Customer Reviews

Monsterquest: Complete Season 1 (History Channel) (Steelbook Packaging)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you are one of those people who often wonders what might be roaming the woods behind your house, what might be lurking beneath the surface of the lake, or what made that bump in the night then I suggest watching one of these thirteen episodes before going to bed. This series is an overview of many of our local cryptozoological mysteries (Bigfoot, Champ, the Skunk Ape, etc). Several details set this series apart from many other such documentaries aired on television. First off, unlike National Geographic's "Is It Real?", this series doesn't try so hard to discredit the evidence. Also, unlike Sci Fi Channel's "Destination Truth", not all rumors and stories are accepted as fact. This series falls nicely in between, with a rational and scientific approach. Second, and more importantly, this series contains startalling new evidence that will make you gasp such as a digitally-enhanced close-up of the face of Roger Patterson's Bigfoot, recordings of sonic clicks coming from Lake Champalin (home of Champ), and the first ever video footage of a live giant squid!!
Each episode contains a computer-animated image of the creature based on eyewitness descriptions, dramatic reinactments of very recent sightings (some occuring in 2004), and equal voice time for believers and skeptics. Also in each episode, you get to follow a team of experts as they set out on their own expedition using old and new research methods to track the legendary beasts and uncover DNA evidence. Overall, I highly recomend this DVD for anyone who might be interested in the unknown, and I also believe those majoring in biology and zoology will get a kick out of it too. But mostly I recommend it to anyone who enjoys seeing the unusual.

"Monster Quest" is one of life's guilty pleasures. Each episode features high production values, good narration and a spooky story. The series clearly leans toward the "monsters are real!" side of the spectrum, but it presents the views of skeptics as well (albeit in a pretty perfunctory way).

Each hour creates an entertaining atmosphere of mystery, but the show is honest in reporting negative results. The camera traps that are set to take pictures of elusive beasts yield lovely shots of deer, horses, cows, cars and even eagles, but (so far, at least) never a Sasquatch, skunk ape, or dog man. DNA testing shows that the mutant monster dog is not a dire wolf--it's a big feral dog. The footprint of an elusive orang pendek (hypothesized to be a relict specimen of homo floresiensis) turns out to belong to a bear. And a clever experiment with high speed photography does a good job of refuting the theory that "rods" captured on ordinary video cameras are creatures from another dimension.

Whether you think of monsters as real or as folklore, this show will do nicely if you just want to sit back and enjoy a spooky, interesting story for an hour or so.

After being gone for nearly a year; I was finally able to see all of the programs episodes. Alot of them deal with the same equipment and the effectiveness is spotty, yet promising. At least someone is taking a professional and scientific approach to trying to find conclusive evidence of these mysterious creatures and happenstances. More or less the series is an updated version of an older TV series. If you're into the strange and spooky, this can help shed some more onfo on those subjects.

I have always enjoyed watching shows that dealt with cryptozoology and the unexlpained. I purchased two episodes of MonsterQuest season two on PSN (giant killer snakes and giant octopus) and found it enjoyable to watch with good production value. I bought the box set of MonsterQuest season 1&2 and I'm disappointed with season one. The show does a good job of using modern science to prove and/or disprove the "monster" of myth and stories. The show uses CG and reenactments to tell the stories of eye witnesses. Narration and the overall presentation of the shows were good, unfortunately most of the "monsters" from season one were uninteresting. Five of the episodes were about bigfoot from different continents. Two were about mutant dogs and black mountain lions which I didn't find interesting at all. Unlike in the '90s, shows like this are rare in today's TV programming. MonsterQuest season one showed potential but fell short of being entertaining due to the lack quality "monsters".

I don't have to write a long and elaborate review, plenty of people have already done so. I'll be brief: MonsterQuest is one of the most interesting T.V. show ever produced. If you are interested in Cryptozoology or the Paranormal then buy this DVD Set, you won't regret it. In my opinion this show is a must add to any DVD collection.

Episodes of Season 1:
1. America's Loch Ness Monster: An investigation of the plesiosaur-like lake monster nicknamed Champ that supposedly lurks in Lake Champlain, dubbed "America's Loch Ness Monster."
2. Sasquatch Attack: A look into bizarre attacks upon a remote hunting cabin in Northern Ontario by suspected Bigfoot and other reports of aggressive Sasquatch in the United States.
3. Giant Squid Found: A search off Mexico's Sea of Cortez for the capture and study of abnormally large Humbolt Squids.
4. Birdzilla: A look at the legendary Thunderbird and a review of sightings of other giant birds in Illinois, Texas, and Alaska.
5. Bigfoot: The continued investigations of Bigfoot in Washington State and a digital enhancement study of the infamous 1967 Patterson-Gimlin film.
6. Mutant Canines: An investigation into reports of attacks on pets and livestock in Maine and Minnesota by strange hybrid canines.
7. Lions in the Backyard: A hunt for large black cats and jaguar-like creatures that eye-witnesses say are encroaching into human populated areas of Arizona, West Virginia, and New York.
8. Gigantic Killer Fish: The search for massive freshwater fish reported from the Arctic to the Amazon river.
9. Swamp Beast: A trek deep into the swamps of Louisiana and Florida in search of the legendary Skunk Ape.
10. Russia's Killer Apemen: The search to validate a bizarre story that former Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin had a plan to create ape-human hybrids.
11. Unidentified Flying Creatures: An investigation into the purported existence of extra-dimensional atmospheric creatures known as Rods.
12. The Real Hobbit: A look into Southeast Asian reports of "Hobbit-like" humanoids called Homo floresiensis and the humanoid-ape creature known as the Orang Pendek.
13. American Werewolf: A review of Wisconsin and Michigan sighting reports of a supposed werewolf-like creature also known as the "Beast of Bray Road" and the "Michigan Dogman."

I guess after reading the reviews I was expecting a lot more from this but I have to say it was somewhat of a disappointment. Not one of the shows in season one concluded with any proof of the creatures they spotlighted. The two episodes that held the most interest were "Giant Squid Found" and "Russia's Killer Apemen"; Those two at least had a viable amount of historical info that was indisputable. The shows are well paced and and the look is appealing but a bit more form over content.

This is one of the best of it's kind, I"m so happy that they released this show on dvd. And I'm very impressed that they did it so quickly.I love to watch all eposides.I can hardy wait each new week to see what the new show will be.Season 2 will be released on January 20th 09. Thank you so very much History Channel. Hope that there will be many more seasons.

I only got to see part of the very cool (sometimes rather frightening) Monsterquest series originally, so I can't wait to get the DVD set to view the rest of it! I'm betting A&E will have some interesting bonus features on this series, too.

I stumbled across this series on the History Channel and was hooked. The narrator has the perfect voice for this series, and (most of) the science involved is solid. The "witnesses" are of debatable believability, with some very quotable moments, but as long as you keep an open mind and don't expect conclusive evidence, the show will be entertaining. The case is metal and is very nice, until you try to get the DVDs out of their cradles. I don't know if this is just a problem with my set, but the discs were initially very hard to remove, and had to be almost bent in half to get them out the first few times.

this is great...hi quality production and great approach to tales of monsters people have been reporting for hundreds, even thousands of years...
like the paranormal? I highly recommend this video series!