Allosaurus: A Walking with Dinosaurs Special (2000)

The first half of this special is a recreation of Al's life, from birth through his death in adolescence.

Writers:

Kate Bartlett, Michael Olmert

Stars:

Kenneth Branagh, Avery Brooks

Won 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 3 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Kenneth Branagh	...	Narrator (voice)
Avery Brooks	...	Narrator (US version) (voice)

Storyline

This new, extra chapter of Walking with Dinosaurs (1999) focuses on an allosaurus later discovered in 1999 affectionately called "Big Al", who died as a late adolescent/early adult of six years of age. Narrated by Kenneth Branagh, who also narrated the original series.

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Plot Keywords:

released in 2001 on usa | allosaurus | swamp | bite | planet earth | 

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Genres:

Documentary

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Details

Country:

UK

Release Date:

25 December 2000 (UK)

Also Known As:

Allosaurus: A Walking with Dinosaurs Special

Filming Locations:

Arizona, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

BBC Natural History Unit (NHU),BS Asahi,British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

29 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Apatosaurus is just a recycled animation model of Diplodocus, without back-spikes and with a different coloration. Since they were very closely related, the animators didn't need to build a completely new model for Apatosaurus. Similarly, the Othnielia and Dryosaurus are slightly tweaked and recolored variations of the original hypsilophodont model.

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Goofs

When the Allosaurus roars at the left-behind Diplodocus, the texture of the Allosaurus' armpit is behaving oddly: there's a dark line jumping around on it.

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Connections

Spun-off from Walking with Dinosaurs (1999)

User Reviews

Outstanding Documentary

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