I wrote a lengthy impression of the first 2 episodes else where. But here it is again. The last 2 parts will come later. BTW, Planet Dinosaur airs on the UK tonight.
Personally, I'm keeping my expectations low for Planet Dinosaur. The original Walking With Dinosaurs was nothing but hyperbole back up by little to no science, and Dinosaur Revolution is no different. I kept my expectations in checked and came away very happy with the first 2 episodes of Dinosaur Revolution. In fact, I'm surprised just how much I ended up enjoying Dinosaur Revolution.
This show has some of the very best looking CGI dinosaurs ever seen on television AND FILM, but also some out of place slapstick humor and anthropomorphized behavior. Don't get my wrong, the dinosaurs aren't like Disney's 2000 movie Dinosaurs. There are only certain instances where they felt like cartoon characters, and moments where they felt like real animals. You can tell this show has a very big budget behind it -- with all the dinosaur models lovingly crafted with tessellated surfaces and displacement mapping on every inch of their skin. I mean, they created 2 different Allosaurus models for the second episode, when other shows would just recycle the same model; and sometimes even reusing them for a different species. Not in Dinosaur Revolution. Sure, many of the designs are very wild, but since we'll never know what a real dinosaur looks like, might as well be wrong with style, and man are they over flowing with style. All the models are beautifully lit with global illumination and high dynamic range to make them fit in the the live action environments. There are one or two shots where the CGI doesn't blend in very well with the live action backgrounds, but those are very minimal, and nowhere near as bad as the older shows.
The animation is the most disappointing part of this series; with shots that are spotty and downright ugly. There are also really well animated scenes, but again, the difference is jarring. The animation also plays a part in the slapstick humor, like an Eoraptor's struggle with a Probelesodon (early mammal) only to accidentally fling the mammal into the jaws of a Saurosuchus (ancestor of crocs). There are some genuinely laugh out loud moments along with moments that feels out of place.
Dinosaur Revolution also likes to mix things up with their stories. The first episode is a series of shorts jumping all over the place, but generally focused on mating and rearing their young. Nothing mind-blowing, just the usual survival stories and with good action throw into the mix. I loved the Cryolophosaurus fight scene. The violence is surprisingly... violent . The second episode focuses on the life of an Allosaurus instead of a series of shorts. The Allosaurus being the underdog in this episode actually got me to root for him, especially when he goes up against the tyrannosaur size Torvosaurus.
That said, both episodes contain mind boggling logic in their storytelling as well. A Saurosuchus bites an Eoraptor, then lets it go so it can chase another pair of Eoraptors. WHY!? Why did the Torvosaurus bite the Allosaurus in the pubis? Was he trying to castrate him (assuming it was a he)? How the heck could a baby with a broken jaw that can't even hunt for itself survive to adulthood without its mother? None of these problems have anything to do with science. It's just poor writing.
As for science, well, it's what you'd expect. Animals without vocal cords chirping, out of place dinosaurs, and exaggerations galore. It's on par with the other shows so I wasn't too bothered by them.
Yeah, Dinosaur Revolution has its ups and downs, but everything was within my expectations. Deep down, while I was hyping up the show in Dinosaur News Center, there was also a sense of dread. I gathered a collection of clips to let my viewers know this is what you'd expect, and I was prepared for the worst. Having the right expectations in the end helped me enjoy the show for what it is. Hopefully, the last 2 episodes will be just as entertaining.
