History YMMV / PlanetDinosaur

* HillariousInHindsight

** The death of the ''Spinosaurus''.

* FairForItsDay: The portrayal of ''Spinosaurus'' comes across as very outdated by modern standards, with post-2014 discoveries revealing that ''Spinosaurus'' was an amphibious animal with [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinosaurus#/media/File:Spinosaurus_aegyptiacus_by_PaleoGeek.png short back legs and a paddle-shaped tail]] (essentially a cross between a crocodile and waterfowl). However, for its time, ''Planet Dinosaur''’s depiction of ''Spinosaurus'' was very up-to-date and innovative, completely ditching the sensationalized SavageSpinosaurs image that other documentaries either endorsed (like ''Series/MonstersResurrected'') or at least treated as a plausible notion (like National Geographic’s ''Bizarre Dinosaurs''), despite evidence to the contrary. ''Planet Dinosaur'', on the other hand, properly portrays the animal as a specialized piscivore that spent most of its time near bodies of water, preying on large fish (something that’s been a well-supported theory with the related ''Baryonyx'' since the 1980s). Its battle with the ''Carcharadontosaurus'' over a carcass further deconstructs the fraudulent “super predator” image, as the ''Spinosaurus'' only resorts to it out of desperation because of a drought, and while it does win, the wound the ''Carcharadontosaurus'' inflicts on it eventually kills it, a far cry from the nigh-invincible monster in other media.

** The extinction. We knew it was going to happen, but the way it was done was ''brutal''. Instead of showing the ''actual'' event, like most documentaries do, it depicts the aftermath, specifically, four months later on Hateg Island. The plants have died from lack of sunlight. Herbivores like ''Magyarosaurus'' have all starved to death. ''Hatzegopteryx'', once a feared and mighty predator, is [[AlasPoorVillain reduced to desperately scrounging for carrion]]. The ''Bradyceme'' is driven away by the massive pterosaurs everytime it tries to claim a carcass, and eventually only manages to get by on snatching up a tiny lizard. Through it all, the narrator somberly notes that none of these survivors will make it. Eventually their remaining food sources will run out and they will all die. And that's just on Hateg Island... at the same time, all of the above and more was happening ''on a global scale''.

** ''Onchopristis'', the sawfish-related fish that the ''Spinosaurus'' eats? It's ''26 feet/7.9 metres long'' (at least ''sensu lato''). Gives you a good sense of how big and terrifying ''Spinosaurus'' is...

* FairForItsDay: The portrayal of ''Spinosaurus'' comes across as very outdated by modern standards, with post-2014 discoveries revealing that ''Spinosaurus'' was an amphibious animal with [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinosaurus#/media/File:Spinosaurus_aegyptiacus_by_PaleoGeek.png short back legs and a paddle-shaped tail]] (essentially a cross between a crocodile and waterfowl). However, for its time, ''Planet Dinosaur''’s depiction of ''Spinosaurus'' was very up-to-date and innovative, completely ditching the sensationalized SavageSpinosaurs image that other documentaries either endorsed (like ''Series/MonstersResurrected'') or at least treated as a plausible notion (like National Geographic’s ''Bizarre Dinosaurs''), despite evidence to the contrary. ''Planet Dinosaur'', on the other hand, properly portrays the animal as a specialized piscivore that spent most of its time near bodies of water, preying on large fish (something that’s been a well-supported theory with the related ''Baryonyx'' since the 1980s). Its battle with the ''Carcharadontosaurus'' over a carcass further deconstructs the fraudulent “super predator” image, as the ''Spinosaurus'' only resorts to it out of desperation because of a drought, and while it does win, the wound the ''Carcharadontosaurus'' inflicts on it eventually kill it, a far cry from the nigh-invincible monster in other media.

