PREHISTORIC PLANET

[TheCambrianCrusader]

A month of Apple TV costs $6.99 (I think it was $5.99 last year). Prehistoric Planet is well worth the price. I want a DVD/Blue Ray release too, and I have strong opinions about streaming services, but I'll happily give Apple TV $6.99 for making the best paleo-media in decades. 

I'm happily paying the money now but I'm someone who likes rewatching shows I love, especially documentaries (I couldn't count the amount of times I've watched WWD or Blue Planet) so I don't want to keep paying for a service that by and large doesn't interest me. If it was on like Discovery+ or Netflix than I'd be singing a different tune, but Apple TV literally only has Prehistoric Planet

[postsaurischian]

We paid for a month and will cancel afterwards (in time to avoid second month). It was about the price of two coffees with tip. And less than the price of two ice cream cups (2 scoops each) at the ice cream farm on our road.  A little bit more than parking at our Tube car park to use the London Underground for a single journey. An exhibition at the Tate Britain gallery cost us £20 each yesterday. In that expenditure context, I consider the Apple charge ok for something I enjoy enormously. Though I'd rather it was available to buy in permanent form. And I am aware we need to be disciplined and not be drawn into watching something else that would suck us in.

A month of Apple TV costs $6.99 (I think it was $5.99 last year). Prehistoric Planet is well worth the price. I want a DVD/Blue Ray release too, and I have strong opinions about streaming services, but I'll happily give Apple TV $6.99 for making the best paleo-media in decades. 

 I know it doesn't cost much, but I repeat: I don't wanna be a part of today's media (streaming) environment. I didn't have money in my mind.

This post reminds me of something that happened a long time ago...I remember having this conversation with my dad when I was in high school and I wanted to watch shows on cable in the early 1980s.  I was already working part time then and even while I was offering to pay for it out of my own earnings he refused to let me get it installed.  He told me to get my own place if I wanted to watch cable.  So I moved out of my house before my senior year in high school, got my own apartment and got cable, LOL.  Then he was mad because I had left, I guess the moral of the story is that change is always difficult but it's also the one constant we can always count on...A couple of years later and because my mom and my younger sister put their foot down, my dad got cable installed in his house too

Has nothing to do with me who only speaks for himself. I wouldn't tell anybody what to do.
Not following every new trend doesn't mean I'm a stubborn conservative.

[Lynx]

I think you took it the wrong way
They were just telling a story that they were reminded of, I don't think they were tryna label you that way.

[Gwangi]

A month of Apple TV costs $6.99 (I think it was $5.99 last year). Prehistoric Planet is well worth the price. I want a DVD/Blue Ray release too, and I have strong opinions about streaming services, but I'll happily give Apple TV $6.99 for making the best paleo-media in decades. 

I'm happily paying the money now but I'm someone who likes rewatching shows I love, especially documentaries (I couldn't count the amount of times I've watched WWD or Blue Planet) so I don't want to keep paying for a service that by and large doesn't interest me. If it was on like Discovery+ or Netflix than I'd be singing a different tune, but Apple TV literally only has Prehistoric Planet

I can definitely agree with that. And Prehistoric Planet is something I want to watch repeatedly but won't keep a subscription for. Apple NEEDs to release it in physical media or I may not use them again in the future, just out of spite.

[Stegotyranno420]

@CARN0TAURUS , Change is the inevitable constant. I love that theme. Now I will use it for every English-Literature paper I will have to write   

So far, I love all the episodes. I would give my review once i finish p5.
The only thing that takes away from the excitement from last year is the fact my brother, who watched with me last year and was very interested, now wants nothing to do with the "unrealistic" cgi or something. It was kind of a tradition to watch Prehistoric Planet after our exam finals when we got home. In addition, I also got a sore throat infection, soooo...

[GojiraGuy1954]

Now that Season 2 is done, what might you guys want to see in a potential third season?

