La tierra antes del tiempo VIII: La gran helada

The 'Land before time' series has its high points. Of course the 1988 progenitor is the best, with its earnestness and substance, but 1995's 'The time of Great Giving' again reached for meaningful themes and ideas, and 1998's 'The secret of Saurus Rock,' going the other way and leaning into its silliness, was genuinely clever and fun. Otherwise - well, it's not that the other direct-to-video sequels are bad, because they're not. They are consistent, however, and they are consistently somewhat so-so: enjoyable, but modestly so, with shortcomings as evident as their strengths, and writing and execution that are rather simplified and unsophisticated. These issues have been routinely reflected in the dialogue, characterizations, scene writing, plot, voice acting, songs, and to some degree even in the animation. Sitting for the eighth entry in the franchise, there was no reason to think that 'The Big Freeze' would be any different. Indeed, for better and for worse, this is part and parcel with its brethren, and its lasting value is a little soft.

The saga of Littlefoot and his friends continues, with mild humor adjoining mild adventure and mild drama, and life lessons will be imparted along the way. I think the animators refined their digital methods a bit following 'The stone of cold fire' as it shifted away from traditional hand-drawn art, and there's perhaps some more nuance in the visuals - including, unfailingly, beautiful, detailed backgrounds, and character designs and other active elements that more than not are pretty swell. Reliable as the voice cast has been in and of themselves, their performances are maybe more grounded, and not quite as wholly juvenile as those heard in prior sequels. Even as they're regularly ham-handed the songs are variable in their quality, with some a touch sharper than others. There's not much to say about John Loy's screenplay that hasn't been said previously, but suffice to say that the picture more closely recalls a Saturday morning cartoon, or at most a cartoon that might air in the afternoon as elementary schools let out, more than a full-length theatrical presentation.

What I will say is that 'The Big Freeze' boasts more admirable sincerity than most of its predecessors with the thoughts that it broaches, hitting upon some important notions for the intended audience of a tender age (and, let's face it, for too many so-called adults, too). Then, too, some of the humor is a tad more amusing than elsewhere. I honestly do like this, and it's fairly well-rounded. I think the key trouble this flick faces is that from top to bottom it lands all too gently, lacking the vitality to make a mark even at its best, or at the most tense moments. Through moods both happy, sad, and ostensibly urgent it's too even-keeled, and while as a result it's not as gauche as other examples, its strengths are also made to feel more shallow in the process. In the way that is true of other fare that is so light and passively appreciable, the sum total is still worth watching in one measure or another. Even among other 'Land before time' films, however, this is kind of middling, so unless you have a special impetus to watch, this is something to check out only on a passing whim.

There was a lot of potential and real care poured into the writing, but in this case Charles Grosvenor's direction molds the movie into a form that's sadly unexciting and dull. It's still decent enough to merit a view if you happen to come across it, but definitely don't go out of your way for 'The Big Freeze,' and temper your expectations.

Ah, I remember the good old days. 1988 it was, I was a little kid and had just been taken to see a great movie called Land Before Time. I really enjoyed it and wanted to see more of the cute talking dinos. Be careful what you wish for! Each sequel to the film has degenerated farther and farther from the original nice story into pure theatrical sludge. The characters have become increasingly more annoying, the plots are trite, the songs make you pray for the ice age and those are the series's GOOD points.

As for this latest cinematic suppository, I can't help but say, in all honesty, that I would rather be castrated with a rusty pizza cutter then sit through it again. Five minutes of Land Before Time VIII can turn your brain into cottage cheese. This is the worst case of sequelitus I have ever seen.

It's high time these dinosaurs became extinct!

The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze, the eight installment in the Land Before Time series. I can't believe how many more movies there are to this series, it's a bit crazy, I feel like I'm on a Lord of the Rings type journey. But still it has been a decent one, you know each time I go onto the home page of the new Land Before Time sequel, the rating is low and the reviews are all very bad, just saying how sick everyone is of this franchise. Personally though I've enjoyed it, each film as silly as it may be, has a very good message and I think is just a great family film. Something that both the kids and the adults can enjoy together. After all it may be cheesy, but look who this was made for, the kids. I like these stories, they're very cute and always teach something.

Littlefoot and his friends are being tutored by a dinosaur named Mr. Thicknose who claims that he's been there, done that, seen it all, heard it all, etc. When Littlefoot questions him, he gets angry and Grandpa tells Littlefoot that they all respect Mr. Thicknose and his "experiences". Ducky is also getting annoyed with Spike lately, she can't get any sleep because of him, but when Cera tells her to express herself, she takes it the wrong way and gets angry with Spike letting him clearly know on how angry she is with him. When the dinosaur families get trapped in a valley by an ice storm, one family of spike tail dinosaurs volunteers to leave since they consume more food than the others. Meanwhile, the young dinos and Mr. Thicknose, head out to bring back their friend Spike, who has left his friends to be with members of his own species. Spike also starts to miss Ducky, but they have bigger problems when the food is extremely scarce. But realizing that Mr. Thicknose may not exactly know all, Littlefoot and his friends are now facing this challenge head on facing the extreme cold weather.

The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze I think is a film definitely worth watching. I loved watching Ducky and Spike's relationship being renewed, that they can get annoyed with each other but still end up loving each other more than ever in the end. I also thought it was kind of funny with the story between Littlefoot and Mr. Thicknose, sensing that Mr. Thicknose was somewhat jealous of Littlefoot's curiosity and questions. This is a good sequel to the series, yeah, I agree that there are a lot of these movies, but each one has been good for different reasons. So I would recommend watching this one, so far all the sequels have been good, so I don't know what to expect in the next sequel, but I still have good hopes since this has been a great series to get into.

5/10

Unfortunately, this LBT has a spoilt, usually positive Ducky who is now grumpy and a storyline that is good for teaching but not very good for a LBT film.

Luckily, the plot is all right and the songs are good, especially "Family" and the learning songs. The animation is quite good as well, sort of in between LBT 7's animation and LBT 9's animation.

The new characters are entertaining. Mr. Thicknose is a wise threehorn (they are all dinosaurs) who likes to teach Littlefoot and his friends. While he talks to them again, Ducky is angry at Spike and Littlefoot is worried that he is seeming to upset Mr. Thicknose. The film continues on as a pretty good learning adventure and an adventure good for an animated film.

The best character in this who is one of the main five is Petrie.

Ah well. Enjoy "Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze".

I loved the Land Before Time (first one). I love Don Bluth movies in general. I would like to point out The first LBT was the ONLY one that Don had a hand in. You will notice that it is a new director every 3 or so movies after that. It is so sad that it has become the norm now to take something that was wonderful and heartfelt and turn it into a marketing scheme =(. I have only seen this sequel, and I don't plan on seeing any of the others, I prefer to leave my childhood memories of Littefoot, Petrie, Cera and the others intact. I miss animated movies that had imagination and an obvious amount of thought and effort put into them, most movies now a days are cranked out for the soul purpose of making money. So sad.