* FairForItsDay: The portrayal of ''Spinosaurus'' comes across as very outdated by modern standards, with post-2014 discoveries revealing that ''Spinosaurus'' was an amphibious animal with [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinosaurus#/media/File:Spinosaurus_aegyptiacus_by_PaleoGeek.png short back legs and a paddle-shaped tail]] (essentially a cross between a crocodile and waterfowl). However, for its time, ''Planet Dinosaur''’s depiction of ''Spinosaurus'' was very up-to-date and innovative, completely ditching the sensationalized SavageSpinosaurs image that other documentaries either endorsed (like ''Series/MonstersResurrected'') or at least treated as a plausible notion (like National Geographic’s ''Bizarre Dinosaurs''), despite evidence to the contrary. ''Planet Dinosaur'', on the other hand, properly portrays the animal as a specialized piscivore that spent most of its time near bodies of water, preying on large fish (something that’s been a well-supported theory with the related ''Baryonyx'' since the ‘80s). Its battle with the ''Carcharadontosaurus'' over a carcass further deconstructs the fraudulent “super predator” image, as the ''Spinosaurus'' only resorts to it out of desperation because of a drought, and while it does win, the wound the ''Carcharadontosaurus'' inflicts on it eventually kill it, a far cry from the nigh-invincible monster in other media.

* FairForItsDay: The documentary's portrayal of Spinosaurus would be considered outdated by 2021 standards, with the 2014 discovery that portrays Spinosaurus as a more aquatic creature than what was shown in the documentary. However, ''Planet Dinosaur'' is notable in that it averts the SavageSpinosaurs of ''Film/JurassicParkIII'' and ''Series/MonstersResurrected'', both of which portray Spinosaurus as a bloodthirsty monster that easily outcompeted other large theropod dinosaurs. ''Planet Dinosaur'' conversely portrays Spinosaurus as a semi-aquatic dinosaur that mainly feeds off fish. Its battle with a Carcharadontosaurus over a carcass was mainly driven by desperation due to a drought, and while it does win, the wound the Carcharadontosaurus inflicted on it would eventually kill it, a far cry from the nigh-invincible monster in prior media.

* {{Narm}}: Seeing ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' cartoon where the word "thagomizer" comes from before seeing the show does undercut the drama a bit.

** The fish that the ''Spinosaurus'' eats? It's a ''26 foot long shark'' (at least ''sensu lato''). Gives you a good sense of how big and terrifying ''Spinosaurus'' is...

** The extinction. We knew it was going to happen, but the way it was done was ''brutal''. Instead of showing the ''actual'' event, like most documentaries do, it depicts the aftermath, specifically, four months later on Hateg Island. The plants have died from lack of sunlight. Herbivores like ''Magyarosaurus'' have all starved to death. ''Hatzegopteryx'', once a feared and mighty predator, is reduced to desperately scrounging for carrion. The ''Bradyceme'' is driven away by the massive pterosaurs everytime it tries to claim a carcass, and eventually only manages to get by on snatching up a tiny lizard. Through it all, the narrator somberly notes that none of these survivors will make it. Eventually their remaining food sources will run out and they will all die.

*** Interestingly, by far the most common complaint leveled against the program is that "the CGI sucks". Many people compare the effects unfavorably to those of ''WWD'', despite that the latter show used real-life backdrops, so it's only natural that it would have also looked more realistic. Again, the faulty animation and some bizarre directing choices (there was ''no need'' to {{Undercrank}} all those scenes or keep the camera shaking) has a lot to do with this, but the CGI animal models are better than WWD in many ways though. See ToughActToFollow above.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDAAbZonfOQ The Launch Trailer]] has this in spades. Not surprising, considering that the music used is by Music/TwoStepsFromHell.

* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Yeah, yeah, this is taken for granted most of the time, but it still applies pretty spectacularly to this show

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDAAbZonfOQ The Launch Trailer]] has this in spades. Not surprising, considering that the music used is by TwoStepsFromHell.

