PREHISTORIC PLANET

[HD-man]

My thought so far:

-The T. rex family & pterosaur colony segments are my favorites in "Coasts".

-In reference to the T. rex, I especially like when Hank turned over the dead turtle b/c, unlike other CG dino media (cough-JW-cough), it felt like there was actual weight to both animals.

-In reference to the pterosaurs, I especially like the variety of species & how they interacted w/each other. It felt just like watching seabird colonies in Attenborough's other docs.

-"Deserts" is my favorite Ep so far (although that may very well change w/"Freshwater"), partly b/c of the better visuals (I.e. Some of the swimming shots looked less good than others) & partly b/c of the extra dinos.

-The Dreadnoughtus & Velociraptor segments are my favorites in "Deserts", but I also really like the Mononykus & Barbaridactylus segments.

-Remember how everyone reacted to Hank's introduction in the 1st sneak peek video? The Dreadnoughtus intro felt like that, but on a MUCH more grand scale. The only other way I can think to describe it is like the War of the Worlds tripods showing up in 300. I hope that analogy makes sense

-To quote a FB friend (in reference to JW's dead Apatosaurus scene), "If Jurassic World had Prehistoric Planet's Dreadnoughtus, the film would be over much earlier."

-As you may remember, my hopes for PP's Velociraptor have been high since the 1st teaser ( https://dinotoyblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=7869.msg316851#msg316851 ), & especially since the 1st trailer ( http://dinotoyblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=7869.msg317542#msg317542 ). The "Deserts" raptor segment is even more than what I hoped for (E.g. What I originally thought was a lone raptor was actually part of a pair), which makes me even more excited for the "Freshwater" raptor segment. Speaking of which, for those who don't already know, there's a sneak peek on AppleTV's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cd6H1GYJuqo/

-In reference to Mononykus, I already thought of it as very bird-like, but now even more so w/the Barn owl-esque feathering. I also really like the closeup of its claw dragging across the log.

-Speaking of PP's closeups, I especially like those of the Barbaridactylus. It felt like I could reach out & touch them from a safe distance the way you would a horse:

[SRF]

Something I noticed and actually found amusing is that the roaring Tarbosaurus in the trailer, was actually yawning in episode 2. So this shot was put in the trailer to cater to a wider public that probably expects dinosaurs to roar and in action scenes, while the show itself shows perfectly natural behavior.

I really love the fact that T. Rex and Tarbosaurus had quite some screen time  in these first two episodes, and not once they are shown roaring at nothing.

[ceratopsian]

I'm really enjoying such a lot of dinosaurs lying down and taking some leisure, whether the Tarbosaurus troop or animals round the water hole.  Not often seen that often in art or documentaries.

[Medzo]

There is a nitpick kind of thing I may not like. Most of the animals feels too...untouched. If you visit the zoo, you can see that actual animals have all kind of damages, spots etc, marks or any other flaws that are not necessarily general attributes of the species, only that specific animal.

We can see a couple of these when the story focuses on them (like wounds) but the rest of the models are too intact and perfect for these harsh environments.

[Carnoking]

Anyone else catch today's episode? I'll be honest, I wasn't as into this one despite some highlights.

Spoiler

Perhaps my biggest disappointment is a bit childish, but after seeing the rex roaring over the Triceratops corpse in the trailers I thought we would at long last get to see potentially the most iconic dinosaur matchup ever finally put to screen with a big budget. Imagine my disappointment when the scene opens with the trike already dead and all we have to fill in the picture is some nasty wounds on the rex's thigh.

[close]

[Bread]

Anyone else catch today's episode? I'll be honest, I wasn't as into this one despite some highlights.

Spoiler

Perhaps my biggest disappointment is a bit childish, but after seeing the rex roaring over the Triceratops corpse in the trailers I thought we would at long last get to see potentially the most iconic dinosaur matchup ever finally put to screen with a big budget. Imagine my disappointment when the scene opens with the trike already dead and all we have to fill in the picture is some nasty wounds on the rex's thigh.

[close]

I am hoping episode 5 is where we'll encounter this matchup. It is where we'll see the juvenile Triceratops' journey.

[Duna]

Anyone else catch today's episode? I'll be honest, I wasn't as into this one despite some highlights.

Spoiler

Perhaps my biggest disappointment is a bit childish, but after seeing the rex roaring over the Triceratops corpse in the trailers I thought we would at long last get to see potentially the most iconic dinosaur matchup ever finally put to screen with a big budget. Imagine my disappointment when the scene opens with the trike already dead and all we have to fill in the picture is some nasty wounds on the rex's thigh.

