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When Dinosaurs Roamed America
Artisan // Unrated // August 21, 2001
List Price: $19.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
A continuation of the popular "Walking With Dinosaurs" special, this 90 minute documentary uses the same special effects to create convincing dinosaurs in the middle of real-life environments. This time, the focus is across America and the dinosaurs that populated the landscape. John Goodman narrates.
The DVD
VIDEO: "When Dinosaurs Roamed America" is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. The results of Artisan's transfer are hugely successful. The image looked so crisp, clear and gorgeous during the bright outdoor scenes that it looked like it was an IMAX film. The depth to the image is often impressive and three-dimensional feeling. The only problem that took away slightly from the presentation was a few instances of light shimmering. Other than that, I saw no instances of pixelation or other problems. Colors looked superb, appearing well-saturated, vibrant and bold. A very, very nice effort.
SOUND: While the image quality remained exceptional, the Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation was a great deal less entertaining. Although things start to get interesting after a while, for many of the early scenes I was questioning if I'd accidentally chosen the 2.0 presentation instead. Surround use starts to come in, but I found that, for the most part, it completely missed opportunities with the material. Ambient sounds - and there should be plenty with the outdoor scenes that the film covers - are inconsistent. Some scenes present pleasing amounts of background sounds; insects, birds, etc., while others don't. The more intense sequences, such as the dinosaur attacks, really don't bring anything to the party, either. Audio quality was largely pleasing, but in terms of activity, this falls short of expectations.
MENUS:: Basic, non-animated menus with dinosaur images serving as backgrounds.
EXTRAS:: 2 short behind-the-scenes featurettes that last a few moments apiece, music video, dinosaur quiz, dinosaur facts, dinosaur graphics, biographies, discovery.com link, music score information as well as text interviews with an animator for the series and a palentologist.
Final Thoughts: "When Dinosaurs Roamed America" is an entertaining and informative extension of the "Walking With Dinosaurs" series. Artisan's DVD presents excellent video quality, but rather suprisingly subtle audio and only a few supplements. Still, for those who were fascinated by the earlier program, this new feature is still worthy of a look.
A continuation of the popular "Walking With Dinosaurs" special, this 90 minute documentary uses the same special effects to create convincing dinosaurs in the middle of real-life environments. This time, the focus is across America and the dinosaurs that populated the landscape. John Goodman narrates.
The DVD
VIDEO: "When Dinosaurs Roamed America" is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. The results of Artisan's transfer are hugely successful. The image looked so crisp, clear and gorgeous during the bright outdoor scenes that it looked like it was an IMAX film. The depth to the image is often impressive and three-dimensional feeling. The only problem that took away slightly from the presentation was a few instances of light shimmering. Other than that, I saw no instances of pixelation or other problems. Colors looked superb, appearing well-saturated, vibrant and bold. A very, very nice effort.
SOUND: While the image quality remained exceptional, the Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation was a great deal less entertaining. Although things start to get interesting after a while, for many of the early scenes I was questioning if I'd accidentally chosen the 2.0 presentation instead. Surround use starts to come in, but I found that, for the most part, it completely missed opportunities with the material. Ambient sounds - and there should be plenty with the outdoor scenes that the film covers - are inconsistent. Some scenes present pleasing amounts of background sounds; insects, birds, etc., while others don't. The more intense sequences, such as the dinosaur attacks, really don't bring anything to the party, either. Audio quality was largely pleasing, but in terms of activity, this falls short of expectations.
MENUS:: Basic, non-animated menus with dinosaur images serving as backgrounds.
EXTRAS:: 2 short behind-the-scenes featurettes that last a few moments apiece, music video, dinosaur quiz, dinosaur facts, dinosaur graphics, biographies, discovery.com link, music score information as well as text interviews with an animator for the series and a palentologist.
Final Thoughts: "When Dinosaurs Roamed America" is an entertaining and informative extension of the "Walking With Dinosaurs" series. Artisan's DVD presents excellent video quality, but rather suprisingly subtle audio and only a few supplements. Still, for those who were fascinated by the earlier program, this new feature is still worthy of a look.
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