Primeval New World: The Complete Series

Dinosaurs and other prehistoric beasts invade North America in the Syfy Channel's homegrown spin-off of the British man-versus-monster series Primeval. Set in Vancouver, Canada (which apparently is the North American locus of dinosaur time travel), the series stars Niall Matter as tech entrepreneur Evan Cross, who finances his own team to take on the invasion and send the creatures back to their era before the butterfly effect does any permanent damage in reality. The government, meanwhile, has its own department for tracking the “anomalies” (the name given to the rips in time), and their own agenda. Lacking the mad-scientist conspiracy and comic relief of the source material, Primeval New World was cancelled after a single season, with the two-part finale “The Sound of Thunder” (titled after the famous Ray Bradbury story) ending with a cliffhanger. While intermittently entertaining and featuring impressive CGI effects, the series offered nothing new or original, and failed to establish its own identity or earn a following. Compiling all 13 episodes originally aired in 2012–13, extras include behind-the-scenes featurettes. Not a necessary purchase. (S. Axmaker)