[close]

Creating action and making it look realistic is very difficult and very expensive. I learnt that in the Making-of WWD and here in PP they used the same approach. If you rewatch all the episodes, you'll see that most of the time (I was just aware of that and noticed easily) there are a lot of scenes in which feet are hidden: behind sight, behind rocks ... and also biting prey: pterosaurs, the tyrannosaurus with the triceratops corpse but at the other side of the camera view ... As they said in WWD, you don't need to show all the action in all the scenes: audience's mind will fill in the rest. So you'll see the feet, the biting on the flesh ... You'll notice that if you rewatch the series, too.

[Carnoking]

After seeing the Mosasaurus brawl and Dreadnoughtus rumble, I don't think it's too much to ask for, at the very least, a brief altercation between rex and triceratops.

I don't even care if it's obscured by foliage or a weighted fight cuz the trike is old/sick/injured. Just anything from that royal rumble would be fun to see.

[Duna]

By the way, Freshwater is my favourite episode by far because I LOVE THOSE VELOCIRAPTORS, please I need more of them. Who said a feathered dinosaur couldn't be scary? 



I just rewatched the three episodes in Spanish dubbing and I'm so pleased to hear the super pleasant voice of José María del Río, who dubs all documentaries by David Attemborough. His style is very similar to him and talks so lovely and calm.

[Carnoking]

By the way, Freshwater is my favourite episode by far because I LOVE THOSE VELOCIRAPTORS, please I need more of them. By the way, the design is confirmed to be made by Gabriel Ugueto. Who said a feathered dinosaur couldn't be scary? 

And I will say, the cliffside hunt was potentially my favorite sequence from the episode. There still was a lot to like in this episode but it didn't take my breath away like Deserts did.

[CarnotaurusKing]

And I will say, the cliffside hunt was potentially my favorite sequence from the episode.

Likewise. It reminded me of the snow leopard hunt from Planet Earth (2006).

Spoiler

The scene with the Tyrannosaurus pair was also quite nice. I liked their behaviour and vocalizations. I would have also liked to see it fight the Triceratops, but I'm happy that it was mentioned to have brought it down instead of scavenging a carcass. Some of the public is still under the impression that Tyrannosaurus was a scavenger, so that was nice to hear. Thanks Jack 

Also, in the Uncovered episode, Prof Barrett likens Velociraptor to a turkey. I still don't understand why this is the default comparison, when actual raptors, like eagles and hawks, exist.

[close]

[bone crusher]

Three awesome episodes so far for sure, but I echo how we do need more T.Rex hunting scenes to kick things up a notch. Here's hoping a duel shows up in episode 5 or else we'll have to wait till season two I suppose. Also need some proper therizinosaurus screen time as it rightfully deserves!

[Brocc21]

I think I liked Deserts a little more than this episode. The raptor hunt was the highlight of the episode. Felt just like watching snow leopards hunt goats. The inclusion of quetzalcoatlus in Madagasgar was unexpected, though I'm sure it was certainly possible. Very excited for Ice Worlds.

[Dynomikegojira]

Yeah I don't think we're gonna see a T.rex vs Triceratops duel on episode 5 I actually doubt we'll ever see T.rex again because we've all of it's footage and scenes it's in for the trailer but I do love the implied fight though it certainly added some character to the male. Freshwater is my least favorite episode but I still vastly enjoyed especially the Velociraptor hunt which was amazing and new.

[Samrukia]

Yeah I don't think we're gonna see a T.rex vs Triceratops duel on episode 5 I actually doubt we'll ever see T.rex again because we've all of it's footage and scenes it's in for the trailer but I do love the implied fight though it certainly added some character to the male. Freshwater is my least favorite episode but I still vastly enjoyed especially the Velociraptor hunt which was amazing and new.

we still havent seen Hank with his chick from the very first sneak peek

[GojiraGuy1954]

Yeah I don't think we're gonna see a T.rex vs Triceratops duel on episode 5 I actually doubt we'll ever see T.rex again because we've all of it's footage and scenes it's in for the trailer but I do love the implied fight though it certainly added some character to the male. Freshwater is my least favorite episode but I still vastly enjoyed especially the Velociraptor hunt which was amazing and new.

we still havent seen Hank with his chick from the very first sneak peek

We have seen that scene. They just edited Hank so that he wasn't eating a turtle for the preview.

