Documentaries about dinosaurs & prehistoric life
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- StarsNikolay DrozdovKenneth BranaghAvery BrooksDocumentary-style series about the era of the dinosaurs, mixing real locations and CGI.
- DirectorPierre de LespinoisStarsJohn GoodmanKaren ChinPhilip CurrieThe life of American dinosaurs is seen in amazing detail. The Feathered Dromeosaurs (Raptors) debut on this film along with the bizarre Therizinosaur. Each story is compelling and well-written. From a Coelophysis exploring the world around him to a teenage Tyrannosaurus learning from his mother how to hunt and even a love story between two Stegosaurus. This film also shows audiences real fossil finds and museum displays to show the researcher's work. This is educational, thrilling, and is a well-executed Discovery Channel response to BBC's ground-breaking "Walking with Dinosaurs" miniseries.
- StarsIan HolmWilliam HootkinsTeo Ao Tahara-ReeseThe first episode shows audiences the American Serengeti that was once North America, and the unearthing of a Clovis child who came from some of the earliest settlers of Montana. The people hunt Caribou and Mammoths as they hide from the Smilodon and run from Arctodus simus - the dreaded Short-Faced Bear. The second episode is set 65,000 years ago, Australia was a forested land of many green plants and megafauna such as Diprotodon. The continent also housed territorial large birds like genyornis and the menacing giant monitor lizard Magalania. The ancient Aborigine found their way to the shores of this strange land of giant Marsupials and Reptiles. The third and final episode is set in the 1200s, and we catch a glimpse of the Maori traveling to New Zealand after their hero Kupe first discovered this magnificent world of birds and flightless bats. They develop a taste for Giant Moa just as the amazing Haast's Eagle had a new taste for man. However, the fastest extinction process wiped the Moa out, and the Haast's Eagle would follow the bird. The episode continues to show how Hawaii and (to an even more horrifying extent) Easter Island suffered the same fate in the end of the episode.
- StarsNigel MarvenChristopher CookKaren HayleyAdventurous zoologist Nigel Marven embarks on an underwater expedition through time to explore the seven deadliest seas in Earth's history, coming face to face with strange and dangerous prehistoric sea monsters.
- StarsNigel MarvenThis two-part series, a sequel to Walking with Dinosaurs featured Nigel and his "team of fellow explorers" encountering prehistoric life over a large range of time, and seeing creatures not featured in the original series.
- CreatorKreg LauterbachGeorge BlasingStarsErik ThompsonGeorge BlasingThomas HoltzJurassic Fight Club depicts how prehistoric beasts hunted their prey, dissecting these battles and uncovering a predatory world far more calculated and complex than originally thought.
- DirectorDavid KrentzErik NelsonDavid E. DuncanStarsWerner HerzogLorànt DeutschA collection of vignettes presenting possible experiences in the lives of dinosaurs during various periods.
- StarsAlun ArmstrongWilliam Joseph Elk IIIBeth ShapiroA landmark series using drama and high-end CGI to explore the life and death of six extinct animals.
- StarsKenneth BranaghAvery BrooksThe first half of this special is a recreation of Al's life, from birth through his death in adolescence.
- StarsKenneth BranaghStockard ChanningLarry AgenbroadUsing the latest digital technology, the era between the dinosaurs and man is superbly recreated by the BBC and Discovery Channel in another winning production from the coalition.
- StarsKenneth BranaghEdward GeroThe final installment in the "Walking with" series is a 90-minute documentary about the evolution of life before the dinosaurs.
- StarsChristian SlaterScott SampsonBeau van Erven DorensA four-episode animated series charting the adventures of four dinosaurs - each on a different continent in the prehistoric world: a lone female Velociraptor in Asia; a young male Daspletosaurus in North America; a South American female Saltasaur; and a young adult Pyroraptor in Europe. Narrated by Christian Slater and hosted by paleontologist Scott Sampson.
- StarsRick RoblesThomas HoltzScott HartmanA documentary series following various prehistoric creatures, depicting their way of lives as well as their lust for survival.
- StarsSusan RaeRobert BakkerBen GazzaraPaleoWorld tracks the work of leading scientists as they solve baffling mysteries about the prehistoric era and bring our distant past vividly back to life.
- StarsJeff GoldblumSusan RaeRobert BakkerJeff Goldblum, the star of Jurassic Park (1993), narrates this five-part documentary about the dinosaurs of North and South America, Europe, Africa and Australia and Antarctica.
