Product Description

In the parched Sahara desert, Dr. Paul Sereno uncovers the skull of a ten-ton giant SuperCroc, the size of a school bus and one of the largest crocs to have lived. Sereno joins forces with reptile expert Dr. Brady Barr for an around-the-globe adventure-packed quest to flesh out this ancient 40-foot croc. Computer animation takes viewers back in time to see how SuperCroc might have lived and battled for its food.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22834 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2002-03-19
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 90 minutes

Features

• In the parched Sahara desert, Dr. Paul Sereno uncovers the skull of a 10-ton giant SuperCroc, the size of a school bus and one of the largest crocs to have lived. Sereno joins forces with reptile expert Dr. Brady Barr for an around-the-globe adventure-packed quest to flesh out this ancient 40-foot croc. Computer animation takes viewers back in time to see how SuperCroc might have lived and battled

Amazon.com
Narrated by Sam Neill, National Geographic's SuperCroc is a crash course in all things crocodile. Although it's sure to appeal to those with an interest in prehistoric life, it's as much about the present as the past, since crocodilians still roam the earth and Sarcosuchus imperator wasn't much different--just a whole lot bigger (40 feet long). Paleontologist Paul Sereno would like to learn everything he can about the crocodile bones he has unearthed in the Sahara, so he and reptile expert Brady Barr travel the world in an attempt to re-create the life of the giant creature (animation also helps tell the story). The result is that Sereno is able to have a life-size model built. SuperCroc is a fascinating program that doesn't stint on details. Consequently, it isn't for the very young (6 or younger) as the footage of crocs chomping down on large mammals may prove disturbing. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Customer Reviews

Too close to Spoof for comfort
The first few minutes give the impression of this documentary being a spoof. If this were not a National Geographic documentary, I'd still believe it was.
Details about the Supercroc are amazing and its ability to eat dinosaurs fully believable. Sadly, there were too few details about the 40-foot long crocodile; instead, the viwer is given a documentary that seems to spend about 90% of its time in praise of the amazing abilities of the people involved in the fact-finding required to link the supercroc to today's remaining species of crocodile. All could have been covered by a few lines of commentary explaining that there was detailed research on the likely similarities of size (and predetory instincts) of present-day breeds of crocodile and the supercroc: however, that was not the case; so be it! But, to collect the required comparative data, the crocodile-hunting scenes seemed so lacking in safety for the people involved that I remain somewhat discomforted about why National Geographic endorsed such amateur displays (including one crocodile hunter stepping on the nose of a crocodile and looking very fortunate indeed not to have become a crocodile meal!).
Praise is certainly due to the amazing sculpting of what the supercroc would have looked like in comparison to mere human beings but, overall, too much time was spent on looking at the self-glorification of the presenters rather than the awesome glory of the supercroc.

Jurassic Park meets the Croc Hunter
Although the focus of this program is Sarcosuchus, the fossil "SuperCroc" of what is now the Sahara, it includes a great deal of information on contemporary crocodylians through "Croc-Hunteresque" segments in all sorts of interesting places. Particularly striking are a night croc "hunt" in Costa Rica, and Adam Britton's unique method of inserting and removing sensors into and out of a Saltwater Croc's stomach (by hand - you won't believe it 'til you see it).

Recovering the animal's fossilized skull is covered at some length and in such a way as to convey the tension inherent in recovering such a heavy, cumbersome, delicate, and valuable chunk of rock without destroying it or hurting yourself. Paleontologist wannabes, take notes.

The now-familiar method of bringing extinct animals to life through computer animation is used, but it would have been nice if there had been somewhat more footage of this sort and it could have been more lifelike; say, something more like that in "Walking With Dinosaurs." Also, other giant crocodilians such as Deinosuchus and Purussaurus were never discussed. This is understandable, since it was about Sarcosuchus after all, but I, at least, would have welcomed some comparison.

Quibbles aside, it was well done and my kids and I still think it's a blast, even after watching it a half-dozen or so times. Now, if the traveling display would just come to Omaha. . . .

It Didn't Walk With The Dinosaurs, It Ate Them!
Anyone who likes cool, huge prehistoric animals ought to check this video out. It follows scientists as they travel the world observing and measuring living crocodiles in order to reconstruct the body that would belong to a five-foot croc skull they found it the desert, and it's a cool adventure all the way. Danger for the sake of science; who could ask for more?