[Bread]

Yeah I don't think we're gonna see a T.rex vs Triceratops duel on episode 5 I actually doubt we'll ever see T.rex again because we've all of it's footage and scenes it's in for the trailer but I do love the implied fight though it certainly added some character to the male. Freshwater is my least favorite episode but I still vastly enjoyed especially the Velociraptor hunt which was amazing and new.

Episode 5 is pretty much a mystery at the moment. All we've really scene is the juvenile triceratops' with the herd. If anything the series wants that episode to be a mystery since it is the last one of the season. A good finale is something worth hiding.

[Faelrin]

I think this was my favorite episode so far. Hard to pick a favorite scene so far, but I'm probably going to go with the Velociraptor one.

Spoiler

Right off the bat we start with the impressive Velociraptor sequence which reminded me of either snow leopards hunting or that one scene from the documentary "The Hunt" which showed a polar bear hunting for birds eggs on a cliff. I'm surprised at how much pterosaur diversity there is in this show so far. Long over due I guess. And of course being a huge fan of paleo-accurate dromaeosaurids, and Velociraptor in particular, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I really liked the T. rex sequence, though was a little disappointed it didn't actually rip the skull off, as I would have actually liked to see that done at this level of detail, since we've known for some time that it was strong enough to do so. Otherwise I really do like the upcoming scene with it nuzzling with the female (reminded me a bit of Disney's Dinosaur, and as mentioned there is evidence to show how sensitive their faces would have been), and the um, later mating scene, lol. There did appear to be a little bit of your stereotypical roaring but it was kept to a minimum. At least they did switch to more crocodilian-esque throat sounds.

While it was already teased, I really love the Deinocheirus here. Coloration almost reminds me of Safari Ltd's figure of it, but darker, and blue instead of pink on the face. I definitely giggled at the "big pile of **** scene" and the eyes of that Deinocheirus too, lol. I also really enjoyed the sound design for it, honking and what not.

The Quetzalcoatlus fight was great. Not as impressive as the huge Dreadnoughtus battle to the death in the episode before, but it's not often you get to see two giant pterosaurs duke it out over something like this. Again love all the fresh takes this series has been giving us, and like WWD I hope they stay in mind long in the future. My only regret is that I can only watch this series for the first time once. At least I'm savoring it though.

It was also nice seeing Masiakasaurus in the spotlight for once too, since they easily could have given us another (cannibalistic) Majungasaurus thing instead. It was interesting seeing it opportunistically preying on crabs for itself and the young. I knew it was game over for the cute chick the moment it got near the water. Love that Beelzebufo and that stare down between the mother Masiakasaurus and it. It was menacing but still felt natural. The only thing I wish we got to see (even a cameo) was cute little Simosuchus from the same formation. That really deserves some screen time.

I think my only (minor) complaint is that for an episode titled Fresh Water there wasn't much showcasing what lived inside it. I would have liked to see some prehistoric fishes, amphibians, or some crocodylomorpha and likewise. Hell Creek in particular is rich in diversity there for the latter. Ah well, guess there's always the Saurian game for that (which I'm tempted to revisit after all this time, though I did briefly play it after I got this new laptop courtesy of my brother).

[close]

And of course here's the Uncovered, which while it feels kind of a wasted opportunity here, since I would say most of us here obviously know this already, but it is probably much more important for the general public that might be watching these alongside this series:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcRxwi0x5ig

That said I do appreciate seeing Zhenyuanlong brought up into the spotlight again, considering it was such a revolutionary discovery  back in late 2015 (though perhaps expected at that point with the direction of paleoart and other fossils before hand confirming such, including the microraptorine dromaeosaurid Microraptor, etc).

[Dynomikegojira]

Yeah I don't think we're gonna see a T.rex vs Triceratops duel on episode 5 I actually doubt we'll ever see T.rex again because we've all of it's footage and scenes it's in for the trailer but I do love the implied fight though it certainly added some character to the male. Freshwater is my least favorite episode but I still vastly enjoyed especially the Velociraptor hunt which was amazing and new.

Episode 5 is pretty much a mystery at the moment. All we've really scene is the juvenile triceratops' with the herd. If anything the series wants that episode to be a mystery since it is the last one of the season. A good finale is something worth hiding.

That episode is also covering Hateg, Qianzhosaurus and the Carnotaurus mating display I don't think they'll have to bring T.rex back but I hope I'm wrong.

[Mellow Stego]

So yeah, sauropods are terrifying.

So what impact do you guys think this show will have on the toy market?