• click here to return to the homepage •
Home > Categories > Entertainment > Television > Primeval New Zealand review
Peter Elliot, one of New Zealand's best known actors and presenters, goes on a journey through time to unravel New Zealand's ancient past and for the first time reveals the surprising origins of our most iconic animals... be prepared to be shocked!
Primeval New Zealand is a spectacular celebration of the origins of life in New Zealand and a scandalous expose - as the shocking past of some of our best loved animals are revealed. Primeval New Zealand also sheds new light on the lesser known stars of our unique environment; the kaka, the New Zealand falcon, giant meat-eating snails, prehistoric giant weta, the rarely seen takahe, and unique & unusual penguins.
Using state of the art 3D modelling and computer graphics from Weta Productions, the legendary moa walks the forests again; we reveal the scale and terrifying attack of the extinct Haast's eagle and prototype an aquatic bird that predated penguins. Sophisticated high definition cameras enliven the magic of our natural world and a new Phantom ultra-high-speed camera shows animal action in super slow motion - a rare insight into the mechanics of flight and movement.
As seen on TVOne.
Wild South - vol 1
Wild South - vol 2
Wild South - vol 3
National Geographic : Asteroids - Deadly Impact
A for Andromeda anthology
The Sound of Music
The Great Wall of China
Star Trek: Deep Space 9 - Season 6
Father Brown
The X-Files: Season Three
How I Met Your Mother: Season Six
Billy T Jams 2018
The Twilight Zone: Season One (2019)Product reviews...
Members are welcome to post a review. You will need to log in to post yours.
Review by: crackerjack (Steve)
Dated: 27th of March, 2012
A LOT shorter than I hoped, this entire show is a mere 44 minutes in length. Total. With all of the resources available and the many, many aborted hints that lead to much more information, I was hoping this would have been a mini-series at the very least. In all honesty, I think this could very easily have been filled out to a well-documented, informative series of 4-6 episodes, each one this length; land birds, sea birds, insects and invertebrates, mammals, and maybe one more on the changed the "immigrants" underwent to adapt and make them true Aotearoans.
However, if there was a budget limit, of some form of time constraint imposed on the show, rather than simply a lack of suitable reference and resource material, then this was a good effort. It raised a lot of questions, and thoughtfully provided most of the answers. I made sure many of the younger whanau watched this with me and they were soon buzzing with questions about some of the "loose ends" brought up. It was quite funny to hear them rage about the unfairness of some of the revelations but that is the way of the young - don't accept what you can complain loudly about instead. 
The presenter is probably going to be most recognisable from all the TV adverts warning us to be prepared when the next natural disaster strikes. In this show he does a good job of presenting us the information with a good mix of anticipation, humour and tongue-in-cheek seriousness. The quips and little digs at our national pride won't go down well with some people, but real Kiwis can take a dig and just keep grinning anyway.
All in all, I found this to be a delightful, if somewhat shorter than ideal, show and something I would like to see expanded in the future sometime.
Random listing from 'Entertainment'...
Utilising special macroscopic photographic techniques, the filmmakers created this fascinating and visually spectacular look at the hidden worlds in the life cycle of an ordinary meadow in France.
Insects become gigantic beasts, blades of grass turn into towering monuments, and raindrops form puddles that resemble vast oceans. The filmmakers find humour, drama, and beauty in the lives of these tiny flora and fauna as caterpillars transform themselves into butterflies, beetles struggle with their day's foraging, and snails reproduce their species.
This remastered version contains previously unseen extras.
All trademarks, images and copyrights on this site are owned by their respective companies.
KIWIreviews is an independent entity, part of the Knock Out News Group. This is a free public forum presenting user opinions on selected products, and as such the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the opinion of kiwireviews.nz and are protected under New Zealand law by the "Honest Opinion" clause of the Defamation Act of 1992. KIWIreviews accepts no liability for statements made on this site, on the premise that they have been submitted as the true and honest opinions of the individual posters. In most cases, prices and dates stated are approximate and should be considered as only guidelines.
"Consider the postage stamp: its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there."
Josh Billings (1818 - 1885)
