Purely Joyful Movie!

Let's be realistic.

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

"The Ballad of Big Al" is a 29-minute short film from 2000, so this one will soon have its 20th anniversary. It is an add-on for the television show "Walking with Dinosaurs" from one year earlier and Kenneth Branagh is once again the narrator, at least if you listen to the English version. The focus here is on the ill-fated life of a young allosaurus, so if you see the running time of under half an hour here, you may already guess correctly that it was cut short. Also with basically almost everything in here being fiction about the life of a dinosaur, I also would not really call it a documentary. The fact that they made a connection between a skeleton they found recently and a fictitious character is not enough to say it is a documentary. The name Big Al says it all already. This does not mean it's a weak or even bad film though. I mean 2 Emmy wins and a rating above 8 may be a bit on the exaggerated side, but it was an entertaining half hour with a nicely written fictitious plot. We also learn a bit about what life back then must have been like, so the film also delivers on an educational level. Overall, I give it a thumbs-up and it is certainly worth checking out, almost a must see if you got an above-average interest in dinosaurs.

This is without doubt one of the very best documentaries have ever seen. The Ballad of Big Al is a follow-up or extra episode for Walking With Dinosaurs. It describes the life of a particularly big Allosaurus, called Big Al, from the point where it hatches to it's death.The amazing CGI seen in Walking With Dinosaurs was even better in The Ballad of Big Al. This documentary is missing absolutely nothing. It has breath-taking scenes as well as suspenseful and terrifying moments. I found myself often at the edge of my seat.The story was well thought out and directed very nicely. The music and sound effects were top notch. Overall there are no real flaws in this documentary. There are absolutely no boring parts.If you have the slightest interest in dinosaurs this documentary will definitely greatly satisfy you.My Rating: 9.8/10

I have seen all 3 series of the "Walking with..." specials. They are all high quality and add more of a wild life nature show feel to it than they do a typical boring special on dinos.Some really cool shots are in this film. For example:When the baby Al and his siblings are feeding near a creek, we see them jumping up to try and catch dragonflies. One falls into the water. The scene is really cute. Yet also in on scene have a baby Al nip at the camera. This little touch makes this series so well done. Gets you out of the mind set of you are watching fake dinos and for a second makes you feel as though they are real.Watch all of the Walking With series if you can get the chance.A+

This sequel of sorts does the original series proud, with Kenneth Branagh as narrator. As with _Walking With Dinosaurs (1999) (TV)_, the dinos are mostly CGI, with the use of puppetry for close ups.The advancement of Tim Haines' skill is obvious, with freer moving cameras, highlighted by Al's Fifth Year, in which a pack of allosaurs break up a diplodicus herd to get at a sick member. It's truly exciting, with a rousing score by Ben Bartlett, and excellent motion camerawork. The discovery of Big Al, the "star" of the show, in 1999 couldn't have come at a better time, coinciding with the debut of _Walking With Dinosaurs (1999) (TV)_ in the U.K. - a follow-up was an obvious choice, especially since Allosaurs made their presence felt in the chapter "Time of the Titans" as well as "Spirits of the Ice Forest". This also gave viewers a chance to see more of Brachiosaurus, which only made a brief cameo in the original series, as well as some dinos not seen, like Apatosaurus. Later in 2001 will see the debut of Walking with Prehistoric Creatures, and with the high video and aural quality of the Allosaurus special, it's warmly welcomed.The DVD features an excellent documentary on the discovery of Big Al, and at a retail price of $19.99, getting both Allosaurus and the documentary is a real steal.