Kenneth BranaghWalking With Monsters (2005)

Loved it. Such a good series! I learned a lot and was hugely entertained

Tim Haines and BBC have really spoiled us with their work on Earth’s prehistoric life. Both “Walking with Dinosaurs” and “Walking with Beasts” were models of an almost perfect balance between hard science and popular entertainment. With the bar set that high, a minor disappointment is inevitable, regarding this latest forage into the planet’s evolutionary past.Let’s put the record straight: the “Monsters” series enjoys the same high standards of craftsmanship and educating-entertaining value as its predecessors. The species chosen to illustrate the drama of life’s evolution, are quite representative of the surrounding fauna, the “stars” of their time. Their stories are well constructed and develop in a seamless manner from one period to the next. And the “intermissions” with the time-clock ticking and the species changing before our eyes, give a very good picture of life’s continuity and the marvels of evolution.But we would like to have more, much more. Why not having a six-episode series for the six periods of the palaeozoic era? The answer is obvious: costs constraints. That realization does nothing to allay our hunger. Sure there are enough scientific data to enable the series’ creators to construct complex and marvelous stories for each period. And to prehistoric life enthusiasts, Cambrian arthropods and Devonian fish (where is Dunkleosteus?) are as fascinating as Permian mammal-like reptiles.Furthermore, the series, following the tradition of the “Walking with...” sagas, creates dramatic stories by presenting fascinating animal behaviors which I suspect lack solid scientific justification. Educated guesses, an indispensable part of paleontology, can push the “poetic license” card a bit too far, even for non-scientists. I understand of course the principles of inference, but I think that they overdid it this timeDespite the above grudges, the series manages in three episodes to convey the richness and fascination of life’s evolution on Earth, for the first 300 million years of its existence. The animals’ CGI are usually of the highest quality, but unfortunately for the computer guys, they already have spoiled us and we expect nothing less. And a measly 90 minutes of material manages to create many regrets for what might have been, if the BBC people gave it the time and money necessary.

Same as walking with beasts

Pleased to find this item for sale, as it completes my collection of the BBC's "Walking with..." series. One slight problem with the DVD halting and skipping in one small passage of DVD1 - careful cleaning seems to have largely solved this problem but it is disappointing that the DVD was sent out in this state.

I had never seen "walking with monsters" before but was determined to buy it when I bought "walking with dinosaurs", I am not disappointed that I did - although the style was slightly different than in walking with dinosaurs - for instance in this series you actually look inside the animals to see parts of their evolved anatomy, this only improved it and it was of the same high quality and with the same high level of storytelling which really brings the creatures to life. I was slightly disappointed that there were only 3 episodes in this series - but that is only because it is so brilliant I want to seem more!! I would definitely recommend that you buy this DVD if you enjoyed the other parts of the "walking with..." trilogy - it really bent my perception of the amazing forms that life can take on and introduced me to animals that I could never have imagined. =)

Bought as a present and received in good time and condition. Have received no complaints. Great series.

Though it's still somewhat informative and entertaining, this series is too cramped into 3 half-hour long episodes, there's allot that can be covered and revealed in loads more episodes - the birth of the earth to the early Triassic (220 million years ago) is a very long time and allot has occurred in that time and cannot ideally be shoved all in to 3 episodes. Presumably the cause for this was budget related. Also to note, this series came out in 2005 and the resolution by today's standards is poor, it's practically 480p quality (which is expected from DVDs from this time). You can check what 480p looks like on YouTube on any video, by tweaking the settings. That said, it's still viewable and a good watch, I highly recommend if you're a fan and have watched the previous walking with series.

At time of writing this DVD was £4.25, which for me was an absolute bargain! I already own Walking With Dinosaurs and Beasts and so wanted to add this to my collection. There's only three episodes as opposed to the six in the other two series, which is a shame as I would have loved to have learned more but what is presented is a fantastic voyage back in time to a land full of completely bizarre, wondrous and at time gross monsters!There's also an interesting making of...included in the special features, which takes the content up to just under two hours in total and when considering its under a fiver it's definitely worth it!