Very Cool!!!

Truly Dreadful Film

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

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

The year was 1977. What happened back then? There was STAR WARS, Saturday NIGHT FEVER, RACE FOR YOUR LIFE CHARLIE BROWN was struggling and other studios were trying to coincide and capitalize such films as JAWS and Dino Delaurentiis KING KONG remake. While the movie is fine, akin to SON OF KONG, it seemed rushed. For one thing, the special effects, they range from good, like the Pterodactyl and the Scutosaurus (Google it), to bad, like the Ceratosaurus, Stegosaurus, and Blonosaurus (from AT THE EARTH'S CORE (read my review) which was reused for this movie), the cave eel-like monsters, and a cheesy joke shop spider that Luan Loud would love to use. Roger Dicken's dinosaurs in LAND THAT TIME FORGOT look more convincing than the paper-mache beasts. I think Ian Wingrove did those monster effects in this movie. As for the plot, well, it is a combination of Edgar Rice Burrough's second book and third book, OUT OF TIME'S ABYSS, of the Caprona trilogy. In the third book, there were people who had bird wings, however, the wings were replaced by horses. Now they are samurai horse-riders who let out awful versions of the Wilhelm scream. The only good things about it are the actors, writing, and music. John Scott did the music for this movie and he also did the music for KING KONG LIVES. Speaking of KING KONG, if Dino Delaurentiis put some dinosaurs in this movie, here is what he can do. First, put the Scutosaurus from this movie and Plesiosaurus from LEGEND OF THE DINOSAURS to mess around with Jack Prescott's search party. Then, have Kong fight the T-Rex from THE LAST DINOSAUR, the snake and Pterodactyl from PEOPLE THAT TIME FORGOT. At least these dinosaurs from these movies look realistic. This movie got out-shined by STAR WARS, so go figure. Bottom line, if you enjoy DUCKTALES (yes, a reboot is happening), then you should enjoy this movie. It is not as bad as... PIXELS or GHOSTBUSTERS 2016 (or GIRLBUSTERS as others like to call it), but we have seen worse. Rated PG for violence, scary scenes, peril and scantically clad ladies.

The newspaper of the family of the photographer Charly (Sarah Douglas) sponsors an expedition to the Arctic in the ship Polar Queen to find and rescue Bowen Tyler (Doug McClure). Soon the rescue team formed by Tyler's friend Ben McBride (Patrick Wayne), Professor Norfolk (Thorley Walters) and Charly fly in an airplane with the pilot Hogan (Shane Rimmer) to a distant place while Captain Lawton (Tony Britton) waits for their return on board of the Polar Queen. However they are hit by a pterodactyl and crash in a weird land of prehistoric animals. Soon they meet the native Ajor (Dana Gillespie) that surprisingly speaks English. They learn that Tyler had taught English to her tribe that evolved from the Stone Age to the Iron Age, but he was captured by a wild tribe. While Hogan fixes the airplane, Ajor joins the group to help them to find Tyler and bring him back to the civilization in a dangerous journey."The People That Time Forgot" is a lame and absurd adventure with a silly story. It is funny to see the hot native Ajor with a fashion haircut (1977); or the tropical forest in the middle of the Arctic; or Hogan scoring the number of pterodactyls that he has killed; or Professor Norfolk throwing away Charly's camera to lighten the weight in the airplane; or the group skilled in sword fighting. My vote is four. Title (Brazil): "O Mundo Que o Tempo Esqueceu" ("The World That Time Forgot")

