical sauropod story where the dinosaur must avoid being eaten and grow up fast enough to never be considered dinner again. The Giganatosaurus was more entertaining especially when they were hunting.

The animation effects were CG models superimposed on a real background so it is reminiscent of Walking with Dinosaurs if any readers is familiar with that series. The character models were for okay looking for a science feature, but still way better animated than the ones in March of the Dinosaurs. The real star of the show here are the grandiose wide shots of the natural background especially the ones with dinosaurs.

I wouldn't say that a typical dinosaur fan would learn all that much if that aren't familiar with the title dinosaurs already so be aware of that fact. The selling point here is the big screen replayability for anyone has a home theater at home. I'd say this dinosaur feature is worth a view if you haven't seen this one yet but for repeat viewings, watch on a high definition device and kickback with a brew.

My Score: Tyrannosaurs Recs

March of the Dinosaurs

Synopsis: This fully animated feature highlights the struggles certain dinosaurs go through during the winter months of northwest Canada and southwest USA.

Viewed on: Youtube

March of the dinosaurs was a nice surprise. I've seen trailers for this and it honestly didn't look too good and the animations were rough so I thought it was mostly aimed for kids. I was somewhat right, the fully computer generated feature was uncanny to watch after a while. The story takes place in northwest Canada (inside the Arctic Circle at the time) and mostly centers on two distinct characters. We have a young Edmontosaurus, Scar, and a young Troodon named Patch. Scar's story features him trekking a 1000-mile autumn migration with various hazards like thin ice and predators while Patch is shown having to stay and endure the Arctic winter.

Like I said, the animation is rough (think Beast Wars from the 90's) so stuff like shadows and fully detailed features on feathers and scales are hard to pin point. But I'll say this, if this animation is enough to stop you from enjoying the story then just skip it. But if you love dinosaurs and can overlook a glaring distraction like animation style then I'd say there's some fun to be had with this feature.

The story of Scar is riveting. So much so that now I'm interested in learning a little more about hadrosaurs which is a dinosaur genus Edmontosaurus are part of. As a young herbivorous dinosaur, his journey seemed more perilous at times. From his avoidance of predators like Albertosaurus to heartbreaking scenes of betrayal from one of own due to a brain tumor, I found myself moved many times due to my investment in this little dinosaur's journey.

Patch's story was almost as good but still fun to see his journey. The scenes with the Troodon sharing the screen with a Gorgosaurus are probably the most entertaining this part of the feature gets. The thing I really appreciate most from Patch's story was how close the movie tries to get to what the real creatures probably looked like. This movie is based on the latest dinosaur research so they incorporate feathers on the therapod dinosaurs which is something a lot of people might see for the first time. I really like how the animators were able to make the carnivorous dinosaurs relatable yet scary with plumage.

March of the Dinosaurs was a surprise for me. Go into this movie with zero expectations, a open mind and you will have a good time. Like I said before if the animation is not for you then skip it because it can admittedly be distracting. But if that doesn't deter you then I'd say this feature is a worth a watch. When a movie makes you appreciate a hadrosaur, arguably the cow of the dinosaur world, I'd say check it out.

My Score: Tyrannosaurus Recs

Top 10 Biggest Beasts Ever

Synopsis: The documentary counts down the top ten biggest beasts in Earth's history from prominent animal groups.
Viewed on: Youtube

Here we have another program put out by National Geographic. They keep delivering the goods in terms of entertainment.and man did this one deliver. I'm a sucker for top ten lists, so this doc was a must watch for myself. The basic premise of the doc is that besides the obvious countdown element, the creatures involved would be the biggest icons of their species or animal family tree. The reason being is if we had just the biggest animals ever, they would all probably just be whales. Another disclaimer for the terms of the "biggest" beast, the contest will be determined by measuring length.

If you're looking for a doc that's thoroughly entertaining this is it. The animation effects were fantastic. They was a fair bit of them and varied. This doc being a top ten list allows itself to be stacked with multiple scientist interviews with showcasing of some fossils which is always great to see. There was even a scene where a scientist goes out to the field to show you where baby Megalodon teeth are found in Panama. Its also very refreshing to see the list go through giant animals of different species like mammals, insects, reptiles and so on which kept the program engaging enough to stay watching.

There is also much here in terms of education. Every creature on the top ten brings up an interesting question regarding how they got so big, ate, moved, or how they attacked prey. For example, with the Griffinfly, a prehistoric giant insect, the question of how it got so big was solved by researchers because they were able to determine that the Earth was much warmer back then and contained different amounts of oxygen. These scenes help teach fundamental aspects to why these creatures got so big.

Now focusing on the bad, there really isn't all that much to say. Some of the animation scenes, like the Titanoboa segment, are recycled from other docs which I didn't like but this top ten documentary was able to add additional educational content that those other docs didn't have so I'll let it slide. Besides that this is a long doc, and about an hour and half is a serious investment of watching for a popular science doc. As I love this subject matter, the running time didn't bother me but I can say that a few scenes seem to drag after a while and it could bore the average viewer.

I really couldn't go into much more detail in this review without spoiling the countdown. But as I already mentioned there's plenty of entertainment value is this program so check it out.

My Score: Tyrannosaurus Recs