Absolutely brilliant

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

The Land Before time is a personal favorite of mine. It has such a sad story, but still manages to put that spark of hope into our hearts even when times are rough. It is that kind of children's film which excels in teaching important life lessons without stating it by hammering it in. Like friendship is a matter of letting go of your pride once in a while. You can even read a subtle message about racism into Littlefoot and Cera's fights. And that is why I love it. It is simply a piece of art with a message and a story to tell. Dark and scary at times, yes, but it is alright to be afraid and sad, it is life. Yes, there are some real sadness and unnerving moments which you definitely feel deep inside, but that makes the reward of finding The Great Valley just the more rewarding. James Horner's musical score is just amazing, so atmospheric and haunting. Waaay better than those lighthearted song and dance musical numbers of the countless sequels to this masterpiece. Okay, I know most people hate all those unnecessary sequels and they are definitely sub-par to this work of art, but I honestly don't hate them, because most of them teach life lessons, too. I honestly did want to see Littlefoot and his friends' adventures in The great Valley, but maybe a TV-series would have sufficed. Honestly, I have seen more offensive sequels than the ones of The Land Before Time.

Before all the sequels where Littlefoot and his horde of miscellaneous dino friends face sillier and sillier threats with the status quo never changing, there was the original movie. And it was everything you could expect from director Don Bluth. It was dark, it was heartbreaking. It was beautifully animated, charming and endearing. It dealt with themes of loss and bigotry, as well as those of hope and endurance.The story is very basic. Some sort of cataclysm has befallen the land and all the dinosaurs are fleeing to find more fertile lands. Amongst this chaos Littlefoot, an apatosaurus, is born, but ends up losing his mother during a struggle as well as being separated from his herd. And now he has to follow his mother's dying advice in search of the Great Valley. And the rest is simply him and his friends facing various adventures and threats along the way.It's simplistic, but what makes the movie work are its characters and its atmosphere. The animation style is very dark and even somewhat realistic, especially when it comes to the so called sharpteeth, or tyrannosauruses if you prefer. It can be a scary movie for younger children, but luckily the main characters are all very friendly and have great personalities to distract us from the darker aspects.Objectively speaking I do think that this movie has just a bit too much fluff for it to be called unequivocally great, but it makes up for it in charm and style. Definitely a good film and well worth a watch.

Despite the commercial aspect of a kids dinosaur movie, there's welcome depth to "The Land Before Time"; five lost children dealing with hard knocks in an unforgiving climate. Surprisingly grim for this audience; most of the movie is set in a barren wasteland, and the journey to nourishment is a tremendous test of faith (while the movie slips in themes of friendship, the circle of life - "Lion King", pfft - and even racism). Not to mention loss, and the filmmakers are more than happy to pluck the heartstrings. I honestly didn't think this movie would be nearly as affecting as it was in the '80s. It holds up beautifully; good characterization, gorgeous animation, and genuine peril.Don Bluth had a gift, man.8/10

I know what people are going to say: you had to see it as a kid. And that's probably right because it found it too cutesy and mellifluent. The story is simple: little dino loses mother. Gets separated from grandparents. Must get to green valley trough desolate land with some sidekicks. Gets there. The end. After The Black Cauldron (my favorite Disney film as a kid, I loved the dark undertone) the director almost p*ssed his pants coz he thought this movie was going to be to dark for kids. They even got a psychologist to approve the death scene of the mother dino (I'm not kidding, look on Wikipedia). The landscape is a bit grim but the film isn't really. The Land Before Time spawned 13 (!) sequels which were allegedly so colorful and glee it made kids puke on their TV screens. So that means this one is probably the only one worth seeing...for your kids. They'll probably weep. Good for them. Get's them to learn the true meaning of death. That's what dino films are for innit