Walking With Beasts

Ever wondered where sci-fi writers and filmmakers find the inspiration for the weird and wonderful creatures they create? After watching Walking With Dinosaurs, The Blue Planet and now Walking With Beasts, the source of their inspiration is becoming more obvious - right here on Earth.

Walking With Beasts is the latest BBC-produced documentary series relying heavily on modern film making techniques such as animatronics and CGI for its appeal, and follows on chronologically from where the critically acclaimed Walking With Dinosaurs left off some 65 million years ago. This period of our history is monumental in size, and so were the changes that took place. After the dinosaurs were wiped out came the birds, followed by the rise of mammals, right through to our recent history and the eventual domination of the most destructive species the world has ever known - man!

This complete series of six episodes (running for just under 30 minutes each), is a mini-series of horror, death, destruction, violence, adaptation and incredible change. It is never less than fascinating and beautifully created. Each episode features a different period within that 65 million years up until the last ice-age just 30,000 years ago, and follows a particular creature or family group as they attempt to survive, and hopefully thrive, in their various habitats. Along the way they encounter every imaginable horror from larger predators, earthquakes, poisonous gases seeping from the earth, dramatic climate changes, famine, drought, and the eventual evolution of man. This approach is particularly effective in keeping the viewer's interest (which was never going to be a problem), and makes the creatures even more real. Many of the creatures are given names or nicknames, and there are a few humorous instances of the beasts interacting with the 'cameraman', such as the flinging of mud and a shattered camera lens. This is an amusing touch.

The series is beautifully and eloquently narrated by Kenneth Branagh. His diction and pacing is impeccable, warm and informative. The accompanying music is a treat in itself, and has a world-music feel, which is highly appropriate, as the series moves around the prehistoric world in an attempt to include as many species as is possible. All the favourites are featured, such as the woolly mammoth and sabre tooth cats, and the creatures range from the small, cute and cuddly variety, to the large, ugly and ferocious type (who are usually trying to eat the small, cute and cuddly ones). There is much (CGI created) violence, but these were violent times, and it would seem that some things haven't changed, even after 65 million years.

Here then, is a brief summary of each of the six episodes.

A New Dawn: The time of the dinosaurs has passed, and 20 million years later, Earth is ruled by the birds. Large, carnivorous, flightless birds. The Eocene period, as it is known, is characterised by a warm climate and much rainforest. Mammals are plentiful, but small. Carnivores they may be, but they are themselves prey to the larger carnivores. This episode captures an eventful day in the life of a small mammal named leptictidium, and her brood.

Whale Killer: It is now the late Eocene period and much has changed. The world is covered more by water, and the ancestors of today’s whales rule the oceans. Basilosaurus in particular is a nasty not-so-little beasty, up to 18 metres long and weighing over 60 tonnes. This episode follows a pregnant basilosaurus as she attempts to find food at a time of great change. The poles are freezing, and as this affects the ocean currents and its food stocks, so does it affect those at the top of the food chain. Land carnivores have also evolved into some very effective killing machines. Not all mammals are now cute and cuddly.

Land of the Giants: 25 million years ago Earth was in the Oligocene period. We follow the journey of an indricothere mother and her newborn calf. Indricothere, like many mammals at this time, is huge. Unlike many others though, she is a herbivore, and while she is too large to be threatened, her calf is not. We are also introduced to a host of fanged beasties who are as ferocious as they are stupid. There is the ancestor of today’s sloth, who is nowhere near as docile, and enteledonts who are the distant relatives of today’s pigs. These large and fierce creatures are extremely savage and are afraid of nothing.

Next of Kin: A little over three million years ago, man’s earliest ancestors appeared, australopithecus, a small hairy ape-like creature with the ability to walk upright. Follow the trials of a small group as they attempt to find a patch of territory that they can claim as their own. Ravaged by malaria, and attacks from neighbouring groups, life is never simple. There are even more, larger carnivores than before, evolving into more effective killing machines with each age.

Sabre Tooth: South America, even one million years ago, was a fascinating place. Being cut off from the rest of the world for so long meant the creatures that lived there were quite unique. When the land bridge with North America formed, sabre tooth cats such as smilodon migrated to these lush new feeding grounds filled with creatures that would eventually become armadillos, ostriches and the like. This episode follows one particular smilodon named Broken Tooth and his pride. Ousted by two younger males, he all but disappears, but time and fate are on his side, and after one of the brothers is killed by one of the largest sloths that ever existed, Broken Tooth returns to fight it out with the remaining brother.

Mammoth Journey: Just 30,000 years ago, woolly mammoths roamed this planet. Earth was experiencing the last in a series of ice ages, and creatures such as the mammoth were amongst the best equipped to survive. Migrating mammoths are the focus of this episode, as they make their way across what is now the North Sea to their winter home. Other large mammals are present also, such as the woolly rhino and several deer-like species. Here too are even closer relatives to our good selves, the neanderthals and the more advanced cro-magnons - hunters, architects and eventual rulers of the planet.

