One Million Years B.C.
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Movie Reviews of One Million Years B.C.
Movie Review: One Million Years B. C. DVD
Summary: 5 Stars
I was very satisfied with the quality of the movie.
Chuck
Movie Review: Superb Harryhausen effects, and the rest ain't bad either!
Summary: 4 Stars
Although Fox uses the famous picture of Raquel Welch in her fur bikini on the cover of this DVD, the reason most people will want to watch and this 1966 movie today is because of the dinosaur stop-motion effects by Ray Harryhausen. The film, a remake of a very clunky 1940 movie, "One Million B.C.," starring Victor Mature and Carol Landis, combined Harryhausen's terrific dinosaur effects with a caveman plot heavy with sexual titillation. The combination made the film a big worldwide hit (and without any dialogue in any intelligible language, it translated easily to other countries), but today the sex elements seem tame and often a bit silly. The dinosaurs still amaze; Harryhausen's effects have a sense of wonder to them that never ages. Even away from the animated effects sequences, the film still works remarkably well due to effective performances from the cast and the filmmakers' attempts to keep the story simple but serious (when possible)."One Million Years B.C." was the brainchild of Michael Carreras, son of James Carreras, the head of Hammer Film Productions in England. Hammer had made its name with its Technicolor gothic horror films, but Michael Carreras wanted the studio to stretch in different directions, and "One Million Years B.C." was one of his most successful experiments. He asked Harryhausen to provide the effects, and the effects man was loaned from his own production company, Morningside, to do the movie. This makes it one of the few films from the period that Harryhausen worked on where he was not one of the producers or involved in developing the project.
The movie was shot on the Canary Islands, a perfect setting for a prehistoric wilderness. In a fictional time where men and dinosaurs lived side-by-side (even six-year-olds know this is ridiculous), Tumak of the primitive Rock Tribe (John Richardson) is exiled from the tribe after a conflict with his brother. He travels through the wastelands until his finds the peaceful (and beautiful and blonde) Shell Tribe by the ocean. He romances the alluring Loana the Fair One (Raquel Welch, in the role that made her star), who eventually leaves with him when the Shell Tribe exiles him as well.
The story is quite simple, following our heroes across the wastes and encountering multiple deadly animals, ape men, plus getting involved in fights and tribal warfare and facing natural disasters like a volcano. There is no intelligible dialogue, only a simplistic, guttural language. A narrator at the beginning lays out the situation, then vanishes, leaving us with the pantomime story. (Strangely, the DVD is dubbed in Spanish, with a subtitle option! Since this only covers the first five minutes, you have to wonder why they bothered.) Welch and Richardson are both very good at the difficult roles, which require heavily physical acting and facial expressions. Also excellent are Robert Brown as Tumak's violent father (the same actor who played M in the 1980s James Bond movies!) and the sexy Martine Beswick (who also appeared in two James Bond films) as Tumak's first love. Yes Raquel and Martine do get into a girl fight -- the filmmakers were not going to turn THAT opportunity down.
Plenty goes on in the human scenes, with many battles and tussles, and Raquel Welch does light up the screen. Mario Nascimbene's bizarre music contributes to the drama. But when the dinosaurs are on the screen is when the film really shines.
Oddly, the first monster we see isn't a stop-motion effect at all, but blown-up footage of an iguana. Harryhausen admits this was his choice, and that it was a mistake. That said, the iguana is well matted into the footage of John Richardson. A giant spider shows up briefly, but the rest of the animals are all stop-motion: an archelon (giant sea-turtle), a briefly sited brontosaurus (originally meant to take part in a full sequence), a juvenile allosaurus that attacks the Shell People camp, a triceratops and a ceratosaurus battling each other, a pteranodon and a pteradactyl and the pteranodon's babies. All the sequences are great, but the allosaurus fights especially stands out. The nine-foot tall dinosaur moves quickly and interacts seamlessly with the human actors, and the result is an incredibly dynamic and exciting scene; the finale is a great stand up and cheer moment.
The DVD is an adequate presentation. The film has been carefully restored from poor sources (the negative is lost), so it looks fairly good, but with noticeable flaws in places. The sound is an adequate stereo. There are barely any extras: the trailers, and a brief split screen comparison of the film before and after the restoration. Considering that the DVDs of Harryhausen films released by Columbia feature interviews with him, the lack of any other special features is disappointing but sadly fairly typical of the way Fox releases its back-catalog films on DVD.
Despite some of those DVD problems, I still recommend "One Millions Years B.C." to any effects and fantasy film fan. It has aged much better than you would think based on those old cheesecake Raquel Welch posters. Raquel looks good, the story holds together, and man those dinosaurs will still make they day of kids of all ages, from six to one million!
Movie Review: Historical errors have never looked so good!
Summary: 4 Stars
Of course man and dinosaur never co-existed. Many of the respective dinosaurs featured in this film lived in different eras. And I don't think that a "Godzilla-sized" turtle ever roamed the planet.
But, that withstanding, "One Million Years, B.C." is a science fiction/fantasy lover's delight. It features two of filmdom's biggest assets: the effects of Ray Harryhausen and the anatomical splendor of Raquel Welch.
Composer Mario Nascimbene's score is quite stunning, combining the traditional with some rather avant-garde sound effects.
Overall, the 1967 film stands as a testament to the creative wizardry of Harryhausen, a man that knows how to have fun with clay and a vivid imagination.
ADDENDUM: There's a not-so-subtle hint of bias/racism in that the "intelligent" cave people are fair of skin and blonde while the more savage and "less brainy" ones are darker skinned and dress in black.
Movie Review: Surprisingly Authentic
Summary: 4 Stars
The cover of this film screams "B" movie, yet this 1960s movie about early humankind is surprisingly authentic in flavor. Admittedly dinosaurs never lived alongside human beings, and the historian in me was a little appalled at times. But the actors and the female lead do an excellent job of using gestures and other wordless interplay to illustrate their emotions and desires. In many ways this film asks more of its audience than your average popcorn flick...and for all its primitiveness, the characters manage to tug at our hearts.
The action and the dinosaur models are surprisingly lifelike, too -- so don't pass this one by simply because of its age.
Movie Review: What a pair of classics!
Summary: 4 Stars
The two best things about One Million Years BC are Raquel Welsh... oh, and the special effects of Ray Harryhausen. A classic movie set around two tribes of cavemen and their interaction with prehistoric monsters. I grew up loving this movie, and for me, it is every bit as good today. A refreshy break from hollywood CGI!