Before We Ruled the Earth

2003

Seasons & Episodes

  • 1
6.9| NR| en| More Info
Released: 09 February 2003 Ended
Producted By: Discovery Communications
Country: United Kingdom
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

Before We Ruled the Earth is a two-part documentary television miniseries that premiered on February 9, 2003 on the Discovery Channel. The program featured early human history and the challenges human beings faced thousands of years ago. It also features animals examples such as: ⁕Woolly mammoth ⁕Megantereon ⁕American buffalo ⁕Cave bear ⁕Irish elk The first episode was called "Hunt or Be Hunted" and the second called "Mastering the Beasts."

Genre

Documentary

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Director

Production Companies

Discovery Communications

Before We Ruled the Earth Videos and Images

Before We Ruled the Earth Audience Reviews

SmugKitZine Tied for the best movie I have ever seen
Lumsdal Good , But It Is Overrated By Some
Acensbart Excellent but underrated film
Married Baby Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?
joeysazo I just saw "Before We Ruled the Earth" on the Science channel (one of several Discovery channel spin-offs). I'm a bit surprised that there's only one brief review and 7 ratings for a Discovery channel documentary that's 4 years old. But I'm not that surprised since it's not as good as the more popular series "Walking with Cavemen". Before I address why, I'll briefly describe the documentary itself since there's very little info here on IMDb.This is a 2-part documentary totaling 2 hours. The first part, "Mastering the Beasts", depicts a few homo ergaster/erectus scenarios from ~1.7 million to ~500,000 years ago. Then it continues with neanderthals during the ice age ~50,000 years ago. The second part, "Hunt or Be Hunted", depicts several homo sapien scenarios during the ice age and prehistoric north America. (Imporant note: I got the episode titles from amazon. Each episode is its own DVD with zero bonus features. What a gyp since both could easily fit on one disc.) What I liked: The scenarios were based on specific archaeological finds that are briefly described at the end of each scenario. Some of this was new information for me (I've studied anthropology a good bit in the past year). The costumes and make-up were very well done, and the actors did a fine job. What I didn't like: The biggest weakness was the sometimes dull, boring storytelling. Some of the scenarios were mildly interesting, but I zoned out during others. The narration was often very dry. It wasn't nearly as engrossing as "Walking with Cavemen". (I think this is the main reason for the sparse feedback here and at amazon). Another weakness is that the extinct animals were animated with lousy CGI for a 2003 production. Bottom-line: I've watched "Walking with Cavemen" twice in the past year and I'll probably watch it again sometime in the near future. On the other hand, "Before we Ruled the earth" was worth watching once since I'm very interested in the subject matter, but I have no desire to watch it again.
contrary14 The show covers a long period of early man. It presents the daily existence of early humans via stories instead of `just the facts.' Good information, stuff your not going to find in a typical school book. My 8 yr old was interested from start to finish. Recommended viewing.