Awesome / Walking with Dinosaurs

Walking with Dinosaurs

• The ending of "New Blood", when a herd of Plateosaurus march in, scaring off the Coelophysis. Especially the music. And even more especially the narration. "This is the shape of things to come. The Age of the Dinosaurs has dawned."
• The march of the Diplodocus in the opening of "Time of the Titans".
  • The ending of that same episode. The music swells, we see a heard of colossal Diplodocus marching on, and the narrator tells us that "Life on Earth will never again get this big." Paleontology marched on in regards to that statement, but it's still an awesome moment.
• The Stegosaurus scaring the Allosaurus off with a threatening display, its plates flushing blood-red and its spiked tail swinging. Even though science has marched on for the plate-flushing, but it's so satisfying to see the stegosaur winning against a predator after decades of being depicted as being too slow to defend itself.
• The opening to Cruel Sea is probably the most memorable moment of the entire series, when Branagh narrates "The predator is laying in wait for its prey, waiting to strike," with a Eustreptospondylus peering into the ocean expectantly - when suddenly a giant Liopleurodon leaps out of the water, snatching the large theropod off the land for a tasty meal. The episode title card, "Cruel Sea", punctuates the moment.
• It ended badly, but you can't deny that the old male Ornithocheirus' journey in "Giant of the Skies" was pretty awesome; he's 40-years-old (which is bound to be ancient in pterosaur years), and yet he flew halfway across the world just because his sex drive was too much for him to ignore. And he beat death multiple times while doing it, given that he could have ended up getting eaten by a sea monster or mauled by raptors. Instead, he dies because the journey tired him out. Which, in a weird sort of way, makes it a Dying Moment of Awesome too.
• The Utahraptor hunt. It's a swift, brutal kill where two dromaeosaurs take down an Iguanodon.
• The proper introduction of the Tyrannosaurus rex. While the narrator has thoroughly explained how Earth is suffocating thanks to increased volcanic activity, it almost feels like it pales in comparison to the living, breathing monster that nature decided to put out as one last hurrah for the dinosaurs. The male Tyrannosaurus ominously appears climbing up over a hillside with scary music, and the narrator explains his kind specifically evolved to be a super predator for other megafauna.
  • Nature didn't leave the super predator unchecked either. We also meet Ankylosaurus, who is all but said to have evolved to keep Tyrannosaurus in check since it can very easily kill it.
• The Torosaurus fight ends with one pushing against its rival's horns so hard it breaks one of them clean off. The brow horns of ceratopsians were stout structures, and were further strengthened by keratin sheathes over the bony cores. To break one off would require some serious strength.
• The mother Tyrannosaurus does her best to try to fend off the Ankylosaurus who could potentially threaten her young. Despite being completely taken by surprise, she tries to scare him off, and the unwitting Ankylosaurus scores a nasty victory by slugging her in her side. All she can do is limp away in agony.
• Tear Jerker though it might be, the Apocalypse Wow at the end of "Death of a Dynasty" is magnificently executed. After a blinding light emanates from the fateful meteor crashing into Earth far away, the ground begins to shake and the massive cloud of the blast front sweeps in over the mountains. The T. rex chicks and their mother's corpse are swept away by the incredible wind as debris flies everywhere — then, finally, a rain of molten rock comes down as Kenneth Branagh proclaims: "This is the end of the Age of the Dinosaurs."
• The dinosaurs are revealed to have never gone extinct at all: birds are all around us today. The series ends with a montage of birds thriving in the present day.
  • Right after the end credits finish, we hear the roar of a Tyrannosaurus one last time.

The 2013 Movie

• Patchi saving Scowler (the dinosaur who picked on him everyday, kicked him out of the herd, and refused to call him his brother) from the Gorgosaurus. In fact, he and the herd work together to drive the predators back, and he even breaks Gorgon's arm with the hole in his frill and knock some teeth out. And the line he says shows how far he's come.
  Patchi: That was for my brother, that was for my dad, and THIS (headbutts Gorgon, knocking out some of his teeth in the process) that's so how you'll remember me!
  • Not to mention what triggered this moment. Shortly after Scowler was at his nastiest, Gorgon gives him exactly what he deserves. And to add insult to injury for Scowler, his herd abandons him and leaves him to die in Gorgon's jaws.
• Don't forget the fight between Patchi and Scowler. Of course Patchi lost, but it's still amazing how he refuses to back down from his bullying brother — and the cinematography in this scene is nothing short of gorgeous.
  • At one point, Patchi even starts to push Scowler around. It’s brief, but still impressive for a former runt.
• Alex gets one when he snaps Patchi out of his Heroic BSoD by telling him that he should live or die for something worth living for.
  Alex: Patchi, listen to me. Do not die in vain. If you want to die, die for something your father did. He died for you.
• Patchi leading the herd safely around the frozen lake.
  • Just how he did it deserves a mention as well. Once the ice starts cracking, Scowler shows his true colors as a selfish coward rather than a true leader and ditches most of his herd to get himself to safety. Without missing a beat, Patchi takes charge and helps the panicking herd members to dry land.
  • This becomes a build-up to the final battle later on. Scowler once again proves his cowardice by trying to flee from the Gorgosaurus, only to lag behind (since he was in front as leader) and therefore make himself vulnerable to Gorgon, so he is ready to die in vain. Patchi, with remembrance of both his father's sacrifice and Alex's words from earlier, takes charge and leads the herd into fighting back.
• Gorgon snatching the azhdarchid pterosaur out of the air.
• The fact that this movie is probably the first time when feathered dinosaurs had appeared on the big screen.

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