No bones about it, they're alive!

Brachiosaurus, at a whopping 35 feet tall, is just one of the species of dinosaurs that takes center stage at TD Banknorth Garden.

Forget about dusty skeletons and fossilized footprints.

"Walking With Dinosaurs - The Live Experience" offers life-size beasts with skin, sound, mobility and, best of all, attitude, in this dramatic representation of the Earth as it was 200 million to 65 million years ago.

An offshoot of the award-winning BBC documentary that aired on the Discovery Channel, "Walking With Dinosaurs" plays at the TD Banknorth Garden through Sunday. It features an onstage narrator and resident paleontologist who introduces dinosaurs from the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods. With the help of some creative set pieces that suggest the changing environments dinosaurs evolved through, an onstage paleontologist sets the scene for several mini-dramas - the hatching of baby dinosaurs, one of whom is promptly gobbled up by a Liliensternus; a battle for leadership of a herd of Torosauruses, choreographed like an elegant dance routine; and, of course, the appearance of a scene-stealing Tyrannosaurus Rex.

With a light show worthy of a Pink Floyd concert and sound effects that include the roars of the mighty beasts, "Walking With Dinosaurs" seems designed to appeal to adults as much as children. But the pacing of the production is strictly for kids. The first act is just 36 minutes and the second 40 minutes, including an extended flight by an Ornithocheirus in front of a projected background and lots of time for runway-like promenades around the stage.

When it comes to dinosaur expertise, my 10-year-old son is the ultimate go-to guy. And since most of the descriptive introductions are drowned out by James Brett's music, it helps to have a knowledgeable companion. The bits of Warner Brown's script I did catch were full of cliches and lame jokes ("a baby T-Rex weighed about 140 pounds, about the same as two supermodels.")

Although I was a bit put off by the low-slung camouflaged cars positioned between the dinos' legs, which allowed the animals to be ambulatory, my personal paleontologist patiently explained that the size and weight of the prehistoric creatures meant these computer-driven beasts needed the cars for support as well as mobility. Besides, he said, look at the details - eyes that blink realistically, necks that stretch out over the audience, skin that folds over and bends in response to a turn of the head or a swish of a tail. (Each dino requires three operators to make the movements appear realistic.)

The sheer size and detailed design of Sonny Tilder's 10 animatronic dinosaurs, ranging from the 35-foot tall Brachiosaurus to the outrageously armor-plated Anklyosaurus, are quite stunning. The other five, smaller dinos are controlled by performers in suits, a la Julie Taymor's stage version of "The Lion King." The beautiful attention to detail helps, since there are a few dead spots in the show, including a discussion of the importance of poop for the evolution of insects and flowers that even my son dismissed as unnecessary.

Although the kids closest to the stage were obviously thrilled to have the enormous beasts tower over them, the size of the dinosaurs means parents don't need to feel guilty about opting for the cheaper seats. When the Brachiosaurus cranes its neck up straight, it seems to reach up to the rafters, and that life-like feel is the most appealing aspect of this show.