Sticking to the Maastrichtian, I made a 5-episode list of my own:

Plains:

Bharattherium feeds on Grasses and Seeds, Sanajeh hides in Ambush
Rajasaurus compete for Mates
Gargantuavis follows after Ampelosaurus herd
Arcovenator fails hunt on Rhabdodon Herd
Dryptosaurus Gang sleeps in Shifts
Young Male Torosaurus in "Musth" (Featuring Leptoceratops and Subadult Tyrannosaurus)

Heights:

Acheroraptor roosts in a Tree (Disturbed by Quetzalcoatlus beak)
Adult Antarctopelta wakes up from hibernation, encounters Morrosaurus clan in the Snowy Hills (Imperobator cameo)
Maip hunts Isasicursor on a sheer cliff face
Dryptosaurus battle on the Appalachian Hills
Tethydraco does Gannet Diving (Thalassotitan, Zarafasaura, and Squalicorax featured)
Saltasaurus traverse the Cliffs (from previs video)

Shallow Waters:

Deinocheirus display & battle
Thoracosaurus nesting site. Paleosanwia, Didelphodon, & Anzu as Raiders. Ankylosaurus cameos.
Mahajangasuchus bellows in water (To draw attention of Mates? Intimidate rivals?)
Hesperornis steals Eggs from other Hesperornis
Zarafasaura drive prey towards coastal rocks
Parapuzosia consumes a hatchling Thalassotitan (Ocecephalon cameos)

Arid Climates:

Arambourgiana attempts to Drink
Masiakasaurus builds a Bower
Armadillosuchus digs up food
Falcetakely picks up dropped Rapetosaurus leftovers
Udanoceratops in Oviraptor Nesting Site
Chenanisaurus hunts Ajnabia

Asia:

Gallimimus males kickbox for the rights to take over a baby horde (Judinornis cameos)
Isisaurus herd eats from Trees
Mob of Juvenile Tarbosaurus unsuccessfully hunts bull Charonosaurus
Nanshiungosaurus tears apart a rotten log to find insects
Prenocephale Courtship (Like Hares)
Therizinosaurus vs Tarbosaurus

[TheCambrianCrusader]

I think 2 seasons of the Maastrichtian is enough lol. Anything more and I feel like it'd be stretching it. I'd rather them do the early Cretaceous or late Jurassic next. Or preferably Triassic or Paleozoic but that ain't happening lol

[Dynomikegojira]

Seconded on wanting to go to another era but I tell you what GojiraGuy1954 your list sold me on the idea of a potential third Masstricthian set season.

[DinoToyForum]

One question: they refer to "elasmosaurs" in the show. Is that a proper term? I thought long-necked swimmers were plesiosaurs, and Elasmosaurus was a genus, and these weren't even that (they were Tuarangisaurus).

Yeah, "elasmosaurs" is short for elasmosaurids, which is the plural of Elasmosauridae, which is the family that contains Elasmosaurus (and other elasmosaurids inc. Tuarangisaurus and many others).

https://plesiosauria.com/directory/classification/sauropterygia/eosauropterygia/eusauropterygia/pistosauroidea/pistosauria/plesiosauria/plesiosauroidea/cryptoclidia/xenopsaria/elasmosauridae/

[Gwangi]

Watched the last episode last night, North America. So strange that they went with biomes for each episode and then the last one was just "North America". I wonder if that's where the leftover clips were dumped. Highlights for me were the Triceratops and the waterfowl thing whos name escapes me. Also, more ammonites! I found the Quetzalcoatlus more nimble than I could realistically believe them to be.

[Brocc21]

North America was another fun episode. Though I think the episodes this season were too short. For an episode all about North America I felt as if I hadn't seen a lot of it.

[Dynomikegojira]

I mean North America was pretty already explored alot in both seasons so it didn't me but there's always more I would've liked to see.

[Faelrin]

I'm 3 of the 5 down now. Hard to say what my favorite of the season is so far.

