3D Dinosaur films on Blu-ray 3D

[Cammy]

I don't own a Blu-ray player yet, let alone a 3D TV, but someday I'll own them both! So I have already started collecting dinosaur films on 3D Blu-ray. I don't have all of these yet, but I'd like to make a list of all the available dinosaur 3D Blu-rays so everyone else can see what's available (so please let me know what's missing and I'll add it to the list).

Jurassic Park


Walking With Dinosaurs


The Dino King (AKA Speckles The Tarbosaurus)


Planet Dinosaur


Flying Monsters


Dinosaurs Alive!


Dinosaurs - Giants of Patagonia

[Arul]

Best graphics and very educating, WWD 

[leidy]

That's basically it.

There's also Sea Rex 3D, which isn't very good, and I don't think it had dinosaurs.

Sea Monsters 3-D was better and had some briefly glimpsed dinosaurs, sadly this is only available in anaglyph(coloured glasses) 3D.

Transformers Age of Extinction has a brief prehistoric sequence with a group of Psittacosaurus and some titanosaurs.  The psittacosaurus, excellent(if overanimated), the titanosaurs not so much(reminded me of 2005 King Kong's dino stampede).

Journey to the Center of the Earth has a key sequence with a large theropod.  Not the most accurate representation, but it's a fun thrill-ride type film, and a good 3-D showcase.

Going back to your list:

Jurassic Park is an excellent conversion.  Absolutely first class all the way.  You really feel the volume and dimension of the T.rex.  It really enhances the film, to the point where I don't think I'd consider watching it any other way.

Planet Dinosaur.  This is an excellent showcase.  One of the highlights was seeing the spinosaurus head protruding at length from my 47 inch TV, at what I judged to be essentially life-size.  A memorable pop-out moment, and one I had to pause to admire the toothy grin.  It's worth noting that this is not the full series, but a selection of highlights re-rendered from the scene files in 3-D, but it works fine as a stand alone documentary of some of the recent discoveries. 

[Tallin]

Hmm, I'm not a fan of Planet Dinosaur. The animation is poor and rushed and as an animation student with experience in 3D, it really isn't anywhere near as sophisticated as Walking with dinosaurs. It also tends to favour drama and sensationalism as opposed to natural realism and accuracy.

I highly recommend Prehistoric Park, Walking with dinosaurs: sea monsters, and the other walking with spin offs though.

[HD-man]

It also tends to favour drama and sensationalism as opposed to natural realism and accuracy.

I highly recommend Prehistoric Park, Walking with dinosaurs: sea monsters,

No offense, but that seems contradictory.

BTW, it's "Chased by Sea Monsters".

[Tallin]

Not really...in my eyes, all the lion noises, close ups on teeth, and blood spraying everywhere make Planet Dinosaur seem far more overly dramatized.
And it was known as 'chased by sea monsters' in the US, not UK, so I hadn't heard of that alternate name .

Prehistoric park also shows the animals in a more naturalistic way in my opinion, not as bloodthirsty beasties the whole time, although they have obviously added drama with the introduction of human protagonists.

[DinoLord]

Prehistoric Park was definitely one of my favorite documentaries as a kid. Planet Dinosaur was alright but didn't stick out to me as particularly special.

[Tallin]

I watched it with my little brother when we were kids and convinced him that it was all real... 

[HD-man]

Not really...in my eyes, all the lion noises, close ups on teeth, and blood spraying everywhere make Planet Dinosaur seem far more overly dramatized.
And it was known as 'chased by sea monsters' in the US, not UK, so I hadn't heard of that alternate name .

While PD isn't as good overall as the original WWD, it's still decent in its own right & better than CBD/CBSM or PP in many ways: The main problem w/PD's dinos is that they're shrink-wrapped to varying degrees; Otherwise, they're mostly accurate & look/act like real animals; I can't say the same about many of the dinos in CBD/CBSM & especially not PP; Off the top of my head, there are un-feathered or shrink-wrapped coelurosaurs w/bunny hands or "wings...but with hands!" ( http://chasmosaurs.blogspot.com/2013/09/vintage-dinosaur-art-age-of-dinosaurs.html ), sprawling Microraptor, filter-feeding Ornithomimus, & speedy tyrannosaurids that roar at their prey (& somehow shake the earth while doing so); The premises themselves are also very silly & stupid (See the following quotes; PP is even worse given the hyperbolic narration & JP2-esque cast: http://dinotoyblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=540.msg78263#msg78263 ).

Quoting Switek ( https://laelaps.wordpress.com/2007/01/17/chased-by-an-idiotic-naturalist/ ):

The point of the 3 part documentary series is to have "naturalist" Nigel Marvin actually walk with dinosaurs, getting so close that if the creatures were real he would be "half the man he used to be" in a quite literal sense. I don't want to be too unkind to Nigel, but the only programs I've seen him in have been the "Walking With" series and as host of Shark Week a few years back, and he seems part of the current breed of "naturalists" like Jeff Corwin and even Steve Irwin that need to chase down, harass, and touch the wildlife rather than act as a guide or host to the natural world as David Attenborough does. I'll most likely write about how idiotic the escapades of today's television naturalists are at some later time, but during the course of the program I found myself rooting for the dinosaurs, hoping Nigel would be picked off by Sarcosuchus or Giganotosaurus.