- DirectorMatthew ThompsonStarsStephen FrySimon KerrSet 70 million years ago in the Cretaceous period in North America, this animated documentation/drama follows the journey of a young Edmontosaurus named Scar and his herd as they migrate south for the winter. This film depicts recent findings about Dinosaurs, such as Tyrannosaurs with feathers.
- DirectorChris LentStarsLuis Alberto BorerroDavid BurneySarah CleavelandPaleontologists seek evidence to determine which of the three competing theories - kill, chill or ill - best account for the disappearance of all the large animals at the end of the last ice age.
- StarsRobert LeighMarcos AkiatenChip BolcikJourney back to the wild Ice Age, and witness how some of the most lethal prehistoric predators lived and why they disappeared forever from the Earth.
- StarsJ.V. MartinThomas HoltzAndrea LeanzaLong-extinct giant beasts and the strange world they once inhabited areresurrected through fossil evidence and other scientific data in this Discovery Channel program that reveals how these creatures once lived and flourished.
- DirectorMartin KempMeet Titanoboa: She's longer than a bus, eats crocodiles for breakfast and makes the anaconda look like a garter snake.
- StarsJohn HurtBased on the latest paleontological discoveries from all continents, veteran actor John Hurt narrates the gory, bleak stories of the brutal relationship between the ancient apex predators and their gigantic herbivorous prey.
- StarsDavid AttenboroughTravel back 66 million years to when majestic dinosaurs and extraordinary creatures roamed the lands, seas, and skies.
- StarsAlice RobertsDominic FrisbyAlun HubbardProfessor Alice Roberts journeys 40,000 years back in time on the trail of the great beasts of the ice age. This was the last time that giants like mammoths, woolly rhinos and sabre-toothed cats ruled our planet. Drawing on the latest scientific detective work and a dash of graphic wizardry, Alice brings the ice age giants back to life.
- StarsAvery BrooksBernard BuiguesDick MolAs archaeological research shows, Siberia was previously a territory with a mild climate. Various types of prehistoric animals lived here, the largest of which was a mammoth. Climate change contributed to the icing of the oasis for life, so furry giants are forever buried in the depths of permafrost.
- DirectorJean-Charles DeniauStarsLarry AgenbroadJeff BridgesBernard BuiguesA scientist wants to recover some mammoth DNA to clone a live mammoth. So he finds a buried mammoth in the vast, rock hard permafrost of Siberia, digs it out in the middle of a blizzard and flies it home. Of course he needed a little help. So he befriended an arctic nomad who knows ever rill, rock, pond and stream in the entire region. As background to the quest, National Geographic relates the migratory history of the mammoth family.
- DirectorOliver TwinchStarsJonathan BlochGareth DykeBrian FarrellBefore man ruled the world, Earth was a land of giants. Count down the biggest beasts of their kind to ever roam the planet in this eye-opening original special, and uncover the secret lives of these super-sized species. Birds with plane-length wingspans, dinosaurs rivaling a Boeing 737; this stunning CGI special goes in search of the truth behind these monsters, counting down the ten largest and most extraordinary finds. From handling the recently unearthed bones of a dinosaur far larger than previously known, to analysing the flight technique of a giant seven-metre bird -uncover the unique adaptations that allowed each animal to thrive. Visual stunts and surprising size comparisons bring each beast vividly back to life in ever-increasing sizes. Get ready for a dramatic countdown of the most mind-blowing lost giants.
- StarsLinda HuntJohn SlatteryBen CottonBefore We Ruled the Earth is an odyssey of evolution, from Homo ergaster in Africa at 1.7 million years ago, to Paleo-Indians living in North America at 11,000 years ago. Detailed recreations of hominid life over seven time periods, stunning wilderness locations, state of the art makeup effects and photo-realistic 3-D animated animals bring the past to life. Factual. Entertaining. Riveting. How did we problem solve to protect and provide for our families and ourselves? What are the technological innovations that helped to move us up the food chain? Early human's ability to adapt is what pushed them to the four corners of the earth and beyond, Before We Ruled The Earth.
- StarsBill OddieKen CarpenterPhillip ManningCGI, special effects and hi-tech scans are used to challenge everything you thought you knew about dinosaurs and their prehistoric world.
- DirectorCharlotte ScottStarsDavid AttenboroughBen GarrodDiego PolDavid Attenborough follows the remarkable story of the discovery of fossils in the Patagonia region of Argentina which prove to belong to the largest animal to ever walk the Earth.
- StarsRod ArthurSuzanne McNabbNigel MarvenNigel Marven travels back in time to rescue exotic creatures on the brink of extinction. CGI is used to create animals no longer seen on earth, from woolly mammoths, and T Rex, to dinosaur-eating crocodiles.
