Walking With Cavemen
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Movie Reviews of Walking With Cavemen
Movie Review: Caveman BBC
Summary: 5 Stars
The BBC have it right. No repeating and historic facts blended with excellent story telling. I Love this DVD.Movie Review: An Eye Opener
Summary: 4 Stars
I've read the negative comments on this installment of the "Walking With" series and can only partially agree with them. The production could have been better, but I think we have become spoiled by watching computer generated animals done extremely well and realistic. This version contains many human actors and thus the whole "feel" of the production is different.Also, not everything produced on Discovery is meant for children. There are still many, many adults who wish to learn about the past and appreciate a more academic presentation then would occur if a show such as this were aimed at a more younger audience. I guess it is taken for granted by a lot of the media that once one becomes an adult, all that matters are sports competitions and sitcoms. This series thus was extremely refreshing to watch.
That being said, I came away from watching "Cavemen" with a newfound respect for our ancestors. All too often they have been portrayed as comical dimwits, running around with clubs and dragging women by their hair. Now I realize this is actually very disrespectful and totally inappropriate. These very ancient ancestors managed to learn to survive some of the worst environmental conditions imaginable, grew more creative over time and with this creativity laid the foundations of modern civilization. As stated in the series, the discovery of fire not only chased away the denizens of the night, but also provided an opportunity for homo sapiens to learn to create,to reflect, become more emotional creatures and allow for the development of higher brain functions.
Neanderthals especially have had to bear the brunt of many a joke. Although their species did not survive, they can hardly be termed a failure. They too were resilient, developed the ability to exist during an Ice Age that we, even with all our modern conveniences, would be hard-pressed to endure. They lost the race in the final stretch, yet their accomplishments are deserving of further study and a more accurate (and respectful) portrayal.
It is no longer funny to see some dumpy looking, grunting renditions of distant homo sapiens. This vision of them is not only misleading, but extremely far from the truth. "Walking With Cavemen" made me realize that because of their temerity, strength and creative thinking, we can today enjoy a world whose origins rest with these long gone, but still amazing, ancient homo sapiens. A wonderful, and thoughtful, addition to the series.
Movie Review: A comparative review
Summary: 4 Stars
Before I begin this review, I must admit that I am obsessed with human evolution. However, my education on the subject is limited to the few documentary films and educational programs on the subject as well as a few short books. So my review is probably best read as a review of a leisure evolution lover.
That being said I found the documentary very fascinating and enjoyable. However, of all of the documentaries that I have seen on the subject, Walking with Cavemen would find itself a few spots below the top spot.
For anyone interested in the subject, I recommend "The making of Mankind" 7 volume documentary hosted by Richard Leaky. This documentary begins with our earliest 4 legged ancestors and works slowly and carefully through each adaptation along the way. Each volume is approx. 45 minutes and explores not only the major physical changes of each species, but also the important consequences of every stage. The series is much more in depth and pays careful attention to several aspects of human evolution.
The first 5 volumes work cronologically from australopithecus to homo sapien sapien. The 6th volume discusses the begginning of civilization and farming. Each volume is fascinating and could be watched individual of the others.
In the final volume, Leaky explores the idea that Humans are inherently violent and destined to destroy themselves. Leaky explores where this idea comes from and proposes a beautiful and humble counter argument that suggests that humans only thrived on earth because of their recognition of others.
Walking with cavemen is fun and interesting, and has the benefit of being much more recent and therefore probably more accurate, but Making of mankind is, in my feeble opinion, a much greater documentary. It could probably be found in most libraries.
Movie Review: Man's family tree - very well done
Summary: 4 Stars
Do you get homo erectus, afarensis, and all the other pre-modern humans/apes confused? Want to know how they all fit together, which derived from which, and which apes went on to become modern men and which died out? If so, then you should definite watch this documentary. The story starts in Africa several million years ago and follows the evolution of our pre-historic ancestors as they evolve from apes to men. The various groups of apes are played by actors, and we watch as they learn to interact (with their environment and each other) in progressively more complex manners, we learn the strengths and weakness of each group, and ultimately why some lived and some died. I admit that I didn't know much about this subject prior to watching this video, only a few of the buzzwords (Lucy, neanderthal, etc.), but I found this to be both enjoyable and informative. I was surprised to learn how many of our prehistoric ancestors didn't survive, their lines simply ending. One thing that was repeatedly stated was that climate change drove many of the physical and cultural changes in the various pre-human apes. Those who could adapt (and change) survived, those who didn't died, but climate change was the important driver for rapid change (i.e. evolution). The acting is quite good, as are the costumes. I think that the production team went to great lengths to differentiate the various types of pre-human apes so that the viewer can fairly easily follow the physical changes. Bottom line is that this is a great documentary - I only give it four stars because I don't know how many people will want to add it to their permanent collection. This documentary has definitely inspired me to learn more about prehistoric humans (that was probably the goal!). Very informative and highly recommended.Movie Review: Best DVD on this subject
Summary: 4 Stars
Having watched the tv debut of this series, then the purchased DVD I would have to complement the final product as a better effort, especially from the choice of narration. This topic is very difficult to do, especially with animation of human-like animals where we can be more critical than with dinosaurs. The story lines are a bit tedious but interesting. Still it is difficult to believe we can reconstruct the behavior of the apes and human predecents based on our current database. I still think the effort is worthy. The graphics are very well done, possible not appropriate for a young viewer. In one scene the "cavemen" kill a hooved animal and then degut and eat it. My wife sent our 7 year old out of the room on that one! Perhaps it is such realism that makes the Walking With series so well received. Overall a good effort and worthy purchase for such a difficult and challenging subject.