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Walking with Cavemen
Producer:
Mark Hedgscoe
Series
Producer: Peter Georgi
Executive
Producer and Director: Richard Dale
Feature
length: 100 minutes
Extras:
On Location Featurettes, Post-Production Interviews, Storyboards & Animatics
With Picture-In-Picture Comparisons, Fact Files, Photo Gallery, Selections From
The Score, Trailers
Languages:
English Stereos
Subtitles:
English Captions
Packaging:
Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 24
Sound:
Stereo Sound
Year
of Television Broadcast: 2003/DVD Release: 2003
Home
Video Distributor: BBC Video
MPAA
Rating: Not Rated
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Having
finally made its American television debut on The Discovery Channel two weeks
ago, now the complete BBC version of the program “Walking With Cavemen” is
available on DVD in Region One North America. The basic differences are that the
BBC version is not edited to include scenes of Actor Alec Baldwin showing off
the various skull sizes of our ancestors between the narrated reenactments. In
fact Alec Baldwin is not present in this version at all. Instead we have a more
general nondescript narrator giving the viewer a step-by-step description of the
behavioral patterns of the very beings we see before us much as Kenneth Branagh
did for the acclaimed “Walking With Dinosaurs” miniseries. The other
noticeable difference is that the frames are not censored to hide the full
frontal nudity of the Actors and Actresses depicted midway through the program
as we watch how our first primate ancestors to stand on two legs slowly develop
a more human like appearance through millions of years of evolution. Please note
that the nudity is shown for authenticity and is not exploitive in nature. Like
“Walking With Dinosaurs” and “Walking With Prehistoric Beasts,” this
latest installment in the acclaimed BBC series utilizes state of the art makeup,
animatronics, and CGI to bring what our world might have been like millions of
years ago to life. For students of all ages and for those curious in particular
about anthropology and sociology, “Walking With Cavemen” is an excellent
educational tool made better on DVD and it is entertaining too.
Both
episodes are presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) aspect ratios with a
full if not somewhat loud English Stereo Soundtrack. The picture quality is very
good with no anomalies present at all. English Captions are encoded as an option
for both the two programs and the featurettes on the DVD as well.
The programs can be watched as one reel or separately too.
Extra
features include a series of short interview featurettes both on location and in
the studio with Series Producer Peter Georgi (2:25), the Movement Director
(7:09), a Physical Effects Supervisor (2:19), as well as two somewhat humorous
interviews with an Actress in makeup (2:45), and two Actresses dressed in full
makeup as a species known as “Boise” struggling to eat while carrying on a
civilized conversation at lunchtime (1:56) that reminded me a lot of the classic
Aardman animated short “Creature Comforts.”
There
are also some more Producer and Director Interviews (15:05), and an interview
with one of the Actors out of makeup (3:39), who played five different roles in
the series as well as an interview with Special Effects Director Tim Goodchild
(4:23). Then there is a 3-picture-in-picture examination of two sequences from
the film with the storyboards, animatics, and finished scene onscreen at the
same time. These two scenes entitled “The Kill” and “Mammoth Task” can
also be examined within separate storyboard and animatic motion galleries. The
multi-angle function of the DVD is not used. Instead the comparisons are merely
presented as separate animated galleries.
There
is also a gallery of production photos as well as 9 selections from the
series’ score included along with extensive onscreen text files detailing the
various species explored in the program. Bonus trailers for “BBC America” (:
33), “Walking With Prehistoric Beasts” (1:22), “Walking With Dinosaurs”
(1:32), and “Blue Planet” (: 45) wrap up the extra features included on this
DVD.
The
interactive menus feature full motion scene selections and all are easy to
navigate. “Walking With Cavemen” is available on DVD-Video now at retailers
on and offline from BBC Video.
©
Copyright 2003 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
Buy This DVD Now By Clicking On The Text Link Below!
Walking with Cavemen