- StarsLaurent C. LucasCohen DayDarren NaishThis two-part British documentary on ITV tells the story of many of the dinosaurs that once roamed Great Britain, revealing how they hunted, what they ate and how they died from the evidence revealed from their bones. Presenter Ellie Harrison teams up with young paleontologist Dean Lomax in order to depict different species of dinosaurs set to the backdrop of modern Britain.
- DirectorReuben AaronsonJames McQuillanPierre de LespinoisStarsJack HornerStephen KembleJimmie WoodPaleontologist Jack Horner questions the assumption that Tyrannosaurus Rex was a predator. He thinks there is a reasonable chance it was a scavenger that had little ability to hunt or even run. He's out in the field looking for evidence to try to settle the debate.
- StarsJason HildebrandtRichard CoyleKen CarpenterDinosaurs were the ultimate prehistoric survival machines, ruling the earth for 120 Million years. Until now we've seen them as skeletons and robotic models. Dino Body takes a new look at dinosaurs -- from the inside out. Combining cinematic photo-real 3D graphics and leading-edge anatomy and paleontology, we peel back their skin, their muscles, even their brains to reveal the unique inner workings of the greatest beasts that ever lived. Hidden inside dino bodies are the anatomical secrets to surviving prehistoric Planet Earth for millions of years.
- StarsSalvatore VecchioKirk JohnsonMichael RampinoThis original CuriosityStream 3-part documentary series features stunning animations in Ultra HD 4K quality and sheds light on the kind of life that existed in the Permian, Triassic and Cretaceous periods beginning 250 million years ago.
- DirectorTodd Douglas MillerStarsStan AdelsteinLanice ArcherRobert BakkerA documentary about the discovery of the largest Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil ever found.
- DirectorMatthew DyasStarsDavid AttenboroughDouglas A. LawsonFamous naturalist David Attenborough explains the rise and fall of pterosaurs, mistakenly known as flying dinosaurs. He also flies a glider to show how big the Quetzalcoatlus, at the time the largest known pterosaur species, really was.
- DirectorDaniel M. SmithStarsDavid AttenboroughThis documentary narrated by David Attenborough was filmed at the Natural History Museum, London, and uses state of the art CGI imagery to bring to life several extinct animals in the museum, including Archaeoptery, the Moa Ratite bird (Dinornis) and Haast's eagle. The documentary was well-received, and won a TV BAFTA in the specialist factual category.
- StarsJosé Carlos RuizSergio de la RosaLuis EspinozaThe fossil life of Mexico are showcased.
- DirectorSean DashStarsSankar ChatterjeeMike EverhartJoe HannibalWhile presenting various lesser-known prehistoric giant creatures, various paleontologists explain how fossil analysis works and how they can deduce characteristics, behavior and look of these long extinct animals.
- DirectorDavid ClarkBayley SilleckStarsMichael DouglasSterling NesbittAlan H. TurnerThis program presents some of the more recent ideas about dinosaurs that are gaining acceptance while following paleontologists searching for fossils over the decades in the Gobi Desert and New Mexico.
- DirectorSean MacLeod PhillipsStarsLiev SchreiberJennifer AguilarMichael AshcraftBrings to life some of the most bizarre, ferocious and fascinating creatures to ever inhabit the ocean. Combines animation with recreations in a prehistoric adventure. A journey to the bottom of the ancient oceans dramatizes awe-inspiring creatures.
- DirectorRonan ChapalainPascal VuongStarsGuillaume DenaiffeNorbert FerrerChloe HollingsThe T-Rex of the Seas come alive.
- StarsGregory EricksonSam NeillPaul SerenoPaleontologist Paul Sereno and reptile expert Brady Barr are doing a research on "Sarcosuchus Imperator", a 40 feet long prehistoric relative of crocodiles. The story about the creature is presented through CGI animation as well.
- DirectorJenny KuboStarsSalvatore VecchioAdam BrittonErin FitzgeraldPaul Sereno visited the Sahara Desert looking for dinosaur fossils. But the Sahara was not always desert. Instead Paul found not one, but several species of gigantic crocodiles from the time of dinosaurs. As he studies their fossils he comes to realize that many of them were dinosaurs' worst nightmares.
- StarsDavid AttenboroughJustin MarshallJean-Bernard CaronDavid Attenborough goes back in time to investigate the origins of life.
- StarsPeter WardMichael CarrollCraig ChesnerThis documentary series explores the causes behind six major extinction events in Earth's history. It also speculates on the next such event.
