Line #5 Series/MonstersResurrected


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/monsters_resurrected.jpg]]
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3	''Monsters Resurrected'' (also known as ''Mega Beasts'') is a documentary that aired on the Creator/DiscoveryChannel from 2009 to 2010. The basic plot of each episode (there are six in total) involves a different [[PrehistoricMonster extinct predator]]. Each episode usually has the creature hunting its prey, fighting other creatures and eventually [[DownerEnding being driven to extinction]].
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5	!!This series contains examples of:
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7	* AlwaysABiggerFish: After killing a juvenile ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLife Paralititan]]'', the ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeDinosaurs Rugops]]'' is killed by a ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Spinosaurus]]''.
8	* AnachronismStew: Mostly averted but there are a few examples.
9	** ''Sarcosuchus'' lived during the late Aptian-early Albian (115-110 mya) and died out before the appearance of ''Spinosaurus'' and the rest of the cast from “Biggest Killer Dino”, who all lived during the Cenomanian (100-95 mya). Ironically, the former was a contemporary of the animals shown in “Great American Predator”, even if they lived on opposite sides of the Atlantic.
10	** ''Dinohyus'' is shown coexisting and being driven into extinction by a large-bodied species of ''Amphicyon'', shown as a slightly smaller ancestor of the massive A. ''ingens''. But the only ''Amphicyon'' species that coexisted with ''Dinohyus'' was the wolf-sized A. ''galushai'', and it’s instead likely that the extinction of ''Dinohyus'' led to it evolving into the much larger A. ''ingens'' a few million years later.
11	* AnimalJingoism: ''Spinosaurus'' and ''Carcharodontosaurus''. A much more realistic clash between the two appeared in the 2011 doc ''Series/PlanetDinosaur''.
12	* AnimalsNotToScale: ''Spinosaurus'' is type 1, making a light snack out of what the narration describes as a thirty-foot ''Rugops'', making the spinosaur comparable in size to Franchise/{{Godzilla}}. ''Xiphactinus'' and ''Cretoxyrhina'' are type 2. ''Elasmosaurus'' is type 1.
13	* ApeShallNeverKillApe: Subverted, quite a few species kill members of their own kind. The [[SeaMonster mosasaur]] is a good example of this.
14	* ArtisticLicenseBiology: Pretty much every scene involving the ''Elasmosaurus'', or long-necked plesiosaur. Basically, the neck of the one in the show is as flexible as a big snake, while the neck of the real creature was quite rigid.
15	* ArtisticLicensePaleontology: Let us count the ways:
16	** Naked raptors.
17	** Flexible-necked plesiosaurs.
18	** Wrong forelimb posture on all of the theropods.
19	** Chewing sauropods, and their nostrils are (wrongly) atop their heads.
20	** Abelisaurid hands proportioned like those of typical theropods. They should be absurdly tiny with clawless stumps for fingers. Compare [[http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/monsters-resurrected-biggest-killer-dino.html this]] (Skip to the 00:45 mark, you may have to sit through an advertisement) to [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/Rugops_BW.jpg this]].
21	** They say that ''Acrocanthosaurus'' was the first theropod in North America to feed on sauropods but apparently forgot about ''Allosaurus'', ''Torvosaurus'', ''Saurophaganax'', etc.
22	** Acro is shown to be able to leap which is highly unlikely for a 3-4 ton theropod.
23	** Referring to the "terminator pig" as ''Dinohyus'', although it had been renamed ''Daeodon'' years before.
24	*** The European version corrects this at least. As the paleontologists' commentary couldn't be changed, the {{narrator}} makes an effort to point out the correct name.
25	** The skull of the show's ''Spinosaurus'' is modeled on that of ''Baryonyx'', which didn't even belong to the same subfamily. Compare [[http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_etEZg8WDrtg/Sx6qWxb52qI/AAAAAAAAAhQ/YqsVMAdM-tw/s1600/disc_sucho_skull.png the show's model]] to [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/Spinosaurus_skull_steveoc.jpg the real deal]].
26	** The show only ever uses ''Baryonyx'' as a reference point for filling up the missing parts of ''Spinosaurus'', while making no mention of the Brazilian ''Irritator'' (who is closer to Spino phylogenetically) or ''Suchomimus'', who is closer to Spino in terms of age, size, and geography (both stem from the Sahara), while also being even more complete than ''Baryonyx''. The episode likewise acts as if Stromer’s lost holotype is the only specimen of ''Spinosaurus'' ever found, even though we had found a number of new specimens during the late '90s and 2000s (including skulls).
27	** And perhaps the most notorious example: Essentially, the ''Spinosaurus'' is portrayed as the ultimate predator of all time, able to effortlessly kill any other predator that lived in its time and region. In short, it is depicted devouring a ''Rugops'' with one bite, killing a ''Carcharodontosaurus'' by slashing it across the face with its claws and effortlessly tearing apart the giant crocodylomorph ''Sarcosuchus''. And that isn't all, its size is practically Franchise/{{Godzilla}}-portioned, as it is able to pick up a 30ft long ''Rugops'' in its mouth and the thing appears to be no bigger than its head. ''Spinosaurus'' didn't really grow larger than 50ft, meaning the one depicted in the episode would have been 300ft long or more.
28	* ArtisticLicenseSpace: To quote Website/TheOtherWiki:
29	-->"At the end of "T-Rex of the Deep", the narrator asks, 'But what if the comet [that wiped out the dinosaurs] had missed?' However, if the dinosaurs were wiped out by an extraterrestrial object, it would have been an asteroid, not a comet."
