Clash of the Dinosaurs: Difference between revisions

The show received notoriety even before its TV debut, thanks to the heavy advertising campaign the TV station gave it. When it finally aired, it quickly gained a [[Hype Backlash|bad reputation]] due to the several serious problems that plagued it. Besides its criminal overuse of ([[Visual Effects of Awesome|admittedly pretty]]) [[Stock Footage]], ''Clash of the Dinosaurs'' infamously ''[[Quote Mine|quote]]-[[Documentary of Lies|mined]]'' paleontology expert Mathew Wedel who appeared on it, and presented wild theories as solid facts. Thanks to these shortcomings, the program is nowadays considered by dinosaur fanatics to be one of the worst [[Somewhere a Palaeontologist Is Crying|dino-documentaries]] of recent times, and the offended scientist actually [http://svpow.wordpress.com/2009/12/15/lies-damned-lies-and-clash-of-the-dinosaurs/ encouraged his fellow paleontologists to boycott the production company].

 

 

* [[Anachronism Stew]]: Easily avoided, since not that many animals appear, and the ones that do were contemporaries in [[Real Life]].

** Actually, the program implies that ''[[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|Deinonychus]]'' fed on juvenile [[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|tyrannosaurs]], while there was a 30-million year gap between the two.

* [[Crapsack World]]: The end of the Mesozoic.

* [[Curb Stomp Battle]]: To paraphrase one talking head, using his hands to represent dinosaurs:

(squishing motion) }}

* [[Documentary of Lies]]: To quote Thomas R. Holtz, Jr., a talking head on the show:

* [[Eats Babies]]: ''[[Stock Dinosaurs Non Dinosaurs|Quetzalcoatlus]]'' and ''[[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|Deinonychus]]''.

* [[Eye Scream]]: The ''[[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|Triceratops]]'' stabs the ''[[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|Tyrannosaurus]]'' in the eye.

* [[Feathered Fiend]]: ''[[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|Deinonychus]]''. And it's actually shown ''[[Shown Their Work|feathered]]''.

* [[Foregone Conclusion]]: The extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous {{spoiler|[[It Was His Sled|happens]]}}.

* [[Giant Flyer]]: ''[[Stock Dinosaurs Non Dinosaurs|Quetzalcoatlus]]''.

* [[Infant Immortality]]: Averted, as the ''[[Stock Dinosaurs Non Dinosaurs|Quetzalcoatlus]]'' preys on ''[[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|T. rex]]'' babies.

* [[Mexican Standoff]]: This is what the [[Narrator]] calls the situation the ''Saurornithoides'' and ''Charonosaurus'' find themselves in. The former is trying to steal the latter's egg.

* [[Misplaced Wildlife]]: The narration suggests that ''Tyrannosaurus'' lived in Asia, when it was strictly North American. To be fair, some include the Asian ''Tarbosaurus'' in the genus, but most (both then & now) consider them distinct.

* [[Outrun the Fireball]]: The dinosaurs attempt this. Emphasis on "attempt".

* [[Prehistoric Monster]]: Pretty much averted in the original miniseries, but played straight in ''The Last Day'', when food sources became scarce.

* [[Quote Mine]]: Poor, poor Mathew Wedel.

* [[Rule of Cool]]: [[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|Hadrosaurs]] using a sonic weapon against [[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|theropods]]? A pair of [[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|small raptors]] attacking a sub-adult [[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|sauropod]]? Do note, when the talking head<ref>The one who was quote-mined, at that!</ref> said "juvenile sauropod" and "pack of raptors", he meant tiny babies and a huge pack, but the animators instead used the largest animal that would still qualify as a "non-adult" specimen getting mauled by a pair of raptors.

** Don't forget ''Alamosaurus''! Yes, they reused the ''Sauroposeidon'' model, but who cares?

* [[Shown Their Work]]: Most of the talking head segments. (They ''did'' get actual paleontologists, after all.) The key word being [[Quote Mine|most]].

** Feathered [[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|deinonychosaurs]]. One would be surprised as to how rare they are in media.

* [[Somewhere a Palaeontologist Is Crying]]: More like palaeontologists are up in arms everywhere.

** To clarify that quote-mining part: the expert was trying to clear up the misconception that large dinosaurs had two brains (one in their head, one in their hip-region). The editors made it sound like he was confirming the notion.

** What more, he clearly said that [[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|sauropods]] most likely covered their eggs with vegetation. The CGI clip shows a sauropod leaving its eggs ''out in the open''. [[You Fail Biology Forever]] or [[They Just Didn't Care]]?

** Their [[Meaningful Name|duck-billed]] [[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|dinosaurs]] have fleshy lips.

** While the [[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|raptors]] were nice and feathered, they still weren't quite feathered ''enough''.

* [[Speculative Documentary]]: Maybe a bit too speculative.

* [[Stock Dinosaurs]]: ''Tyrannosaurus'', ''Triceratops'', ''Ankylosaurus'', ''Parasaurolophus'', ''Deinonychus'' and ''Quetzalcoatlus''. Sadly, along with the sauropod ''Sauroposeidon'', [[Small Taxonomy Pools|those are the only creatures in the doc]].

* [[Tyrannosaurus Rex]]

* [[Viewers Are Goldfish]]: To quote the quote-mined paleontologist:

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:American Series]]

[[Category:Discovery Channel]]