Walking with Cavemen

The BBC has enjoyed considerable success with its Walking with… programs, which combine impressive location photography with CGI to envision a prehistoric world in line with current scientific research. The first two installments, Walking with Dinosaurs (VL-5/00) and Walking with Prehistoric Beasts (VL-5/02), dealt with extinct forms of animal life; Walking with Cavemen focuses on man's ancestors, but the result is distinctly less compelling than before. Spanning more than three millennia in slightly under two hours, the program dramatizes contemporary theories of human evolution through a series of episodes illustrating the characteristics and imagined experiences of a succession of ape-man species, culminating in the emergence of homo sapiens. While the overall structure of the script is solidly grounded on the most recent fossil evidence and scientific study, the brief stories invented to “humanize” our various precursors are rather predictable. The makeup that converts actors into our ancient ancestors is good (though teachers should be forewarned that some anatomical details are clearly visible beneath it), as are the CGI effects, but these are employed more sparingly than in the earlier installments. But despite its technical proficiency and the numerous extras found on the DVD version--including extra location footage, interviews, storyboards, photos, and excerpts from the musical score--Walking with Cavemen remains a comparatively pedestrian affair. Optional. Aud: H, C, P. (F. Swietek)