Stometer
Save your money for something good and enjoyable
Phonearl
Good start, but then it gets ruined
Roxie
The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;
Clay Loomis
I saw this was coming up on TV this morning and hit IMDb to check it out first. Woe to me. I thought I'd give it a try anyway. I like a good fantasy movie. Harry Potter and a bunch of witches living among us- sure. But this movie started right off by throwing science out the window.Before we even got to the point where humans lived alongside dinosaurs (a la The Flintstones), the narrator introduced us to the first scene by telling us that "this was a time before the moon even existed". The moon existed BILLIONS of years before even the simplest form of life existed on this planet, much less dinosaurs or mammals. I might have let this go for a silent era movie from the 1920's, but this was made in the late 1960's.Then we are introduced to the primitive inhabitants of earth, with their salon hair and waxed bodies. Things kind of went along that way for the length of the film. Pretty women bouncing to and fro. Not much else going on here.Not for historians, to be sure, but at least I didn't see anyone wearing a watch.
ShootingShark
In prehistoric times, Sanna is a young woman destined to be sacrificed to the Sun God because she has blonde hair. She escapes and is befriended by Tara, a young man from a neighbouring tribe. Can they survive in this harsh and unforgiving land ?This was the third of Hammer's four agreeable dinosaur/cavegirl flicks (the others being One Million Years B.C., Slave Girls and Creatures The World Forgot). In terms of dino action it's pretty good - there's a beach fight with a plesiosaur, a chasmosaurus hiding in a cave, a giant quadruped lizard which befriends our heroine (and is reminiscent of the fictional rhedosaurus from The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms), a clifftop rumble with a rhamphorhynchus, and some giant crabs for good measure. The optical effects are by Jim Danforth and are pretty cool for the time, with lots of detail and clever matte work; there's even a reverse tracking shot on the rhedosaurus at one point. The story has some pedigree in that it was originally written by J.G. Ballard (Empire Of The Sun, Crash) and adapted by Guest (who made the original black-and-white Quatermass movies), but it's a bit hokey, to say the least; at one point our starcrossed lovers run away for eight minutes and then get caught anyway. It does end with both a tsunami and a lunar eclipse though so you get a lot of spectacle, not to mention the very cute Vetri (Playboy's 1968 Playmate Of The Year) as the bad karma heroine. Shot by Dick Bush on remarkable locations on Fuertaventura in the Canary Islands - the landscapes themselves are perhaps the movie's most interesting feature. Not the best picture from Hammer Studios, but even one of their average movies is more fun than most.
unedu-141
Saw this last night on the box. It was a bit cheesy - epitomised by having people coexisting with dinosaurs in the first place, but despite that it was fun and fast moving. I never knew what was going to happen next. My enjoyment was partly from the story, partly from the pure unadulterated nonsense which the film was as a whole. Watch out for the sea and sky changing from calm to raging storm in an instant; for Sanna chastising "her" dinosaur, which hangs its head in shame; the amazing costumes (how do they stay on? why do they wear them at all?); the language which at one point only seems to have one vowel ("a"), and later consists mostly of the word "akita" that means "yes," "no," "come here," "go there," "they went that way", "head them off at the pass," "I could do with a bite to eat," and "I think we are about to be engulfed by a tidal wave."
retrorocketx
"When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth" is a follow up to the successful "One Million Years BC". It lacks the sweeping sense of an overpowering and savage primordial landscape, even though it was shot in the same location. The setting here is more mundane, much less foreboding, occasionally even idyllic in appearance.Human presence on the planet is more assured in this movie compared to "One Million Years BC". It looks like humans are on the verge of mastering their environment, and there is never a sense that basic survival is at stake. The biggest crisis involves interactions between individuals, and individuals verses groups. When the two tribes meet up, they are cooperative and have already been on friendly terms. There are stirrings (and seizures) of religious feelings, which include elaborate funeral rites and celebrations, and most importantly, sacrificing a blond girl to whatever heavenly body (sun or moon) seems the most threatening phenomena at the moment.As in "One Million Years BC", a distinction is made between blondes and brunettes. In this movie, blonds are considered evil. The movie opens with several young blond cavewomen set to be sacrificed to the sun at dawn by the rock tribe. But times are a-changing, the moon is coming into being and its birth disrupts the environment. One of the blond cavewomen, Sanna, escapes the sacrifice, falls into the sea, and is rescued by a handsome member of the coastal tribe. From this point the plot is reminiscent of a 1960s bikini beach party, shot through with jealousy. And if nothing else, "When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth" is a gourmet feast for bikini watchers.The opening narration says, "It is the beginnings of man living with man." They forgot to mention it is also the beginnings of witch hunts! The story boils down to a personal conflict between Sanna and the dark-haired women of coastal tribe who want to make her a scapegoat, and the obsessed rock priest who is determined to sacrifice her. Men control religion, and fight effectively, but it is women who drive this movie. Unfortunately, the story is uneven and lags in many places. The same made up language is used for dialog as in "One Million Years BC", but since there is much more social interaction in this movie the constant banter gets tiresome as the movie progresses. The music is often light and playful, which disrupts the power of the drama.The dinosaurs do not have powerful impact on the story, even though they look great. The plesiosaurus attack and the chasmosaurus attack are excellent dinosaur scenes. The giant rhamphorhynchus attack is too derivative and lacks a connection with the story. In this movie, dinosaurs are defeated or neutralized by man in almost every instance in which they come in contact. Sanna even manages to tame a dinosaur during her exile, but this potentially amazing feat ends up with only a mediocre effect on the story.This is a moderately enjoyable caveman movie. I appreciate it for dealing with primitive religious concepts, and savor the emphasis on heavenly bodies.
