Walking with Dinosaurs 3D Blu-ray Review

"Walking with Dinosaurs 3D" is presented on Blu-ray with a stunning 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 encode and maintains an aspect ratio of 2.39:1. The high-definition transfer delivers bright, bold, and vividly saturated colors, alongside exceptional detail in CGI. The film's natural settings and landscapes are impressively sharp, offering immaculate clarity and lifelike polish that enhances the viewing experience. The seamless blend of live-action footage with the animation provides superb depth of field, although a few minor stability issues are noticeable during landscape pans.

The computer-generated dinosaurs are meticulously detailed, with individually visible scale-like pores and bumps contributing to an impressive sense of realism. However, the natural environments frequently outshine the CGI elements, thanks to their crisp presentation and vibrant colors. Black levels remain varied and strong, ensuring nighttime and shaded scenes retain detail without noise, aliasing, or banding artifacts. The overall image is both sharp and precise, maintaining consistent contrast throughout.

Despite these few minor drawbacks, "Walking with Dinosaurs 3D" offers a visually engaging presentation. The encode showcases dynamic depth and scale, with several outdoor vistas delivering a grand three-dimensional feel. The filmmakers' meticulous attention to detail ensures an immersive experience, whether it is the lifelike textures of the dinosaurs or the realistic representation of their surrounding habitats. The combination of exceptional clarity, vibrant colors, and robust black levels makes this Blu-ray a visual treat for nature and dinosaur enthusiasts alike.

The audio presentation of "Walking with Dinosaurs 3D" released on Blu-ray includes an English DTS-HD MA 5.1 track that delivers a mixed bag of performance. From a technical standpoint, the lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix excels in replicating the film’s foley effects and musical score. Notably, sequences such as dino-on-dino battles and forest fires are impressive, showcasing superb immersion, surround activity, and effective low-frequency effects (LFE). The dialogue is consistently cleanly presented with respectable directional effects. However, the post-production voiceovers detract from the experience, rendering the dialogue incongruent with the rest of the finely detailed soundscape.

Despite its potential, the DTS-HD MA 5.1 track often underwhelms. The audio is disappointingly front- and side-heavy during many sections, offering limited rear speaker engagement, particularly during scenes with forested environments. Ambient elements such as buzzing bees and distant rumbles fail to create a fully immersive experience. It's only during significant on-screen events, such as stampedes and wildfire sequences, that the audio mix showcases its dynamic range and floor-shaking LFE. Unfortunately, much of the film's content does not leverage this potential, leading to an imbalanced auditory experience.

Technical details of the disc reveal multiple audio formats including DTS-HD MA 5.1 in English, Dolby Digital 5.1 in several languages, and DTS 5.1 in Russian. These formats offer varying degrees of fidelity and dynamic range. While the track does achieve moments of clarity and precision, particularly in foley and ambient sound reproduction, the overbearing voiceovers and suboptimal use of surround speakers significantly detract from an otherwise robust technical presentation.

The "Walking with Dinosaurs 3D" Blu-ray offers a suite of engaging extras that enhances the viewing experience and provides educational value, despite some repetitiveness in content. The Ultimate Dino Guide provides a robust introduction with dynamic menus that dive deeper into eleven specific dinosaur species, supplying both video content and extensive textual/audio information. The Match the Call game and Interactive Map are interactive elements designed for a more immersive educational experience, though they revisit previously mentioned species. The Dinosaur Trivia Track adds an additional layer of information through pop-up subtitles during the film. Finally, the brief Nickelodeon Orange Carpet Dino Rap and the standard Theatrical Trailer round out the offerings.

Extras included in this disc:

• Ultimate Dino Guide: Introduction with secondary menus on dinosaur species.
• Match the Call: Interactive game to match dinosaur sounds.
• Interactive Map: Clickable map of dinosaur territories and periods.
• Dinosaur Trivia Track: Subtitles with trivia for the film.
• Nickelodeon Orange Carpet Dino Rap: Benjamin Flores Jr.'s promotional rap.
• Theatrical Trailer: Preview of the film.
• Sneak Peeks: Trailers for other animated films.

Walking With Dinosaurs 3D offers a visual spectacle that merges stunning CGI dinosaurs with live-action backgrounds. The dinosaurs themselves are crafted with incredible detail and realism, making them nearly touchable. This impressive CGI is complemented by beautifully shot landscapes that convincingly recreate prehistoric Earth. However, the film's attempts to pair these visuals with a cohesive narrative fall flat. The decision to retrofit the film with voice-overs—by actors such as John Leguizamo and Justin Long—fails to enhance the story, instead coming across as an afterthought, disrupting the viewer's immersion.

The plot follows a young Pachyrhinosaurus named Patchi who is perpetually overshadowed by his brother Scowler. Through various trials, including migrations and encounters with other dinosaurs, Patchi's story mirrors typical underdog tales. There are awkward moments of gross-out humor and predictable turns—like the inevitable tragic death of the parents—that do little to engage older audiences. Additionally, the film frequently halts to freeze-frame and display dinosaur facts, which, while educational, severely disrupts any narrative momentum, harking back clumsily to its TV documentary roots.

What ultimately undermines Walking With Dinosaurs 3D is its inconsistent tone and execution. The voiceover dialogue feels juvenile and out of place, often conflicting with the naturalistic growls and noises of the dinosaurs. The lack of mouth movements when characters speak adds another jarring layer, reminiscent of cheesy 90s animal films. While aiming for educational value, the movie ends up as a muddled blend of family adventure clichés and disjointed storytelling techniques. Despite the high-quality visuals, the film struggles to captivate beyond a surface level, making it feel more suited to a children's museum exhibit rather than a full-fledged cinematic experience.

"Walking with Dinosaurs 3D" delivers a visually stunning experience that merits high praise for its exceptional blend of natural landscapes and high-quality CG dinosaurs. The film's technical attributes on Blu-ray are clearly a highlight, featuring outstanding video quality that enhances the immersive prehistoric world. The 3D edition includes a notable 'Cretaceous Cut' that allows the viewer to enjoy the film without the voiceovers, which significantly improves the storytelling experience by focusing on the visual narrative.

However, the theatrical version with added voice work detracts significantly from the overall experience, introducing a juvenile layer that feels out of place. The dialogue-heavy scenes seem aimed squarely at very young audiences, but even they might find the characters and storyline tedious over time. Special features on this Blu-ray release are mostly repetitive and add little value to the package, which could be a disappointment for those seeking in-depth extras.

In conclusion, had "Walking with Dinosaurs" been allowed to debut without the added voice work, it would have been a much more effective piece, as the Cretaceous Cut included on the 3D edition more than proves. What's here is visually spectacular, but the pasted-on story via the dialogue actually detracts from some relatively solid, if patently derivative, storytelling. The technical merits of this Blu-ray are top-notch, so fans of the film can purchase with confidence, and dinosaur aficionados with smaller children may want to check this out as well. Get the 3D edition in any case—the included Cretaceous Cut is a significant bonus, and the 3D version has included 2D versions anyway, so even if your home theater setup isn't 3D compatible, you'll be fine.