This special contains all of the things that made Walking with Dinosaurs so revolutionary: it's brilliant storytelling, poetic narration, exhilarating and gorgeous soundtrack, great atmosphere, exemplary animation, and amazing authentic documentary-making. As such, Ballad of Big Al is also a masterpiece, and since this was made a year later and production probably lasted longer on this special then it did for each individual episode of WWD, it looks even more polished when it comes to the visuals, having better animatronics and an improved Allosaurus model from the original series, one that not only looks more aesthetically pleasing (not that the one from the original series looked bad though) but more scientifically accurate (it's almost as if they come hand in hand...). It's easily one of the best depiction of Allosaurus in any media, and is probably one of the best reconstructions of an animal in the entire Walking with Series.
The special tells the story of the life of an individual Allosaurus known from a very complete specimen nicknamed "Big Al". We see his entire life from when he first hatched to his unfortunate young death. A standout scene is the Battle of the Salt Plains in which the Allosaurus gang up to isolate a weak and sick Diplodocus from its herd. Everything from the magnificent camera work to the incredible soundtrack is awe-inspiring and masterful. From beginning to end, Ballad of Big Al is riveting, exciting, and actually makes you sympathize with it's main character, just like the best the Walking with Series has to offer, and this definitely is among them.
