Prehistoric Predators: Smilodon

Synopsis: Covers the size, diet, survival tactics and more about the Sabertooh cats, Smilodon.
Viewed on: Youtube

I believe National Geographic were the ones that put out this series called Prehistoric Predators. It covers the life of the big prehistoric predators in fun interesting detail. I won't get into the series or any series as a whole as I like to believe every episode should stand on its own but altogether it is a above average series.

So the first episode of the series I will watch will be on Smilodon. Arguably the Ice Age's fiercest and most famous predator, Smilodon, aka, the Sabertooth cat was a ferocious creature with daggers for fangs on the jaws for suffocating and slicing into its prey's jugular. Besides the killing attributes of the beast, the doc explores other aspects like social life and fossilization of the animal. Though in certain points of the program there is a lot of information being thrown around and it can be daunting to absorb it all.

The entertainment part was okay at best. The animations of the animals were mediocre and rough. Also footage gets recycled from time to time.

With all that said, the information  can also be delivered dry but the information is interesting and we get to see some science performed like how experiments with bite force anatomy is performed.

My score: Meh...sozoic

T-Rex: A Dinosaur in Hollywood

Synopsis: The pop culture history of the Tyrannosaurus Rex in film.
Viewed on: Youtube

I was quite excited to see this one, as I’m a film buff and love learning about the history of dinosaurs in film especially Tyrannosaurus.  Dinosaurs in motion pictures holds a very special place in my heart so any history on the subject matter is well invited. Unfortunately this was a total let down.

First off, they treat the T-Rex like an actual movie star. Just to clarify, the Rex character is a stand in for all the T-Rex’s in film history. I think they were going for a True Hollywood Story type of direction and tone in this documentary, but it doesn't work because all the scandals are ridiculous. The scandal they refer too specifically over and over again is T-Rex's little arms. The program keeps coming back to that story bit because its the only thing embarrassing about T-Rex. They also show a computer animated T-Rex trying to have a Hollywood comeback with workout montages and such and its comical. I see what the documentary attempts to do in terms of entertainment but it just didn't work. Having a King Kong and a 1950's alien talking talk about their personal relationships with T-Rex was funny to see but the jokes and animation were just too easy and come off as cringe.

Towards the climax we have a casting meeting with a Steven Spielberg look alike and going to award ceremonies for the famous dinosaur.. Its a little unbearable to watch sometimes. They treat Jurassic Park as T-Rex's comeback movie but don't go into much detail about any of the movie making process behind the film. Did like how the ending stated T-Rex might of had feathers to show the evolution of how the public now views a Tyrannosaurus.
The education was not that great either. Any dinosaur movie fan will more or less know at least some old black white films with T-Rex in it, to its debut in Jurassic Park. If the documentary's filmmakers hadn't spent so much time with the True Hollywood storytelling, maybe the doc could of spent time talking about the actual films T-Rex starred in and maybe the history behind those pictures. I kinda feel this one is more for the kids because a quick google or Youtube search will show you the earlier Hollywood movie scenes or reviews worth watching. Sadly, I expected better.

My score: Extinct

Raising the Dinosaur Giant

Synopsis: Exploring the discovery and history of the biggest dinosaur ever unearthed.
Viewed on: Netflix

This BBC nature documentary follows in the style the previous docs I already described, although there are some refreshing differences. I do love the fact that we spend quite some time at the dig site and we really have a grasp of what paleontologists go through on these excavations. Especially when digging up a giant titanosaur. The doc is also riveting because we have the legendary Sir David Attenborough not only narrating but is seen in person throughout the show.

The highlight here is showcasing the gargantuan size of quite possibly the biggest dinosaur and land animal of all time. The creature is not given a name yet (weirdly for a science program) since the doc was probably made during the research phase but all we know is that it is a titanosaur, the biggest group of sauropod dinosaurs. The highlights are the showcasing of the big fossils and there are a lot scenes showing people side by side for scale and the anticipation to seeing all of the fossils coming together is quite thrilling.

The science presentation is well done although explained rather uneventful compared to other programs. Honestly the size is the only interesting part for me here and the director veers off for too long to talk about diet, digestion, etc. Predatory dinosaurs we have the monster angle, showing their claws and teeth and theorizing what they ate. With herbivores, they ate certain types of plants and that doesn't really hold my interest for too long. I wanted to know why it got so big and the everyday challenges it presents which they went over lightly. Most viewers don't care about the diet of these titanosaurs, so why do they go over it for like 15 minutes, they are plant eaters, its plants! Give me the mumbo jumbo about its girth or even pondering what its name could be.

Besides all that the computer effects of the living dinosaurs are entertaining but very few and far between. Even the sculpting of the fossil replica would of been a nice tidbit to see. When all is said and done the final reveal of the complete skeleton is awe inspiring. A true titan of eons past! Worth a watch but definitely could have been better.

My Score: Tyrannosaurus Recs

Titanoboa: Monster Snake

Synopsis: Titanoboa is a giant prehistoric snake discovered is South America and is compared to its modern day relatives to learn about this ancient predator.
Viewed on: Youtube

The documentary is well made with a dash of cheese to market it as one of the entertaining programs of television. It begins with the backstory of the area in which the fossils were discovered, a coal mining location in Cerrejón, Colombia. Due to the operations of the mines, levels of sediment is revealed and many fossils are found, giant turtles, crocodiles, and of course Titanoboa.

