Flying Monsters

Masterfully presented by the legendary Sir David Attenborough, Atlantic Productions have successfully recreated the time when dinosaurs walked the Earth and monsters ruled the skies in FLYING MONSTERS 3D that is now available on Blu-ray. Flying monsters focuses on the pterosaurs (flying lizards) and how the work do dedicated palaeontologists have pieced together the puzzle of how they moved from land to the skies.

This 45-minute documentary takes viewers back in-time, 220 million years to be precise where the first dinosaur took to the sky. Through expert interviews and beautifully recreated CGI, we soon learn that the first dinosaur to fly, the Dimorphodon may have had thin membrane attached to its arms and legs that enabled it to glide from tree to tree. From there, we move onto the Darwinopterus, the Tapejara and the powerful Quetzalcoatlus that had a wingspan of 40 feet and would have stood eye to eye with a giraffe.

It is believed that Quetzalcoatlus was the largest animal on Earth to ever fly researches believe that this giant creature could have flown 10,000 miles in one flight by gliding on the airstreams like a modern-day glider. What I did enjoy about this documentary is that it keeps the information at a basic level from the history of one of Britain's most famed palaeontologists, Mary Anning who was dubbed the princess of palaeontology to computer interactions with both Attenborough and the subjects that he is interviewing that makes Flying Monsters a true interactive experience, especially with the inclusion of 3D.

The documentary also goes into some detail of the successors of the pterosaurs who are birds and through evolution, they managed to evolve without the need to anchor their wings to their legs. In turn, this allowed birds greater freedom, especially when they were on the land which allowed them to walk and run which pterosaurs would have had great difficulty in this feat.

Video/Audio & Special Features

On Blu-ray, Flying Monsters literally jumps out of your TV, especially with the great use of 3D. Colours are vibrant, blacks are deep and there's some great depth included in this release. Audio is equally impressive, although a little underused with the Dolby Digital 5.1. For special features, there a fun Q&A with the legend himself, David Attenborough and a stills gallery. Both are interesting but both will probably be only watched once .

Final Thoughts?

Flying Monsters 3D is not only an informative documentary but a very enjoyable documentary that can be watched by children of all ages, whether 7 or 70. Attenborough truly enhances the presentation, especially with his interaction with some of the pterosaurs that almost makes it quite comical at times. Thankfully the information is kept at a minimum, although there is enough theories to give you a good snapshot. It's definitely a fun documentary that is not only well made but looks fantastic on  3D.