- DirectorFranco di ChieraStarsCraig SechlerStephen WroeGavin PrideauxA team of scientific detectives from around the world attempt to crack one of science's most enduring mysteries - what killed Australia's megafauna?
- StarsAndré NelSébastien SteyerMichael EngelsWhere do insects, birds, and mammals come from? Thanks to new technologies and recent discoveries, scientists can now recreate the missing branches of the tree of life.
- DirectorNick GreenBen LawrieToby MacdonaldStarsAlice RobertsBen GarrodJoanna MorganInvestigates the greatest vanishing act in the history of our planet - the sudden disappearance of the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.
- DirectorRichard DaleTim GoodchildMark HedgecoeStarsBill MondyProposes a minute-by-minute chronology of the Chicxulub impact and its effect on the dinosaurs and other animals around the world.
- DirectorDave MonkKathy MonkStarsMike HendersonScott WilliamsRobert BakkerThis is the story of a mystery dinosaur called jane, who has baffled the greatest minds in paleontology from the moment she was unearthed.
- DirectorCharles C. StuartStarsMike McNallyRobert BakkerRodolfo CoriaRecent paleontological discoveries suggest that T-Rex might not have been the biggest predator of its time. Enter Giganotosaurus and Carcharodontosaurus.
- StarsRobert BakkerDavid BrinLuis ChiappeSome scientists challenge the meteor impact theory as the cause of the extinction of the dinosaurs. This program lays out the evidence and considers alternative explanations. The program also points out that many of the plant animal families that are in danger now survived the KT extinction suggesting the beginning of a new mass extinction. But even if we avoid a mass extinction changing climatic cycles will give humans trouble in 10,000 years when a new ice age cause glaciers to expand all over the Earth. Or, for North Americans, the Yellowstone super volcano is overdue to eruption.
- StarsPhillip ManningDino detective, Dr. Phil Manning, launches a full-scale investigation to unearth how dinosaurs really looked and lived. Jurassic CSI goes into the minds, under the skin and inside the bones of the biggest, most impressive beasts ever to walk the planet. In this six-part series, Dr. Manning doesn't stick to convention or even his own discipline on his perpetual quest to expand what we know about dinosaurs. With privileged access to some of the world's most sophisticated technologies, from crime scene 3D mapping technology to an image machine one million times stronger than a chest X-ray, Jurassic CSI challenges long held assumptions and poses radical questions about our understanding of dinosaurs.
- StarsBarbara FeldonRobert BakkerMartin RudwickDinosaurs are discovered by modern humans and studied to understand how they lived.
- DirectorMarc FafardStarsDonald SutherlandRodolfo CoriaIf it weren't for a series of cataclysmic events, a comet impact being first on the list, our planet could well still be the domain of dinosaurs. Following Pr Rodolfo Coria, a world-reknown Argentinian paleontologist, we visit sites of major discoveries he has contributed to in Patagonia and travel back in time to see these amazing beasts come to life in 3D. Patagonia has given us the largest living animal to ever walk the Earth: the titanesque plant-eating Argentinosaur, and its nemesis, the Giganotosaur, a bipedal carnivore that could easily challenge the famous T-Rex.
- DirectorJenny KuboStarsSalvatore VecchioMatthew CarranoJames M. ClarkA fossil mother lode in the Gobi Desert is providing a window into a critical period of the Jurassic period when dinosaurs gained the huge size but where few fossils have been found.
- DirectorJenny KuboStarsJack HornerPaul SerenoGregory EricksonAs dinosaurs grew into the behemoths of the Cretaceous period they evolved many extraordinary but apparently useless features including spikes, sails horns, crests and the tiny "arms" of tyrannosaurs. The program reviews these unusual features and discusses theories of why they exist.
- StarsDavid FlanneryJim GehlingJohn PatersonThis four part series describes the origins and diversification of life on earth with Australia as a microcosm. This episode describes the history of Earth from its initial formation through the Cambrian explosion using Australian geological formations as examples.
- StarsDavid ElliottJudy ElliottTim FlanneryUntil recently there were very few known dinosaur fossils in Australia. But there are highways full of footprints which along with the recently found skeletal fossils tell uniquely Australian stories of plants, mammals, dinosaurs and other creatures.
- StarsNeil Shubin
- DirectorDan LevittStarsJack HornerHarry PrichettScientists discuss the possibility of reverse-engineering the DNA of modern birds to recreate dinosaur species, instead of cloning fragments of dinosaur DNA extracted from amber and other ancient fossils.
