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paleoanthropology, genetics and evolution

Aardvarchaeology reviews "Journey to 10,000 BC"

Sun, 2008-07-06 12:15 -- John Hawks

Martin Rundqvist reviews the History Channel documentary, "Journey to 10,000 BC." The doc focuses on "Clovis-era North American archaeology and paleontology."

Overall, the film has very poor visuals. It looks cheap, it's repetitive and it conveys a lot of wordless errors. We get endless ugly machinima-level computer animation combined with bluescreened live actors who interact with beasties that aren't visible to them. There are many cloned copies of each digital being, with jerky movements that Harryhausen wouldn't have accepted 40 years ago.

The date is such an interesting one, as indicated by the (now) two film attempts. I'd really like to see someone do a good documentary or book about it. Rundqvist does write that the academics in the film do a good job. It's an exciting time for that subject, with new genetic and archaeological discoveries every few months.

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