PREHISTORIC PLANET

[Faelrin]

@Darko2300 I think they got the idea from extant birds that use it for display, such as prairie chickens, sage grouse, and frigate birds, that all come to mind. That said I totally get how you found it unnerving, haha.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNqCzYYh3Hs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLnbiTkj1TQ (lol at them playing Daft Punk in the background, didn't think I'd see that used in a nature doc thing like this)

[Darko2300]

@Darko2300 I think they got the idea from extant birds that use it for display, such as prairie chickens, sage grouse, and frigate birds, that all come to mind. That said I totally get how you found it unnerving, haha.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNqCzYYh3Hs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLnbiTkj1TQ (lol at them playing Daft Punk in the background, didn't think I'd see that used in a nature doc thing like this)

Oh yeah I get the comparison, but there's a huge difference between one or two inflatable sacs and several dozen of them. I just kept thinking of 'sexual octopus tentacles' and shuddering. 🤣

[Medzo]

I know it's super chliched, but I also missed an actual hunt scene from the T.Rex. Come on, it is like a must! Other hunting sequences were also a bit cheap, like they were covering the act with scene cuts and vegetation. I guess the CGI for that is way more expensive - if you want it to look realistic and dynamic - so they've chosen the easier path.

Also I'm not sure even an adult T.Rex would have risked going toe to toe with a fully grown Triceratops like that. It looked way too huge. Unless it was some kind of surprise attack, but the problem is we'll never know.

[Bread]

Also I'm not sure even an adult T.Rex would have risked going toe to toe with a fully grown Triceratops like that. It looked way too huge. Unless it was some kind of surprise attack, but the problem is we'll never know.

An old bull would definitely be a possible target for a large Tyrannosaurus.

Then again, this Tyrannosaurus did acquire some injuries.

[Carnoking]

I know it's super chliched, but I also missed an actual hunt scene from the T.Rex. Come on, it is like a must! Other hunting sequences were also a bit cheap, like they were covering the act with scene cuts and vegetation. I guess the CGI for that is way more expensive - if you want it to look realistic and dynamic - so they've chosen the easier path.

I think not showing the killing blow added to the realism of the show, if only in the slightest. I sometimes felt the camera was a bit too omniscient; many of the scenes felt very well covered, and the shot composition was (at times) quite aesthetically pleasing, something you may not always be able to achieve when dealing with off the cuff filming of unpredictable wildlife.

That being said, whenever the camera "missed" something important, it almost made it feel more real in so far as the camera crew had the wrong setup or didn't have time to perfectly capture such a quick and dramatic event from every angle imaginable. A great example would be the wide shot of the Barbaridactylus falling from the sky, or the Velociraptor tumbling down the cliff after its dinner. The setups worked to emphasize the distance of the falls, but it was just one angle from far away as opposed to resetting and capturing the action from multiple angles and then editing them all together, the latter of which gives the impression of very touch and go filming techniques to capture whatever possible while the former makes it feel more like a planned event.

[Gwangi]

If you watch the BBC nature shows you'll see that PP is deliberately styled exactly like them, including with the scenes of predation. The Velociraptor on the cliff scene is exactly like footage of snow leopards hunting on cliffs. It's remarkable what they've achieved with Prehistoric Planet. So yeah, predation stuff is hard to capture on camera and they wanted it to look that authentic here too.

[HD-man]

[ceratopsian]

 I think not showing killing blows or too much gore is at least partly the result of caution in a show aimed at a broad audience from very young children upwards.

[HD-man]

I have more thoughts, but I'm waiting until I finish re-watching all 5 episodes. That said, Ep3's Velociraptor segment is definitely my favorite individual segment of the series. This video does a good job summing up why:

To add to that video, here's a quote from Dino Dad's PhP review ( https://dinodadreviews.com/2022/05/30/prehistoric-planet/ ):

One easily forgets that we are not viewing living animals here; it often feels as though all of it was all simply shot on location as a traditional wildlife documentary. Velociraptor, for example, moves exactly like a large predatory ground bird, with all the little tics and quirks of movement that characterize the living animals, which does as much to convince viewers of its reality as the high resolution CGI models do.

[suspsy]

Late to the party, but I finished watching Prehistoric Planet last night. I cannot stress enough what a masterpiece it was. The most beautiful and realistic dinosaurs I've ever seen, bar none. I liked how Tyrannosaurus rex was given ample time, but not the entire spotlight. Anyone who seriously thinks that this series somehow did a disservice to the tyrant lizard by not portraying it as a relentless rampaging deathbringer is beyond salvage. It killed an adult Triceratops for sakes of Pete.