There is a generous helping of extras on the second disc, which are both informative and educational. It's not just the kiddies who will learn something, either. With a combined time of over five hours, Walking With Beasts is great value, and is certain to get repeated viewing.

Walking With Beasts is so near perfect, there really isn't much to say. It is presented in the aspect ratio 1.78:1 and is 16:9 enhanced, as is the main menu. The main menu is prefaced by a not-so-friendly sabre tooth cat taking a swipe at the screen and is an indicator of what follows.

The image is very sharp and clear. The CGI beasts are great, and the animatronic close ups are also very detailed. Every hair and wrinkle can be seen clearly. The colours are particularly impressive with a wide palette used. Drawing on some very limited information from fossils, there has no doubt been some educated guesswork as far as determining such things as colours, textures and sounds. There are beautifully filmed environments and colour, detail and shadow are wonderful. There are no problems with colour bleeding or noise, and only one instance of aliasing (on a dead zebra of all things).

There is some grain when the 'night vision' camera is used, but I suspect this is intentional to give the impression of real night vision. The detail is still sharp, which is possibly a good thing, for it maintains the realism. There are no artefacts to report and a very clean transfer is the result. Subtitles are generally accurate, save for a few words removed for easier reading, and the layer change is not evident.

As mentioned, the only negative is that some of the quicker and more agile creatures look less real than the bigger and slower moving ones. This is in no way a criticism, and will not detract from the enjoyment of the series.

There is only one audio option, a Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo mix, and while a 5.1 mix would have created even more ambience, the 2.0 mix is sufficient. The range is wonderful, with low frequency sounds all rich and deep. The sound of big stupid creatures banging heads never sounded so good! The higher frequency sounds such as animal squeaks and screams of terror are clear and bright. The music is extremely good, but never interferes with the narration. If you use a Dolby Pro-logic decoder, then the redirected sounds will certainly fill up the room, and the narration will shift to the centre speaker, but you may notice a drop in volume and clarity.

Let’s work our way up to the good stuff. For those that enjoy such things, there is a Photo Gallery consisting of 46 stills from the show. Also in stills format are the Storyboards. With a combined time of 11:41, sections from all six episodes are covered, but sadly we are only presented with black and white sketches over Kenneth Branagh’s narration. This doesn’t allow for any comparison with the final visuals and therefore it's not as effective.

Beasts Fact Files is a look at most of the creatures featured in the series. Each beast is allocated its own page, and there is a wealth of information provided, from time period, to habitat, interesting facts, nearest living relative (if any) and a small picto-graph that shows a silhouetted comparison to a human. The text is a bit hard to read, but if you can change the video settings of your DVD player to 16:9 instead of letterbox, this feature is 16:9 enhanced and fills the screen, making it a little easier to read. Of course you’ll need to change the player back to letterbox after it, or all subsequent viewing will look tall and skinny.

Production Interviews is a series of answer only interviews with various production crew, animators and researchers who worked on Walking With Beasts. It is mildly informative and, at just over 20 minutes, is not too long. Most of the interviews are segmented as the interviewees answer unfilmed questions. Like every other feature, it is in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and is 16:9 enhanced.

There are two “Making of� features, both a fraction over 49 minutes long. Both are also in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio and are 16:9 enhanced. They are of great visual quality, and are separate and complete episodes in themselves. Both have complete introductions and credits just as the six half-hour episodes, and are again narrated by Kenneth Branagh. I assume that each will be shown on television at the completion of the series, but they may be on the DVD release only to encourage purchase. The first is Triumphs of the Beasts and unlike most “Making Of� features it is a polished product. This is not filled with unscripted, backstage type footage, but is a potted history of the rise of mammals, with excerpts from the series, interviews with numerous paleontologists and experts, as well as the crew charged with bringing the whole thing to life. Special mention must go to the fellow who is the world’s leading expert on mammalian movement through water, his name? - Dr Frank Fish.

The second “Making Of�, The Beasts Within, is similar to the first, but focuses on the rise of the primates in particular, and brings us up to date with their (our) current dominance of the earth. Scientists with funny names feature in this “Making of� as well – here, you will thrill to the intellectual musings of Dr Bob Brain. I kid you not.

There is every reason to go and buy this upon release, and no good reason not to. Not only is it fascinating viewing, well filmed, well presented, well narrated and in chronological order, it presents a whole new world of prehistoric beasts that most of us have not been exposed to. The fact they all walked (and swam and flew) on the same planet as us is almost staggering. It’s hard to believe these creatures lived in the same places we do, and with each year of further discovery, it gets more fascinating. It is also a none too subtle reminder that as brilliant as mankind is, and as well as we have survived incredible change, it’s still mother nature that is in charge. If we don’t wipe ourselves out beforehand, then there is every reason to expect that there are more extreme changes in store – one day...