Walking With Dinosaurs
BBC / 1999 / 230 Mins / Rated Exempt


MOVIE
If there ever was a medium best suited for television, DVD is it as Walking With Dinosaurs so beautifully proves. Made by the BBC and broadcast on the ABC this is one of those special shows that is really worth watching and goes to show you do not need to make 200 million dollar movie to get great entertainment.

Walking With Dinosaurs is a mini series that chronicles the rise and fall of the dinosaurs during there 160 million year reign. Filled with sensational special effects this is one not to miss.

This disc consists of six wonderful episodes each narrated by Kenneth Branagh, the episodes center on several types of dinosaurs, the area they lived and the story of there demise.

Disc One

Features all 6 original episodes.

Episode One - New Blood.

Episode Two - A Time Of Titans.

Episode Three - Cruel Sea.

Episode Four - Giant Of The Skies.

Episode Five - Spirits Of The Ice Forrest

Episode Six - Death Of A Dynasty

Disc Two

Features a 50 minute documentary on the making of the series. This is a great documentary showing how all those dinosaurs were put together with the live backgrounds. Great Stuff.

VIDEO
A reference quality transfer is on offer here from Roadshow. For starters the program is shown in an original wide-screen format as opposed to the versions on television and VHS. The transfer is razor sharp all the way along. Shadow detail was sensational and color saturation is perfect

Walking With Dinosaurs is framed at 1:85:1 and is 16:9 enhanced. As is the documentary on the second disc.

This first disc is a single-sided, dual-layer disc.

The second is a single-sided, single-layer disc.

There is no layer change during the show as they occur in between episodes.

AUDIO

Walking With Dinosaurs is encoded in Dolby Digital 2.0, now I know that there will be a lot of people going where is the 5.1 mix? The Dolby Digital 2.0 mix is very good, there is not much use of the surrounds but this does not matter as the sound is more than adequate for what is on screen.

EXTRAS

While not as many extras as the last few Roadshow discs but still is more impressive than the discs that Warner Bros. and Buena Vista release with no extras.

Picture In Picture - These sequences are encoded at various times during the episodes showing how certain scenes were made.

Making Of Documentary - A 50 minute documentary as mentioned earlier.

Audio Commentary - Not really a commentary as these are tacked onto the picture in picture sections.

Subtitles - There are closed captioned subtitles on the disc.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Absolutely sensational, reference quality video, great audio, good extras. Get it today.

16:9 ENHANCEMENT DISC RATING

VIDEO:
AUDIO:
EXTRAS:
PLOT:
OVERALL:

REVIEW EQUIPMENT

Display: 48" Sony RPTV.
DVD Player:
Panasonic A350 Player using S-Video Cables.
Receiver:
Pioneer VSX-D508 Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround.
Speakers:
Accusound speaker system.

Copyright © 2000 by [Roger Ward].
Revised: 02 Jul 2000 23:27:24 +1100 .

DVD INFORMATION
Region Coding: Region 4
No of Discs: 2
OFLC Rating Exempt
Running Time: 230 Mins
Case Type: Clip Case
Release Date: 23/5/2000
Catalog Number: B003479
List Price: $59.95
Distributor: Village Roadshow
DISC SPECIFICATIONS
Disc Format: PAL
Disc Type: Picture Disc
Disc Format: SS-RSDL & SS-SL
Chapters: 36
Macrovision: Yes
Manufacturer: DVM
VIDEO SPECIFICATIONS
Aspect Ratio: 1:85:1
Anamorphic: Yes
Film Format: 35mm
SOUND SPECIFICATIONS
Dolby Digital:

2.0 Surround

DTS: None
PCM Stereo: None
Other: None
Languages: English
Subtitles: Yes
SPECIAL FEATURES
Audio Commentary: Yes
Theatrical Trailer: None
Teaser Trailer: None
TV Spots: None
Dolby Trailer: City
Documentary: Yes
Cast & Crew Bios: None
Deleted Scenes: None
Music Videos: None
DVD Rom Content: None
Collectable Booklet: None
Scene Access: Yes
Animated Menus: Yes
Production Notes: None
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