- StarsChristian SlaterBen StillerDripping with kid friendly sarcasm, this series presents various animals from several periods that thrived during the age of dinosaurs and explains how they thrived, reproduced and co-existed.
- DirectorMichael JorgensenStarsRobert BakkerPeter L. LarsonMark ThompsonAfter uncovering the mummified and fossilized 'body of a dinosaur, scientists undertake a radiographic autopsy and make several astonishing discoveries including the creature's last meal and never-before-seen internal organs.
- DirectorSid BennettStarsPatrick DruckenmillerGregory EricksonSteve EtchesDeep in the Polar Arctic, the discovery has been made of a completely new species - a giant sea monster with the head of a T-Rex, a fifty-foot-long body the shape of a giant whale and huge flippers - making it the largest and fastest prehistoric sea creature ever to terrorize the oceans. Up until now the very existence of this creature during the Jurassic period has been completely unknown to science.
- DirectorJohn RubinStarsDino FreyMargo GerritsenKevin PadianRelive the age when dinosaurs roamed the earth, and monsters ruled the sky.
- DirectorAndrew PiddingtonStarsHenry Ian CusickPaul BrightwellMichelle BunyanOne man who kept asking questions was Gideon Mantell, the amateur paleontologist who, in the early 19th century, fought to get the British scientific establishment to accept Britain had been inhabited by dinosaurs. As this dramatised documentary shows, Mantell had an uphill battle in a time when the biblical account of creation was considered literal truth and authorities such as the Reverend William Buckland were determined that science remain "the handmaid of religion".
- DirectorTim WalkerStarsPaul BarrettRoger BensonAnthony D. CallDinosaur expert Dr Phil Currie goes on a quest to prove that Tyrannosaurs were more intelligent and far more dangerous than we ever imagined, and they hunted in deadly, killer packs.
- DirectorMichael DaviesStarsRobert BakkerAdam BlaugDonald F. Glut
- DirectorPhil TippettIn a dense forest, a monoceratops-type plant-eating dinosaur is stalked by a carnivorous Tyrannosaurus rex.
- StarsMichael CarrollGlen GouldRoy Chapman AndrewsMore than 80 million years ago, the Oviraptor, a strange bird-like dinosaur, walked the sandy banks of an oasis in what is now the "Gobi in Mongolia." A creature that measured some 8 feet in length, its razor-shard claws were deadly weapons of protection for guarding its offspring from constant danger. Now join a daring expedition of scientists as they uncover a treasure trove of fossils, shattering long-held myths about this dinosaur's behavior.
- DirectorPierre StineStarsElena BaranovaBernard BuiguesVictor GarberThe discovery of a rare, well-preserve, juvenile, woolly mammoth provides an unparalleled opportunity to learn about this extinct species. National Geographic rides along as the full battery of state-of-the-art analytical methods reveal its secrets.
- DirectorNik WansbroughStarsKelly StrzepekDinosaurs in the Outback features the often dramatic evidence which proves that Australia was once a place where dinosaurs roamed in vast numbers.
- DirectorSally ThomsonStarsDavid AttenboroughBenjamin MoonChris MooreSir David Attenborough investigates the discovery of a 200 million year old Ichthyosaur on the Jurassic Coast in southern England.
- StarsLee PaceA deep dive into the evolutionary history of whales, elephants, crocodiles and birds.
- DirectorJim NallyStarsPhilip GingerichHans ThewissenFred SpoorA documentary following the evolution of whales long ago to the ones we know today.
- DirectorHan Sang-HoStarsLee Hyung-sukGoo Ja-HyeongSin Yong-wooA lonely Tarbosaurus named Spekles grows up into a world surrounded by dangers and must fight the One-eye'd monster that once orphaned him.
- DirectorBryan BruceStarsJonathan BoothKen CarpenterJulia DayNew Zealander Joan Wiffen has brought the attention of science to the Te Hoe valley to find a treasure trove of fossils, including its first known dinosaurs.
- DirectorJim MilioStarsKenneth LacovaraMatthew McConaugheyA two-hour event special that chronicles the true-life re-discovery of a lost Egyptian dinosaur site.
- DirectorOliver BootleStarsAlice RobertsMichael J. BentonTom BuglerA new exhibit at the Los Angeles Natural History Museum will feature three T. Rex skeletons of various ages and sizes. Follow along as scientists tease out clues to how these animals probably looked and behaved despite an abundance of missing pieces.
- StarsWilliam TrujilloThe BBC team behind "Blue Planet" and "Walking with Dinosaurs" present a journey through the long-vanished corners of prehistoric North America. Computer animation brings to life mammoths, saber-toothed cats and more.