Review for March of the Dinosaurs

March of the Dinosaurs is an amazing adventure and one that anyone who loves dinosaurs will enjoy. Made by the same people who created Walking with Dinosaurs this is one of the most impressive things I have ever seen. The creation of the dinosaurs makes what Spielberg achieved in Jurassic Park look silly and the whole feel of it is definitely the very definition of the word: Epic. One of the main reasons why this is so good can be summed up in two words, or a name to be more precise: Stephen Fry. Fry is almost beating David Attenborough in the affections of anyone. I could listen to Fry talk about anything and more importantly, I would believe every single word he said. Much like March of the Penguins, this follows one character, an Edmontosaurus called Scar as he makes his first thousand mile migration. Along the way he has to face fierce weather, lack of food, volcanic eruptions and deadly predators. Also we see a juvenile Troodon called Patch who has been left to survive in the harsh North. The story feels very cinematic, though I do get the feeling that maybe it should have been divided into three parts to break up the story a bit. However, as a feature it is surprising that this wasn't released in the cinemas as the epic scope, photo-real 3D graphics and amazing sound is suited for something like an Imax feature rather than just a TV special. I was surprised at times that I didn't have to watch this with 3D glasses as it certainly would look good in this format. That being said it is a great feature that Stephen Fry narrates with such authority that you can't help but go along with it. It would be interesting to see if more are made as some of the other creatures particularly the T-Rex and the Triceratops looked wonderful and really all that hard work that went into creating them should really justify their own story. The DVD comes with a wide variety of special features, including a making of (which is a little too short at only fifteen minutes), storyboards and a wonderful commentary features Director/Writer Matthew Thompson, and Producers Jasper James and Mike Davis. This is possibly one of the best commentaries I have heard and really goes in to detail the effort that went into making the show.

March of the Dinosaurs is one of the most amazing features I have ever seen. I can't decide whether to call it a great Film or an AMAZING TV show, either way I would not be surprised if when the awards ceremonies come along that this isn't the forerunner for many of the awards, particularly the technical ones. If you are a fan of dinosaurs then this will be perfect, but even if you are not this is a great story that everyone will enjoy.