by Patrice Downing, Contributing Writer
Let me start, right out the gate, by saying I am admittedly an ardent enthusiast of all things documentary and dinosaur. There is no world where I wasn’t going to be binging Season Two of Prehistoric Planet the day of its release, and honestly, probably again the next day, regardless of quality. I’ve watched everything, from the PBS American Experience: Dinosaur Wars, which covers the absolute bonkers true story of the Marsh/Cope paleontology rivalry of the 1800s, to more edutainment offerings, like the Dan Aykroyd-narrated Dino Hunt: Canada, and Jurassic Park-reminiscent Animal Planet docu-fiction Prehistoric Park with Nigel Marven. I’ve been known to revisit dinosaur/paleontology-centered episodes of series outside of a full rewatch (I could watch Murdoch Mysteries “Dinosaur Fever” and SeaQuest 2032 “Meltdown” anytime), have read The Bone Wars and Jurassic Park more than once, and two of my top five favorite movies of all time center around the great terrible lizards (Bringing Up Baby and, to nobody’s surprise, Jurassic Park). So in case you haven’t got the hint by now, I’m a bit of a dinosaur nut, but I try not to let that cloud my view on quality when exploring new content. If anything, I’m probably more critical of creations covering cretaceous critters due to the exhaustive amount I’ve consumed over the years. Even growing up, I read every fact-based book both the school and local libraries had, and a majority of the fiction as well, in my endeavor to become a paleontologist, but alas by the age of 12, the pragmatist in me was convinced all the really cool dinosaurs would be discovered by the time I grew up (Microraptor was a 2000 discovery… boy, was I wrong). Needless to say, I had some expectations going into a series hosted by none other than documentary icon, Sir David Attenborough. I was in no way disappointed!
Beginning with the trailers, it’s clear Prehistoric Planet is visually striking, and there are several reasons for this, starting with the most obvious: visual effects. The CGI in this series could rival any big budget Hollywood blockbuster. Not only do the dinosaurs depicted look accurate visually (to the extent an extinct creature can given the science available), but they walk, run, breath, eat, battle, and swim with movements that look natural to the point that, at times, I forgot I was watching non-living lizards. There are, however, few times (mostly group shots of migrating herds), that the gates of the sauropod (four legs, long necks and tails) species look a little too synchronized, or the markings match up a little too similarly to one another, that it gives them a manufactured appearance. But overall, this series did its homework. If I had to guess, the VFX artists likely used a combination of paleontological research and living species as reference to make the character movements convincingly lifelike. Most impressive are sequences involving theropods (clawed limbs, and three-toed feet) and other bipedal species like Majungasaurus (you thought T-rex arms were tiny), hard-headed Pachycephalosaurus, the flawlessly feathered Imperobator, and of course Velociraptors and Tyrannosaurus Rex. The detailing on their skin textures, changes in pupil dilation, ripples of musculature, and even the graining of their claws is impeccable. When combined with lifelike eye blinking, hip movements, tails sways, and breathing chest movements, it’s easy to forget you are not watching a living wildlife documentary. This ties in to the series’ next strength and foundation of all great documentaries: getting the audience to be emotionally invested in the subject matter.
Not since that tragic scene of the distressed Brachiosaurus braying, Owen and Claire helplessly watching as they sail away from Isla Nublar in an InGen freighter, have I felt compassion for a fictitious creature like I did watching Prehistoric Planet. I found myself on several occasions watching with anticipation, hoping the featured predator would fail in its attempt to capture prey, and then thinking to myself how crazy it was to feel that way, considering they’ve all been dead a couple million years. This series is so much more riveting than watching lions hunt gazelle, great white stalk sea lions, or orca chase penguins, and we mostly have the cinematography to thank for its role in capturing the tension of those moments.
While the featured prehistoric creations take center stage, the cinematic decisions to intermix sweeping wipe shots, closeups, shaky cam-like tracking, and even heat cam and night vision, ground the series in reality, mimicking similar Attenborough documentaries Blue Planet and Planet Earth.Drone footage, trail cams, and all the rest of the nature doc staples, intertwine with CGI recreations in a perfectly balanced blend of believable brilliance, punctuated perfectly with, of all things, a Hans Zimmer score.
The auditory experience of Prehistoric Planet is just as important as the visuals. Short of getting the man behind Jurassic Park’s iconic score, I cannot imagine there is another active composer that brings more grit and gravitas to a project than the legendary Zimmer. I was struck almost immediately by the power behind the score, coupled with the realism of the creature sounds. Everything from the sounds of feet stepping through beach sand and gravel between toes, to the more aggressive cries of battle and bodies crashing against each other, add to the immersion this series excels at creating.
The only aspect left to discuss is the delightfully diligent dive into dinosaurs at the end of each episode. Woven in between dialogue given by Attenborough are sequences of scientists of varying paleontological disciplines exploring newer discoveries in the mannerism and behaviors of featured species from that episode. They explore parenting, mating, and dominance, as well as physical traits we may not have fully understood until now. Adding the more scientific content at the end is really just the cherry on top of a cinematic sundae of prehistoric goodness. It gives the audience time to get invested in each topic through the visual storytelling, and positions them perfectly to be receptive to a science lesson, without wanting to skip to the next episode.
I could go on gushing about the merits of the second season of Prehistoric Planet all day! Seemingly, no corners were cut, and to quote a noted enthusiast of prehistoric history, it does truly seem AppleTV+ “spared no expense.” The care and detail that went into everything, from the research and storyboards, to the execution of visuals and sounds, comes together in spectacular fashion to form what will no doubt be the new gold standard in nature documentaries.
Score: 9/10
Prehistoric Planet is currently streaming on AppleTV+
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