Big Al

2000
8.1| 0h30m| en
Synopsis

145 million years ago an adolescent Allosaurus lay down to die in a dried up river bed. In 1991 scientists discovered his perfectly preserved body and nicknamed him Big Al. This is the story of this predatory dinosaur's life - how he grew from a tiny hatchling to the terror of the Jurassic plains, why his body was covered in so many wounds and how he ended up in the river bed. The second part tells the story of the extraordinary forensics, spectacular paleontological finds and intricate studies of Al's closest living relatives to unravel his intriguing life for the film.

Director

Producted By

BBC

AD
AD

Watch Free for 30 Days

All Prime Video Movies and TV Shows. Cancel anytime. Watch Now

Trailers & Clips

Reviews

Titreenp SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?
TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.
Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.
Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.
jurassicsean This was a staple of my childhood. I watched it just asmich as I did the Jurassic Park and Land Before Time films. It's not just nostalgia that's the reason I like this documentary so much, but it's just a good spinoff of Walking with Dinosaurs. It has the same style and structure as any episode of the original series would have, which is terrific. It feels like a slightly longer episode of the series, but makntains the feeling of being its own thing. Unlike the show, this follows only one specific animal throughout. While the show did this as well, it also mixed that in with presenting a lot of other creatures, which is fine, but I'm glad that this one doesn't stick to that formula. This is the Ballad of Big Al, and Big Al is the central focus throughout. The documentary also does a great job of making you feel simpathetic toward Big Al, which often does not happen since we like to depict carnivorous dinosaurs as ruthless killing machines, and not simpathetic animals. Once Big Al gets injured at the end, and dies just before the wet season returns, you really feel sad for this animal not able to make it long enough. Overall, this program is a very nice addition to the "Walking with" franchise. It's one of the programs that made me not only love dinosaurs, but made Allosaurus my personal favorite dinosaur.
tankace Big Al Ballad is basically an extra episode of the Walking with Dinosaurs mini-series and it focuses on the life time of an Allosaur named Al, the originality in the name just kills me!! Anyway it is a great time revisiting the Late Jurassic and seen in a sense from the point of view of a predator, how was this environment. I love this documentary , because it feels like a 30 short movie with dinosaurs as the main characters and the fact that they made Al just an animal ,which it was and we still rooted for him ,is a sign of how well-made is this episode. Keep in mind that this, about 30 minutes long episode, makes you feel emotions for a creature ,which is dead for about a hundred forty five million year and there are directors today who can not achieve that with trained humans for the job! In the end just add it in your dinosaur documentary collection and show it to your kids.
EugeneandSasha 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
Christian Baer (Gullytrotter) The Ballad of Big Al is really the follow-up that greatly increases the class of "Walking with Dinosaurs".Big Al MUST be seen in combination with the second part of the special (The Science of Big Al). This way you at last get an idea of what clues we have on Dinosaurs and how the clues have been put together to get an idea of how the Dinosaurs might have lived.Using the clues found within the skeleton of an Allosaurus (Big Al), the team has put together something like "This is your life", Big Al. Big Al is born, grows up, hunts and dies. Although the story is (of course) only speculation, it is very interesting and put together with a lot of love. Unlike the series (Walking with Dinosaurs), the Ballad of Big Al really tells the viewer that this is only an assumption of Big Al's life while also letting the viewer in on many of the key reasons for this assumption.All in all this is a great follow-up. It's just too bad that "Walking with Dinosaurs" didn't have more of Big Al and the qualities of the follow-up.