It took me longer than I wanted, but I finally binged Prehistoric Planet. There are few opportunities for quality dinosaur content between Jurassic movies, so I’ve been looking forward to it since it was first announced in 2019. Seasons 1 and 2 dropped in 2022 and 2023 respectively on Apple TV.
Prehistoric Planet is a speculative wildlife documentary covering the Mesozoic era, a time period dominated by dinosaurs and other large reptiles.The series takes viewers to different parts of the world, on land, air, and sea. Pterosaurs, mosasaurs, and dinosaurs rule the oceans and landmasses of the period. Each episode follows several animals on their journey from birth, to feeding, and oftentimes the many deaths that await.
The CGI is very well done, though some animals are more believable than others. Usually the ‘raptor’ dinosaurs look more realistic than tyrannosaurs for example. The landscapes look consistently real and beautiful. My personal favorite was the Triceratops focused episode overall. Though several episodes where they followed the juveniles, especially the sauropods, were very memorable.
David Attenborough narrates each episode with his iconic style and voice. Each episode is packed with the perils of the mesozoic. These can be natural perils from toxic gasses, to more direct perils involving carnivorous animals. The episodes covered a good variety of prehistoric life. Mating rituals, hunting, traveling, and of course, hiding. They were all about one hour long, which feels like a good spot for this kind of entertainment. Season 2 episodes all finished with a short educational segment, which I really enjoyed.
Prehistoric Planet follows the style of modern wildlife documentaries, but with a camera that puts you right in the middle of the action. The shot angles are wide open spaces, as if you were right there observing from the safety of a clear glass cage. Occasionally they use a night-vision camera to show footage, which brings an interesting perspective to visuals from such an ancient period.
I found myself only noticing the music when the little dinosaur hatchlings were facing some near-death dilemma, which wasn’t always because of tooth and claw. In that regard, I would certainly say it did its job. The sound effects department did its job as well. The dinosaurs made the appropriate sounds, which mirrors the feather situation. Where dinosaurs are concerned, feathers are for visuals what infrasound is for sounds. Another step I think entertainment needs to take in order to progress a more realistic image of dinosaurs as complex animals, and away from a child’s plaything. And speaking of sounds, the sound effects of dinosaurs running in snow just made me unreasonably happy. No complaints at all about the sound and audio in Prehistoric Planet.
There were two themes throughout the series, and those were birth and death. Life was a constant struggle, from the moment a dinosaur hatched. Many juveniles barely made it out of their eggs before the jaws of something big and nasty came chomping down around them. Predators struggled to run down food, or fight over carcasses. Herbivores struggle to eat in peace, or simply trying to navigate the landscape to find safety or a mate. Every moment of these creatures’ life was dedicated to staying alive just a little bit longer in order to bring in the next generation.
One of the great strengths of Prehistoric Planet is its choice of dinosaurs/animals. It provides the fan favorites like Tyrannosaurus Rex and Triceratops, but it also goes into the lesser knowns like Alamosaurus, troodon, Pachyrhinosaurus, and others I’d never even heard of. It also drops feathers on dinosaurs where feathers are appropriate, giving people their first good look at their existence on dinosaurs. I consider this a must going forward to take any dinosaur title, fact or fiction, seriously. Another highlight was the breadth of biomes, to include winter biomes where I admittedly had no idea dinosaurs existed. Snow and dinosaurs was something I’d never thought possible until recently. The variety and knowledge, although I suspect some of it is quite speculative, is definitely the show’s strength. This level of focus on the time of the dinosaurs is just not something any show or movie has done, ever.
The series leans very heavily on Mosasaurs and Pterosaurs. As a dinosaur elitist, I understand this is largely a me-problem. By the end of season 2 though, I was annoyed when they continued to appear. The same species of Mosasaur and Pterosaur were given multiple segments in multiple episodes, and then they got their own episodes as well. It was too much. Another issue I had was the repeated trope of threatening every hatchling that appeared on screen. Once you saw the process a few times, you could easily predict what would happen next. And they liked to repeat it, a lot. I understand nature is brutal, but there’s more to show about juvenile dinosaurs than watching them get snacked on. Let’s see some exploring, playing, or any of the many other activities they took part in. Felt like a lazy shot at hitting the viewer in the feels. Finally, sometimes the CGI was just a little off on some of the dinosaurs. I noticed it most on the Tyrannosaurus Rex, which was surprising. Something about the texture of the skin/scales against the landscape. It wasn’t an issue when feathers were involved.
I’d give seasons 1 and 2 of Prehistoric Planet a 4 out of 5. I subscribed to Apple TV just to watch it, and I would subscribe again for the next season. I appreciate that it’s aimed at an older crowd with all the rampant death and mating discussion, generally Hollywood keeps dinosaur themed content targeted at the youngsters. Any adult dinosaur lover knows the term “murder bird”, and Prehistoric Planet certainly demonstrates why that beloved moniker fits so well.