Some thoughts:

Spoiler

Islands:
Really liked that hunting Hatzegopteryx scene. Something I've wanted to see on screen for years now. Or with any giant pterosaur such as it. The Simosuchus and Majungasaurus scene was great too. It was nice seeing a prehistoric mammal(?) getting some screen time in the form of the Adalatherium as well.

Badlands:
Obviously I was most impressed with the volcanic scenes with the migrating Isisaurus. The dual Tarbosaurus/Velociraptor hunting scene was pretty neat. The Velociraptor pushing the Prenocephale off the cliff also reminded me of how eagles will drop goats on cliffs to easily kill them. It was nice to see Rajasaurus get screen time as well, even if it was picking off those adorable babies. Edit: How dare I forget to mention the Tarchia stuff too? Really glad we got a great scene with it. By the way was the air conditioning nostril stuff based on evidence or speculation?

Swamps:
Might be my favorite episode this season? First, finally some crocs getting screen time in this series. Favorite scene was probably the Austroraptor one, if not the Pachycephalosaurus one. The Beelzebufo scene felt like an obligatory "it's Wednesday my dudes" meme, considering when the episode originally aired, but it was honestly nice seeing it get more screen time outside of trying to eat things. I was hoping they would have used a pacman frog scream, but that's just because I like how they sound lol. The T. rex hunting scene was what I wanted to see since season 1, so it was great to finally see it get some hunting action. Really liked how it was during the night, and that a pair worked together.

I'm looking forward to the Oceans episode next. I wonder if they'll show something like a whalefall in it? It's something I've wanted to see depicted with marine reptiles for a very long time now.

[close]

[TheCambrianCrusader]

I'm 3 of the 5 down now. Hard to say what my favorite of the season is so far.

Some thoughts:

Spoiler

Islands:
Really liked that hunting Hatzegopteryx scene. Something I've wanted to see on screen for years now. Or with any giant pterosaur such as it. The Simosuchus and Majungasaurus scene was great too. It was nice seeing a prehistoric mammal(?) getting some screen time in the form of the Adalatherium as well.

Badlands:
Obviously I was most impressed with the volcanic scenes with the migrating Isisaurus. The dual Tarbosaurus/Velociraptor hunting scene was pretty neat. The Velociraptor pushing the Prenocephale off the cliff also reminded me of how eagles will drop goats on cliffs to easily kill them. It was nice to see Rajasaurus get screen time as well, even if it was picking off those adorable babies. Edit: How dare I forget to mention the Tarchia stuff too? Really glad we got a great scene with it. By the way was the air conditioning nostril stuff based on evidence or speculation?

Swamps:
Might be my favorite episode this season? First, finally some crocs getting screen time in this series. Favorite scene was probably the Austroraptor one, if not the Pachycephalosaurus one. The Beelzebufo scene felt like an obligatory "it's Wednesday my dudes" meme, considering when the episode originally aired, but it was honestly nice seeing it get more screen time outside of trying to eat things. I was hoping they would have used a pacman frog scream, but that's just because I like how they sound lol. The T. rex hunting scene was what I wanted to see since season 1, so it was great to finally see it get some hunting action. Really liked how it was during the night, and that a pair worked together.

I'm looking forward to the Oceans episode next. I wonder if they'll show something like a whalefall in it? It's something I've wanted to see depicted with marine reptiles for a very long time now.

