Prehistoric Park

The latest descendent of BBC's famed Walking with Dinosaurs documentary series (the original debuted in 1999) features zoologist-paleontologist Nigel Marven in a fanciful thought-experiment that calls to mind Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park, with time-travel enabling the cheerful Marven to return to prehistoric realms in order to bring extinct giant reptiles, mammals, and insects (a blend of photo-realistic CGI and life-sized animatronics) to a 21st-century nature preserve, in some cases “rescuing” a species by trying to maintain a breeding population. Mixing education with entertainment, Prehistoric Park inserts speculative dramatizations of the creatures' behaviors (as far as can be determined), so that—for instance—a birdlike raptor lizard lays eggs like an ostrich, with a few “sacrifice” offerings (not meant to hatch) placed far from the main clutch in order to divert predators. In another instance, a maturing herbivorous triceratops duels aggressively with its own kind, inspiring a long-suffering zoo attendant to create a diversionary mechanical antagonist-target. As the six episodes progress, the menagerie grows larger and more complex, leading to an inevitable T.rex breakout (echoing 2003's Chased by Dinosaurs). Some younger viewers might be disturbed by the starvation deaths of a few saber-toothed tiger cubs, and blood is spilled in depicting the medical challenges a wounded primordial behemoth might present to modern-day vets. DVD extras include a “making-of” featurette, pop-up facts, and a photo gallery. Recommended. Aud: P. (C. Cassady)