This week saw the release of Walking with Dinosaurs The Movie on Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray, DVD & Digital HD and we received a copy to review. Having seen the original BBC series (can you believe that was back in 1999?!), I was keen to see what we'd think, especially as the Madhouse Mini-testers had never seen the original.
Well, the images are still as impressive as I remember (although I don't think they're any better than in the BBC version, despite it being made 14 years ago) but that's really the only comparison I can make because this is a completely different product. Whereas the BBC series was a fact-based, scientific documentary, the new Walking with Dinosaurs The Movie is - as it's name suggests - a movie. It reminds me of the "based on a true story" line you see at the end of some TV dramas because in this semi-factual version, the dinosaurs talk - well some of them, which confused Juliette and Pierre because they couldn't work out why only some characters could talk !
The film does introduce some educational content, looking at the different dinosaur breeds and a few mammals, but it's basically a child-oriented movie. The dinosaurs are humanised - besides the talking, there is also a love story and a bit of a Godzilla-meets-Bambi moment when Daddy Dino meets his downfall in a forest fire.
The Madhouse Mini-testers enjoyed it, taking it at face value as an exciting film. I think it's slightly more delicate if you've seen the BBC series because it is totally different and you're bound to draw comparisons (not all of them favourable), but the whole point of the film is to introduce it to a new public who wouldn't have seen the original version.
If you have a dinosaur fan in your midst, I have some fun activities for you that tie in with the film's release. I've uploaded some printable sheets for you to download so click through for DinoFun, Colour By Numbers, Match That Dino and Wordsearch.
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star rating : 4/5
- Directors: Pierre de Lespinois
- Writers: Neil Nightingale
- Language: English
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: U
- Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
- DVD Release Date: 14 April 2014
- Run Time: 87 minutes
Disclosure : We received a copy of the DVD in order to write an honest review.
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not sure what an alphadon is but they look very cute
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