The Land That Time Forgot (1974)

Pretty Good

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

As you know, I love dinosaurs. I love the trope of creatures from lost worlds and mankind running into their lands. I saw a clip of it on a commercial when I was watching the live-action 70's SPIDERMAN show that starred Nicholas Hammond. The dinosaurs looked believable. A few years later, when I saw it, I was stricken with awe and wonder by the special effects. The dinosaurs looked real, but what I knew that they were puppets. What I didn't know that how the puppets worked. They looked realistic, but they moved in a stiff manner. If this can only be updated then there would be fluid movements. Originally they wanted to use Jim Danforth and his stop-motion skills, but they said it was too expensive and time-consuming. Special effects aside, they story is great and has that Edgar Rice Burroughs adventure-like feel to it. It is incredible and I will never forget the caveman Bo-lu! I keep quoting him until this day. When this movie came out, The New York Times recommended this movie in case JAWS was too scary. If you enjoy DUCKTALES (I know, a reboot is coming out in 2017), then you will enjoy this movie. Bottom line: A must for the dinosaur/monster movie/special effects fan. Even though it got out-shined by JAWS. Rated PG for violence, gore, peril, and some scary scenes.

I've always enjoyed all three of the Doug McClure / AIP adventure films. I think that At the Earth's Core might be favorite of the bunch, but this one is also very enjoyable. Is it good? Probably not by most modern standards. But I first watched it in the late 70s and loved it. It still provides a lot of entertainment for me today. McClure plays Bowen Tyler. Unfortunately for Tyler and the rest of his fellow shipmates, it's WWI and a German U-Boat sinks their ship. Only Tyler and a handful of others survive. They float aimlessly on the ocean until, as luck would have it, the very same U-Boat surfaces and Tyler and Co are able to take control of the submarine. The Germans and non-Germans are in a constant struggle to control the ship. Running out of fuel, they all agree to head to an unchartered island – known as Caprona. Caprona is full of vegetation, desperately needed oil, primitive people, and vicious dinosaurs. Everyone agrees to work together if they're going to survive. But how long will this truce hold and how long before the many dinosaurs and bloodthirsty tribes get the upper-hand on our heroes? By today's standards, the special effects in The Land That Time Forgot are pretty primitive. My kids would no doubt laugh at them. But that's part of what makes it so enjoyable to me – there is a real artistry to the whole thing. These are practical effects that someone put their heart and soul into. Sure, they're puppets, but they do an amazing job of bringing them to life. The battle between the Allosaurus and the Triceratops (I think) is especially cool and bloody. I loved the effects 40 or so years ago and I still get a kick out of them today. I also appreciate the fact that the one primitive the group meets never learns to speak English. Too often in this kind of movie, a primitive caveman is taught, unrealistically, to speak some sort of broken English in a few scenes. The acting is good. McClure gives a solid performance. He's especially good in his fight scenes. The rest of the cast, including John McEnery, Susan Penhaligon, and Bobby Parr, give workman like performances. I suppose my biggest complaint is how long it takes to really get things going. It seems that just as soon as they finally get to the island and run into the dinosaurs, it's time to wrap things up.

I saw this one as a kid about the time it came out- just took a second peek and was not disappointed. This dinosaur/lost world flick has an adult level pacing with a tension that builds to a dramatic ending. The acting, dialogue and character development is just above average, for what might otherwise be considered a Saturday afternoon film for kids. The German U boat captain is treated sympathetically, something I doubt current political correctness would allow today. We also see some refreshingly deep thoughts expressed from time to time in this tale- be sure to note the wild evolutionary theory that is presented.The special effects are adequate, and I will go out on a limb and say that if this was made today, the CGI would be bad and would ruin the film- the models were used to good effect. I know some will complain that the creatures are not exactly convincing, but they are not bad either, for what the movie is attempting to be.I also like the fact that the ending was not the typical Hollywood (happy) ending. Final note, the interior submarine scenes convey a realistic WW1 era technology and appropriate claustrophobia.if you are into 'lost world' or dinosaur films , this one is a must see. Six stars.

I had not seen The Land that Time Forgot in quite some time before seeing it just yesterday again. I remembered liking it a lot, and had meaning to revisit it for some time. That time came after seeing the abomination that was the 2009 SyFy film, and apart from some of the film looking dated and there are poor special effects in places, I thoroughly enjoyed this. Seeing this film was more than just a nostalgic trip down memory lane, it had a memorable and exciting story, fun dialogue and characters, a wonderful score, good pacing and above decent direction and acting.Overall, while the Land that Time Forgot is imperfect it is worth watching and not one to dismiss. 8/10 Bethany Cox