THE PLOT THUS FAR
This special collection features four specials, each examining a different aspect of the Ice Age. It s a remarkable journey from the primitive man who inhabited the planet to a volcanic eruption and its devastating impact, to a fascinating look at a changing world and the cost of survival, to an exploration into the possibilities of another Ice Age.
We start with Clash of the Cavemen, which compares the Neanderthals with the Cro-Magnons and follows them through a bone-chilling Ice Age winter, ending with the extinction of one species. Next, Volcanic Winter goes back 75,000 years to trace the impact of a volcanic eruption how it may have pushed the planet into an ice age and how it could have brought humanity to the edge of extinction. Then, take a Journey to 10,000 BC for the real story of life on earth during that time to unravel the geologic mystery surrounding the first environmental crisis faced by man. And finally, Mega Freeze asks if an Ice Age could happen again and if, in fact, it may already be too late to prevent a global disaster.
WHAT WE THOUGHT
It has happened before, and it could happen again. What makes storms, earthquakes and other events into natural disasters is not how they occur, but where they strike. MEGA DISASTERS asks the what ifs? no one ever wants to face. A masterful blend of actual footage, computer graphics and interviews with leading scientists and public safety experts explores the outer limits of what could happen if everything went wrong. The “freak” weather of the last few decades–stronger hurricanes, more tornadoes, intense heat waves, to name a few–has signaled to scientists that the climate is changing rapidly and unpredictably. Events such as these were precursors to cataclysmic changes in the past. The great Mayan civilization was knocked out by drought in a few generations. The Little Ice Age battered Europe. Within a decade, freezing temperatures increased and incessant storms brought starvation, disease, and death to millions.
The later documentaries introduce a number of problems especially with how they recreate the Neanderthal look. Quite likely Neanderthals did look quite a bit different than modern man and it is difficult to achieve the same effect by using human doubles. Drawn pictures might come a lot closer but still we are left with the problem of hairiness and clothing–things we know nothing about. A non-tanned hide is virtually useless as clothing even if used as a throw-over or poncho. Therefore, Neanderthals may have known the complex technology of hide tanning–or–they must have gone naked. Nakedness in Ice-Age Europe would seem an impossibility but was it? Extant rhinos and elephants are largely ‘naked’ but Ice Age rhinos and mammoths were covered by thick layers of warming hair/fur.
The DVD comes with no special features. It’s a compilation of several History Channel Specials that aired regarding the Ice Age. So, you’re getting nearly five hours of footage stuffed into two discs. The A/V Quality is on par with broadcast quality, so you’ll get all of the audio in the front channels. In the end, I’d recommend a purchase.
RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW!
