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Masterfully presented by the legendary Sir David Attenborough,
Atlantic Productions have successfully recreated the time when dinosaurs
walked the Earth and monsters ruled the skies in FLYING MONSTERS 3D
which is now showing at IMAX. Flying monsters focuses on the
pterosaurs (flying lizards) and how the work done by dedicated
palaeontologists have pieced together the puzzle of how dinosaurs moved
from the land to the skies.
This 45-minute documentary takes viewers back in-time, 220 million years
to be precise where the first dinosaur took to the sky. Through expert
interviews, research and beautifully recreated CGI, we soon learn that
the first dinosaur to fly may have been the Dimorphodon. Thanks to a
thin membrane like wing attached to its arms and legs, this enabled it
to glide from tree to tree. From there, the documentary moves onto the
Darwinopterus, the Tapejara and the powerful Quetzalcoatlus that had a
wingspan of 40 feet and would have stood eye to eye with a giraffe.
It is also
believed that
Quetzalcoatlus was the largest animal on Earth to ever fly and
professionals believe that this giant creature could have flown 10,000
miles in one flight by gliding on the airstreams like a modern-day
glider. What I did enjoy about this documentary is that it keeps the
information at a basic level that is quite easy to understand. It is
also history lesson of the birth of palaeontology such as explaining the
history behind Britain's most famed palaeontologists, Mary Anning who
was dubbed the princess of palaeontology. I also enjoyed how the
computer images sometimes interacted with both Attenborough and his
interviewees which made Flying Monsters a true interactive experience,
especially with the inclusion of 3D.
The documentary even goes into some detail of the successors to the
pterosaurs, birds and that through evolution, they managed to evolve
without the need to anchor their wings to their legs. In turn, this
allowed birds greater freedom, especially when they were on the land
which allowed them to walk and run which pterosaurs would have had great
difficulty in this feat.
Final Thoughts?
Flying Monsters 3D
is not only an informative documentary but a very enjoyable one that can
be watched by children of all ages, whether 7 or 70. Attenborough truly
enhances the presentation, especially with his interaction with some of
the
pterosaurs that almost makes it quite comical at times. Thankfully the
information is kept at a minimum, although there is enough theories to
give you a good snapshot. It's definitely a fun documentary that is not
only well made but looks fantastic on 3D.
Recommended!
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