I also enjoyed how much time the pterosaurs spent walking around on land. They seemed far more real to me than when they were flying.

The inflating sacks on the Dreadnoughtus were a brilliant idea and I would instantly purchase any sauropod toy depicting such a feature. Doesn't have to be a whole bunch of them either. A single sack on the throat would be just as nifty.

I may share more thoughts later.

[Medzo]

I think not showing killing blows or too much gore is at least partly the result of caution in a show aimed at a broad audience from very young children upwards.

Well yes...but this is just nature after all. There are a lot of documentary scenes about lions literally obliterating a single gnu. There is nothing humanly evil in that.

I do think some perspectives were chosen for the authentic documentary vibe while others (bite attacks, eating) were covered as their rendering takes a lot more detail and nuance...money in short.

Anyway I'm quite sure this may well start a new age for scientific prehistoric animal TV contents.

[ceratopsian]

Regardless of whether it is "nature" or not, TV/film companies need to think about suitability for young children, assuming that young children are part of their target audience.  Many parents would prefer that their six-year old is not exposed to some things that are perfectly natural until they are older.  I didn't say anything about a kill being evil, only that many might think it problematic for very young children.  I included "partly" in what I said to indicate that other factors may be co-responsible for what was shown on screen.

I think not showing killing blows or too much gore is at least partly the result of caution in a show aimed at a broad audience from very young children upwards.

Well yes...but this is just nature after all. There are a lot of documentary scenes about lions literally obliterating a single gnu. There is nothing humanly evil in that.

I do think some perspectives were chosen for the authentic documentary vibe while others (bite attacks, eating) were covered as their rendering takes a lot more detail and nuance...money in short.

Anyway I'm quite sure this may well start a new age for scientific prehistoric animal TV contents.

[Stegotyranno420]

I think not showing killing blows or too much gore is at least partly the result of caution in a show aimed at a broad audience from very young children upwards.

I mean they showed Tyrannosaurus "doing it", injuries and deinocheirus defecating. I don't know how those are acceptable but some blood isn't, all of those are natural.
And no, I don't support animal abuse or like to see them suffer but I just want to know  why those are considered acceptable.

[SRF]

I think not showing killing blows or too much gore is at least partly the result of caution in a show aimed at a broad audience from very young children upwards.

I mean they showed Tyrannosaurus "doing it", injuries and deinocheirus defecating. I don't know how those are acceptable but some blood isn't, all of those are natural.
And no, I don't support animal abuse or like to see them suffer but I just want to know  why those are considered acceptable.

The T. Rexes "doing it" was a very short scene that was just long enough for viewers to know what was happening. Just like the Pterosaur mating scene was cut short as well. If you're going to show close ups of killing blows, especially from a big predator facing a big prey, you have to go all the way to make it realistic, meaning you will see fat, flesh, muscles and guts spilling out of the corpse. Besides that it will probably need a bigger budget to be made, the chance that these kind of scenes disappoint when not done right, makes it a wise choice for me not to include them. The scenes in which the T. Rex is eating from the turtle and the other one in which he takes a bite out of the Triceratops are very cleaverely made in that regard.

[Concavenator]

I didn't watch the series at release, does anyone know if I could see it later on?

[Dynomikegojira]

I didn't watch the series at release, does anyone know if I could see it later on?

It's still on AppleTv+ depending on where you are.

[Darko2300]

@Concavenator - Yes it's still up. (I imagine it will stay on Apple TV+ just like any of their other shows.)

[Dynomikegojira]

It's currently under most popular now on AppleTv+ so that bodes well for them greenlighting more seasons I'm definitely going binge all five episodes together for the first time today.

[Concavenator]

Thanks everyone! Glad that I didn't miss on it after all.

[PrimevalRaptor]

After finally watching the last episode yesterday I can confidently say to me this really feels like a successor to WWD, I felt like a kid again watching that one for the first time while watching PP, you could really tell the dedication of the team and that there were SO many talented people involved.
Some of my favorites include all the dromaeosaurs and the mosasaur scenes but I think overall the pterosaurs stole the show, it's SO refreshing to finally see a nice diversity of species and also some great azhdarchids, the Hateg Island segment especially had me incredible excited cause I'm a big fan of that ecosystem.
Overall just spectacular, I do hold out for a DVD release at some point, would love to own a physical copy of this show.