30	* BearsAreBadNews: And even worse with [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals bear-dogs]].
31	* BewareMyStingerTail: ''Sauropelta''.
32	* BigEater: The mosasaur. There's a reason it can dislocate its jaws.
33	* BloodierAndGorier: More so than your average documentary.
34	* DeathOfAChild: Several times. There's the terror bird eggs that get eaten by wolves, the young mosasaur that is killed by sharks, the juvenile ''Paralititan'' attacked by a ''Rugops'', the bear-dog pups that are killed by wild dogs and the ''Acrocanthosaurus'' eggs that are stolen by deinonychosaurs.
35	* DownerEnding: Kind of a given, since every creature eventually goes extinct
36	* EatsBabies: Many of the predators.
37	* FeatheredFiend:
38	** ''Titanis'', the terror bird.
39	** Also, ''Deinonychus'' (although here it's shown [[RaptorAttack featherless]]).
40	* FullBoarAction: ''Dinohyus'' ([[ScienceMarchesOn technically]] ''Daeodon''), the "terminator pig."
41	* {{Gorn}}: Almost to the point of NauseaFuel. This is a much BloodierAndGorier series than your average documentary. For the sake of RuleOfCool, perhaps?
42	* HistoricalBadassUpgrade: Yes, ''Spinosaurus'' was a truly fearsome creature. But it wasn't an unstoppable behemoth that ate 30-foot theropods as a light snack.
43	* TheHunterBecomesTheHunted: The mosasaur to the Ginsu shark and the ''Spinosaurus'' to ''Rugops'' (and vice versa).
44	* {{Kaiju}}: One notorious shot implies the ''Spinosaurus'' is at least 300 feet long.
45	* LandDownUnder: The home of ''Megalania'', a giant monitor lizard.
46	* MegaNeko: ''Smilodon'', the saber-toothed cat.
47	* NeverSmileAtACrocodile: ''Sarcosuchus'', but it serves mostly to get killed by the ''Spinosaurus''.
48	* NoisyNature: And HOW! Slash! Crunch! Stomp! It's as if the SFX guys put on their headsets and recorded themselves munching loudly on a full meal. Almost every movement of the beasts is synced to ground-stomping or flesh-tearing.
49	* OneHitKill: ''Spinosaurus'' against the ''Carcharodontosaurus''.
50	* [[OneSteveLimit One Mike Limit]]: Subverted. The mosasaur episode features three paleontologists named Mike.
51	* PrehistoricMonster: Several of the show's creatures are turned into this - it's in the show's title.
52	* ProductionForeshadowing: The movie theater in the ''Spinosaurus'' episode has a sign saying "Now Playing: [[Series/DinosaurRevolution Reign of the Dinosaurs]]".
53	* RaptorAttack: The completely scaly, naked ''Deinonychus''.
54	** It's also shown being a threat to ''Acrocanthosaurus'', despite the fact it was much, much smaller. The talking heads mention that it could have been a threat to ''Acrocanthosaurus'' ''eggs'' and ''hatchlings'', but it's shown scaring off a pretty good-sized young ''Acrocanthosaurus'' that is ''still'' far too big to be a hatchling. This is the exact same sort of misinterpretation that can be seen in ''Series/ClashOfTheDinosaurs''.
55	* RocksFallEveryoneDies: The Cretaceous extinction, which wipes out the mosasaur.
56	* RogerRabbitEffect: Each episode drops the main creature in a 21st century scenario for a scene.
57	* RuleOfCool: What the show operates on.
58	* SeaMonster: The [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles mosasaur]].
59	* SexyDiscretionShot: Subverted with the mosasaurs.
60	* ShoutOut: The show's ''Spinosaurus'' [[http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_etEZg8WDrtg/Sx6sc582zgI/AAAAAAAAAhg/1BvTUhsHKbU/s1600/disc_spino_marshall.png resembles]] a Todd Marshall illustration (seen in the linked picture with the show's model!).
61	* SpeculativeDocumentary
62	* StockFootage: Each 45-minute episode has about ten or fifteen minutes of CGI sprinkled throughout. However, there have been [[Series/ClashOfTheDinosaurs worse offenders]].
63	** Scenes from ''WesternAnimation/WhenDinosaursRoamedAmerica'' and ''Series/DinosaurPlanet'' are used throughout, and at least one scene from ''Series/WalkingWithBeasts'' appears.
64	%%* TalkingHeads
65	* ThreateningShark: ''Cretoxyrhina'', the Ginsu shark, eats mosasaurs.
66	* TheWorfEffect: It affects the ''Spinosaurus'' quite embarrassingly, given its portrayal as a badass.
67	** It also affects the ''Smilodon'', which only appears so the Terror Bird can steal its kill.
68	* WeaksauceWeakness: ''Spinosaurus''' sail is an extension of its vertebrae - if it tips over, it breaks its back and dies. Another ArtisticLicenseBiology for the documentary, as the spines would not have included the spinal cord. The bleeding caused by a multi-ton animal breaking several of its own bones would be a far greater problem than the one the documentary presented. In fact a broken spinosaurus spine was found, and it showed signs of healing, indicating that the animal survived whatever caused it to break.
69	* ZergRush: The ''Rugops'' pack on ''Spinosaurus''.
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Context Series / MonstersResurrected