Quoting Orr ( http://chasmosaurs.blogspot.com/2011/07/davids-ultimate-wishlist-of.html ):

Next, it's "The Giant Claw," an episode of the supremely stupid Chased By Dinosaurs, in which an idiot is sent back in time to annoy prehistoric animals, who respond by mugging for the camera and occasionally knocking it over.

[Tallin]

I still found that PP was more fun and didn't have to resort to showing the creatures as bloodthirsty monsters the whole time. It's designed to be lighthearted and thus suitable for all ages whilst still being accurate and a serious look at the animals. Personally I find the dramatic spurts of blood they had to add to PD very annoying and over the top! Also, they have captured the movement in a much better way, as the animation in PD really is poor in comparision to Framestore and Impossible Picture's work. To me, they look plastic and do not move at all like real animals, but hey, just my opinion...also, PP was much before PD and at least their juvenile Ornithomimmus had protofuzz.
I study a lot of animal locomotion as part of my degree and am animating dinosaurs myself under my professor who taught the guys who made WWD, so maybe I just pick up on the animation flaws too easily.

After all, they're just entertainment tv programs so it's natural we have our own preferences

[DinoToyForum]

Jurassic Park is an excellent conversion.  Absolutely first class all the way.  You really feel the volume and dimension of the T.rex.  It really enhances the film, to the point where I don't think I'd consider watching it any other way.

Agree! I'm not a fan of 3D in general but the 3D in this is fantastic, more than just a gimmick. Maybe I can appreciate it more because I'm so familiar with the 2D version.

[leidy]

Jurassic Park is an excellent conversion.  Absolutely first class all the way.  You really feel the volume and dimension of the T.rex.  It really enhances the film, to the point where I don't think I'd consider watching it any other way.

Agree! I'm not a fan of 3D in general but the 3D in this is fantastic, more than just a gimmick. Maybe I can appreciate it more because I'm so familiar with the 2D version.

I enjoy 3D (although most films don't tend to use it as well as I'd like), but I've been a lot more skeptical about 3D conversions.  Jurassic Park changed my mind on that, they did things I didn't think were possible.  It wasn't rushed out to meet a release date and they took their time and spent a lot of money on it.  I still think it's a bit of a waste for all those people hunkered over workstations separating every element of the picture, but I can't argue with the results in this case.

One of the best films I've ever seen for 3-D was the old Imax film T.rex:Back to the Cretaceous.  An absolutely horrendous film, and the dinosaur moments were shamefully brief, but the 3-D was stunning, with excellent use of pop-out effects.  It was like looking at a physical model of the dinosaur right in front of you, only animated, and bigger than life-size if you saw it on an Imax screen.  It made enough of an impression that I'd buy it if it ever comes on 3D blu-ray, alas it's only available in flat dvd, pretty much a total waste of time in that particular case.

Dinosaurs are such a great subject for 3D, I always find when I'm photographing a dinosaur model that it can be hard to find an angle that looks as good as real life.  The flattening effect is noticeable.  And again, it's a very different thing to see a figure in photographs, vs seeing it in person.  It's the same thing if you've ever tried to interpret photographs of fossils with strangely shaped bones or unfamiliar angles.  What exactly am I looking at here?  Is that distortion? foreshortening?  This is why 3D appeals to me.  It's the closest thing to having it right there.

I suppose the next thing will be exploring a prehistoric environment with an Oculus Rift VR headset, or interacting with 3D-scanned holotypes.  That's the kind of stuff I get excited about.   

[HD-man]

I still found that PP was more fun and didn't have to resort to showing the creatures as bloodthirsty monsters the whole time.

Actually, PD's dinos aren't depicted "as bloodthirsty monsters the whole time" (I.e. There are plenty of scenes where they're doing non-bloodthirsty things like sleeping, mating, brooding, etc.). However, I understand why you feel that way given that PD is very theropod-centric.

It's designed to be lighthearted and thus suitable for all ages whilst still being accurate and a serious look at the animals.

Personally I find the dramatic spurts of blood they had to add to PD very annoying and over the top! Also, they have captured the movement in a much better way, as the animation in PD really is poor in comparision to Framestore and Impossible Picture's work. To me, they look plastic and do not move at all like real animals,

To be fair, there are only 2 scenes w/unnecessary blood spurts. However, I understand why you dislike the animation & that you prefer a PP-type doc w/better animated dinos & more lighthearted mood. My problem is w/claims of PP being more accurate when it objectively isn't (& not for "Science Marches On"-type reasons).

BTW, I edited my previous post to elaborate on certain things. Hope this helps.

[Cammy]

Dinosaurs are such a great subject for 3D, I always find when I'm photographing a dinosaur model that it can be hard to find an angle that looks as good as real life.  The flattening effect is noticeable.  And again, it's a very different thing to see a figure in photographs, vs seeing it in person.  It's the same thing if you've ever tried to interpret photographs of fossils with strangely shaped bones or unfamiliar angles.  What exactly am I looking at here?  Is that distortion? foreshortening?  This is why 3D appeals to me.  It's the closest thing to having it right there.

You just reminded me about something I can use to take 3D photos, my Nintendo 3DSXL! I haven't even really used the feature yet, but now I think I know what it will be perfect for, dinosaur toy photos! It's just a shame you would probably need another 3DS to view the pictures unless they can be converted to a format that works on 3D TVs or something, I'm not even sure.