The lead scientists in this doc actually do a great explaining all the different elements that goes into the approximation and guess work of Titanoboa's size. The scene in which a mathematician is brought in to calculate the size of the snake based on several vertebrae I found that very fascinating, and something unique we don't see often in these nature docs.

Also of course we have scenes using modern day constrictors (the giant snakes of today) because they are good analogous specimens to compare to Titanoboa. On top of what I mentioned, we also have a sculptor (maybe the same as Super Croc's sculptor?) at the end of the doc creating it for a tour. Can't help but compare it to the Super Croc doc but the material is enough for it to stand on it's own. Even the sculpt at the end was unique enough to capture the "fear factor" as one of the scientists put it. A quick google search will reveal what I'm talking about. Anyways it was a good feature, although a lot scenes leaned on cheese and bad line delivery, I still say its worth your time.

My Score: Tyrannosaurus Recs 

Super Croc

Synopsis: Dr. Paul Sereno discovers Sarcosuchus imperator, a giant prehistoric crocodilian ancestor. With the help of Dr. Brady Barr, they try to uncover the secrets of Super Croc and its ancient world.
Viewed on: Youtube

I've seen this as a child, rewatched it recently and its still a great documentary. So much so that other docs that I have and will review try to emulate it (or have the same editor I guess). First off the narrator is freaking Sam Niell! Dr. Alan Grant of Jurassic Park fame. They don't really use as many celebrities anymore for pop science docs these days so that was a real treat. The pace of the program is fantastic, the science is interesting and engaging, and the crocodilian scenes are thoroughly entertaining.

We get a nice intro to the finding of the fossils which is kind of skimmed over. Although how much time can we really lend to digging bones in the deserts of Africa. Just would of liked more context to the environment in which Sarcosuchus inhabited. Probably the biggest and only complaint I have in this whole doc. I also really appreciate all the footage of the different crocodilian species in which bite forces and skull sizes are taken for scientific purposes relating to Super Croc. Really good stuff, especially when highlighting the publicly unknown gharial.

In the final phase of the doc we get to the sculpting of the life size replica. I will add that this doc was probably the first to implement that to documentary storytelling which other modern day docs probably take inspiration from. The pose of the sculpt is mentioned for a moment and it really got me thinking that these elements are really vital to capturing the imagination and awe of the public. The S shaped curve and powerful open jaws are important to selling the power and characteristics of this animal. I remember seeing the sculpt as a 5th grader and it hit me hard while it was traveling on the road to multiple museums. Its a powerful sight to behold. All in all check this program out!

My Score: Tyrannosaurus Recs

Bigger than T-Rex

 
Synopsis: Deconstructing and resurrecting through the miracle of science the largest known predatory dinosaur.
Viewed on: Youtube

The documentary follows the multi-dimensional story of Spinosaurus aegypticus. This dinosaur may capture the public's attention for just being bigger than T-Rex or being arguably the biggest predatory dinosaur in history, but there are so many other elements to this dinosaur's story this documentary explores. From the vague fossil laws in Morocco, the place of the dinosaurs discovery, to the destruction of the first specimen in World War 2, even the human history behind the fossil's discovery is fascinating.

I do appreciate that this documentary makes the information digestible to us non science aficionados. The editing in this doc is smooth and flows nicely with each scene building upon the next in a fashion that won't lose or bore the viewer. The animated dinosaur scenes are well made for a documentary and those clips are not repeated over and over again to stretch for time like some docs do. There has been a trend lately in recent times where the climax of the film ends with life size skeleton or life like model is created and this doc is no different. The final shots really try to hit home how big this creature is but I can't say there was a splendid wide shot that I can remember unfortunately. Either way, Bigger than T-Rex is a solid recommendation.

My Score: Tyrannosaurus Recs

Review Format & Disclaimer

For reviews there will be three tiers for the scores that I will award. I will try not to be too brutal since most pop science docs are made for TV. Also theories and hypotheses are at best educated guesses so they should be taken as such, not hundred percent factual.

Tyrannosaurus Recs -> A solid recommendation. Science was interesting and entertaining.
Meh...sozoic -> Doesn't have much educational value but is entertaining or vice versa.
Extinct -> What were they thinking? Not worth your time.

*DISCLAIMER: Take these reviews with a grain of salt. I believe all filmmaking, even if its science television is subjective. A lot of stuff appeals to everyone and a lot doesn't, but when it comes to science docs I'm biased sometimes. Most of the time that I'm watching these shows I'm sitting back and relaxing at home. I'm trying to learn something new but sometimes I just want to be entertained. So if I don't like something, it's probably not be because I disagree with the science or don't understand it, it's just mundane. Maybe I just found the topic boring as some students in a science classroom can relate. Also I know dated documentaries present old ideas and facts that don't hold up. I really don't want to back pedal on my reviews when current science disproves what I'm watching so take those reviews as more of an entertainment viewing. Same thing goes with current docs, some theories are conflicting and the internet will tell you different things all the time like what dinosaurs had feathers or not for example. So I'm just going to judge a documentary for what it is when it was released and hope I learn something and that there's also some entertainment value. Thanks for hearing my out!