* ToughActToFollow: Oh, it hits this show hard. Many people just can't let go of ''Series/WalkingWithDinosaurs'', and criticize ''Planet Dinosaur'' for everything it does differently, both science-wise and graphics-wise. But they almost always ignore two very important things: ''PD'', [[SpeculativeDocumentary unlike its granddaddy]], actually [[ShownTheirWork explains stuff on-screen]], and the {{CGI}} in ''WWD'' [[SpecialEffectFailure really doesn't hold up that well]] upon closer inspection. The NostalgiaFilter lingers here. Being aired (albeit in the UK instead of the US, but the Internet nullifies that somewhat) just after ''Series/DinosaurRevolution'' (which had some very good CGI and some of the most accurate dinosaur restorations ever on TV) probably didn't help either, even though the styles of the two shows are actually very different.

* ToughActToFollow: Oh, it hits this show hard. Many people just can't let go of ''WalkingWithDinosaurs'', and criticize ''Planet Dinosaur'' for everything it does differently, both science-wise and graphics-wise. But they almost always ignore two very important things: ''PD'', [[SpeculativeDocumentary unlike its granddaddy]], actually [[ShownTheirWork explains stuff on-screen]], and the {{CGI}} in ''WWD'' [[SpecialEffectFailure really doesn't hold up that well]] upon closer inspection. The NostalgiaFilter lingers here. Being aired (albeit in the UK instead of the US, but the Internet nullifies that somewhat) just after ''Series/DinosaurRevolution'' (which had some very good CGI and some of the most accurate dinosaur restorations ever on TV) probably didn't help either, even though the styles of the two shows are actually very different.

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome:
** The ''Nothronychus'' easily defeating a gang of tyrannosaurs in "The Great Survivors".
** ''Gigantoraptor'' going PapaWolf on a group of predators that want to steal his eggs and managing to drive all of them away. He [[spoiler:still dies]], but it's still pretty impressive.
** ''Spinosaurus'' vs. ''Carcharodontosaurus''. The two largest flesh-eating dinosaurs going head to head with each other.
** ''Stegosaurus'' striking down ''Allosaurus'' with one hit from its thagomizer.
** ''Hatzegopteryx'', period. Its EstablishingCharacterMoment is descending on a herd of miniature sauropods, snapping one up and ''swallowing it alive'', all like nobody's business.

** ''Stegosaurus'' striking down ''Allosaurus'' with its thagomizer.

** Spinosaurus vs. Carcharodontosaurus. The two largest flesh-eating dinosaurs going head to head with each other.
** Hatzegopteryx, period. Its EstablishingCharacterMoment is descending on a herd of miniature sauropods, snapping one up and ''swallowing it alive'', all like nobody's business.

*** Interestingly, by far the most common complaint leveled against the program is that "the CGI sucks". Many people compare the effects unfavorably to those of ''WWD'', despite that the latter show used real-life backdrops, so it's only natural that it would have also looked more realistic. Again, the faulty animation and some bizarre directing choices (there was ''no need'' to {{Undercrank}} all those scenes or keep the camera shaking) has a lot to do with this, but the CGI animal models are better than WWD in many ways though. See ToughActToFollow above.

* ToughActToFollow: Oh, it hits this show hard. Many people just can't let go of ''WalkingWithDinosaurs'', and criticize ''Planet Dinosaur'' for everything it does differently, both science-wise and graphics-wise. But they almost always ignore two very important things: ''PD'', [[SpeculativeDocumentary unlike its]] [[DocumentaryOfLies granddaddy]], actually [[ShownTheirWork explains stuff on-screen]], and the {{CGI}} in ''WWD'' [[SpecialEffectFailure really doesn't hold up that well]] upon closer inspection. The NostalgiaFilter lingers here. Being aired (albeit in the UK instead of the US, but the Internet nullifies that somewhat) just after ''Series/DinosaurRevolution'' (which had some very good CGI and some of the most accurate dinosaur restorations ever on TV) probably didn't help either, even though the styles of the two shows are actually very different.