[close]

Yeah the Tarchia air conditioning thing is actually backed up by evidence! Here's the paper: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6300222/
I believe Tarchia is one of the species where this structure is best preserved as well

[TheCambrianCrusader]

I'm 4 out of 5 episodes in and I absolutely loved episodes 1 and 4 so far. Getting a greater look at Madagascar's ecology was wonderful especially since every documentary in the past kinda shied away from it and just showed Majungasaurus cannibalizing each other. And the ammonite scene showcasing their diversity was breathtaking, I almost want a series just focusing on Mesozoic seas and completely ignoring the dinos lol. I also really liked 2 and 3, but 1 and 4 were the standout ones for me. I just wished we spent more time in India for episode 2 considering how much time we spent in Mongolia last season

[dragon53]

[Lynx]

Finished the first 3 episodes and most of North America! I didn't watch Oceans fully because it got extremely boring, and it was mostly centered on mosasaurs, and while I loved the designs, there wasn't much new. Swamps was my favorite, the fat frog tumbling down a hill has to be the best part of the documentary. The Hatzegopterx hunting scene is what I have wanted for years, it was genuinely terrifying.

I would list all the positives, but that list would be too long, so here are some nitpicks;

- Way too many scenes about babies or mating. It is extraordinary the first few times, but eventually gets stale when it is the main focus in most episodes. Yes, it was a significant part of the animal's life, but it was not the only thing they did. The first season does this well. Most don't introduce much new, too.

- Oceans is probably the worst episode, don't get me wrong, the designs are great and there's some interesting stuff, but it's predictable for much and Mosasaurs appear so much while also rarely doing something fascinating, at least in my opinion. Like Deserts in the first season, I was falling asleep halfway through, so I stopped midway.

- I am sure people won't like this, but there's a bit of a lack in speculation, and as I have mentioned in the last few points, stuff that expands upon what we already know. The Pachycephalosaurs headbutt. A dromeosaur steals eggs. Triceratops charge to win over a mate. Tyrannosaurus hunt Edmontosaurus, etc. Am I complaining? Absolutely not! This is mostly a nitpick, but I have nothing wrong with these scenes. Plainly, they don't introduce anything new. That isn't bad by no means, but it would be nice, and just me personally, to see them doing something new like the first season presented. Again again, these scenes are all great and some of my favorites, but something a little extra to spice it up would be great!


Again, I was very surprised by this documentary. Enough so to get a full subscription to Apple TV! I loved this doc, and I am surprised that it hasn't been getting as much hype on dinosaur forums as the first season, which surprises me.

Here are the episodes ranked.
1. Swamps
2. Islands (if a documentary can get me to not fall asleep during the mammal sequences since its usually the same stuff, then its a good documentary. this is one of them.)
3. Badlands
4. North America (haven't finished it)
5. Oceans

[Lynx]

Hot take: I'm a little disappointed the Rexes had a successful hunt of all things.

Watching carnivores take the L during Prehistoric Planet is very refreshing, and I was hoping they'd break the mold here. Especially with a hadrosaur, which absolutely could body a T. rex.

Instead, two rexes manage to kill the Edmontosaurus without much effort. That's my one issue so far with this season.

I'm all ginned up for Season 3 if that's possible. I frankly am down for another season in the Maastrichtian, hell, they can do more seasons there if they need to. Just keep it coming.

I think it is far more realistic that the two Tyrannosaurs, both of which had good grips on the neck, killed the Edmontosaurus. It would be absurd if it suddenly decided it could body two attackers tearing apart at both sides. There is some effort put in, including ambushing, and planning it out, the Edmontosaurus even fights back and manages to repel a bite if you look closely. But as soon as the Tyrannosaurus got the grip on the neck, there is 0 realistic way it would've gotten out of that, let alone fought them.

There is so many failed hunts, and this one just plain makes sense for them to succeed in. I see no issue with this sequence.

[Gwangi]

I was thrilled to see the Prehistoric Planet T. rex have a successful hunt. And considering that we never saw that in the first season I think a little fan service was alright.

[SRF]

I agree here. Also in both seasons combined we've seen T. Rex scavenging twice. Showing T. Rex as an animal that could hunt successfully while using its intelligence, was an interesting thing to see.

It could have hunted the Edmontosaurus during day time, but chose not to because failure would be more likely. That sequence had to end with a successful hunt I feel.