When Dinosaurs Ruled: Ground Zero

Starring:When Dinosaurs Ruled
Studio: Madacy Records
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
When Dinosaurs Ruled uses enhanced 3-D animation to present lithe, agile dinosaurs that look more like a nature program than science fiction. Ground Zero incorporates all the latest research into creating warm-bloodedness, skin coloration, kinetics, and social behaviors, not to mention newly discovered dinosaurs. The information is presented with helpful charts, graphs, and visuals in language that is easy to understand but not at all dumbed down. The soundtrack, excellent pacing, cinematography, and animation are bonuses.

Amazon.com

When Dinosaurs Ruled uses enhanced 3-D animation to present lithe, agile dinosaurs that look more like a nature program than science fiction. Ground Zero incorporates all the latest research into creating warm-bloodedness, skin coloration, kinetics, and social behaviors, not to mention newly discovered dinosaurs. The information is presented with helpful charts, graphs, and visuals in language that is easy to understand but not at all dumbed down. The soundtrack, excellent pacing, cinematography, and animation are bonuses.

Customer Reviews:

Even a child can see the shortcomings.......2006-03-28

Bottom Line: get Walking with Dinosaurs, which is superior in every way. My six year old son was interested in what the paleontologists were saying, which actually was fairly interesting, but the reconstruction of the dinosaurs themselves was beyond lame--it was dishonest. How often did we see the same shaken camera technique, the blurred head with teeth and red eyes, the plastic looking tongue? Too many times. It didn't fool my son, and it just annoyed me.

Consider the complete set instead.......2000-09-02

This is one of a 5-part Learning Channel series narrated by Jeff Goldblum exploring dinosaur remains found in a generally specific modern location, in this case South America. If you're looking for great CGI dinosaurs, you'll have to look elsewhere, such as Walking With Dinosaurs. Actually, there are very few of these to complain about. Almost all of the show consists of various exterior shots of the region with very little having anything to do with fossil finds or excavations.

It's quite clear that the Amazon.com reviewer didn't feel it important enough to write an individual review of each of the five parts in this series, but instead wrote a generic review and then changed a couple of items to cover each of the five parts of this series. For instance, I have trouble finding Tunisia on my map of South America. And the species mentioned are only presented in The Land that Time Forgot, another part of the series. I doubt that she even took the time to watch this video. The direct scene access is nothing like that described. The "thematic sections" are very general at best, and you cannot access specific dinosaurs in any way, not that there is much to access. Taking the information from the box is in no way what I consider a review.

I'm going to risk your displeasure. You'll find my review also somewhat generic, as it's virtually the same as those I've written for the other four in the series. (But at least I've actually WATCHED them!) The reason for this is simple: each of these five videos is essentially the same with the exception of regional location and the content of Goldblum's narritave. However, if you'll take the time to read my review of When Dinosaurs Ruled (the complete set), you'll find a complete review that should be helpful.

Ground Zero does not rely on the other parts of the series - it can easily stand on its own merits. But if you like it, you're going to want the complete set. If the cost of the set puts you off, I highly recommend Walking with Dinosaurs.

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