Before 'Star Wars' came along, '70's sci-fi movies were fairly bleak and pessimistic about Man's future, such as 'Zardoz', 'Soylent Green' and 'The Final Programme'. But there were one or two family fantasy movies about, such as the trilogy based on the novels of 'Tarzan' creator Edgar Rice Burroughs that began with 'The Land That Time Forgot' ( 1975 ). Produced by John Dark and directed by Kevin Connor, with American he-man Doug McClure as the lead, they were mocked in 'Red Dwarf', but four decades on still manage to work as entertainment, and were made on low budgets which makes them all the more remarkable.'People' begins with an expedition to the Arctic wastes to locate Bowen Tyler ( McClure ). The crew includes Ben McBride ( Patrick Wayne, son of John ), an old friend of Tyler's, Hogan ( Shane Rimmer ), an alcoholic pilot, Norfolk ( Thorley Walters ), a bumbling scientist, and Lady 'Charly' Cunningham ( Sarah Douglas, sporting a pre-'Princess Leia' hairstyle ), a crusading feminist news woman ( who is only there as her uncle's newspaper is funding the trip ). Taking to the sky in a plane, they are attacked by a Pterodactyl and are forced to land. According to Tyler's journal ( which was found in a bottle off the coast of Scotland ), this island is Caprona, and is inhabited by prehistoric monsters and primitive tribes people. Among the latter is stunningly sexy jazz singer Dana Gillespie as 'Ajor', who looks like she has fallen off the front cover of 'Cave Girl Monthly'. As you can probably guess, our heroes must battle both monsters and tribes people alike in a bid to survive. This was the 'Indiana Jones' of its day. The nice thing about these movies is that they are not camp, though they have humour. McClure does not show up until an hour into the picture ( a good thing some might say ) and then gets himself killed. As 'McBride', Wayne is no De Niro but does need to be ( he does look astonishingly like John Barrowman though! ). It was made in an era where heroes in movies did not suffer from angst, hence we are not treated to long-winded accounts of how McBride is racked with guilt over his brother's death ( or whatever ). The characters are one dimensional, and the film is better for it. Thorley Walters is, a ever, a delight to watch, and what can I say about Sarah Douglas except "Phwoar!". Mind you, she gets strong competition in the eye candy department from Gillespie.It goes without saying that special effects have improved leaps and bounds since this was made, but that's no reason ( not in my book ) to dismiss the movie as rubbish. Good effects don't necessarily mean a good movie. Dark and Connor made two more films together ( one with McClure ): 'Warlords Of Atlantis' ( 1978 ) and 'Arabian Adventure' ( 1979 ), both derived from original scripts by 'Dr.Who' writer Brian Hayles.If you decide to watch this, have a big box of popcorn handy ( just be careful you don't choke when Gillespie appears. Obviously they had not invented underwear on Caprona yet! ).

I am a sucker for Lost World movies. This one was made as a sequel to the Land that Time Forgot. The movie picks up with an attempted rescue attempt of Tyler, who was left stranded on the lost land of Caprona. But let's face it, The People That Time Forgot is not a good movie. It has some potential but overall the movie drags. And for a lost world movie, the landscape and creatures are boring.The first 15 minutes of the movie were great and I was hooked. The props and costumes evoke the period of post WWI. The miniature ship and float plane are particularly interesting models and interact well in their miniature settings. Our adventurers enter the lost world by flying the float plane over mountains after getting in as close to the south pole as possible in a steam ship. Just as in the movie "Land Unknown" (1957) the plane is damaged and forced to land by an attacking pteronodon. Our adventurers have arrived in the lost world! From this point however, the movie drops way down in quality. The landscape is bleak and uninteresting. I wondered why this boring heath and volcanic rock area was chosen over a lush jungle like the first movie. Worse, the dinosaurs are a step down in quality from "Land the Time Forgot", which is saying something. They don't have much to do besides provide a glimpse of a threat through the trees and roar ineffectually. They don't eat anyone. Only one creature, a cave monster actually gets to attack our heroes. The 'people' of this land are a let down. One group is the very silly, ever chasing and yelling at a distance cave men. They capture the adventurers, but we never get a close look at them, nor do we get a glimpse of their culture. The other 'people' of this world are the skull collecting samurai. Again, we see very little of what might make them interesting. OK, there are a few moments where the skull samurai get to pose and preen a bit while preparing to decapitate the women. But really, why bother calling the the movie 'The People That Time Forgot' if you are not going anywhere with the people? The first movie gave us so much more in terms of cultural groups. The expedition characters are purely stock, and no interesting chemistry or conflicts develop within the party as a result of their potentially awesome contact with a prehistoric world. The expedition consists of a female photographer whose father owns a newspaper and is putting up the cash for this trip, Tyler's BFF who is determined to rescue him, his trusty half-drunk comic relief sidekick, and a not-convincing scientist type. Along the way they enlist the aid of a beautiful and scantily-clad cave girl (Dana Gillespie). She carries the film with her primordial sex appeal. There are way too many padded scenes of the group strolling around the trees and hills. The fight scenes don't work because they are poorly done and they have no real drama because nothing seems to be at stake besides immediate self defense. There is no interaction among characters except for stock exchanges of uninspired dialog. Overall the actors seems confused and bored while they meander from point A to point B. But there are a few good scenes in the film, one of the best being the meeting and rescue of Tyler (Doug McClure) in a skull infested prison cell. By the end of the movie, you realize why the filmmakers chose the location they did. A nearly unlimited number of explosions are set off at the climax of the film. That sequence ended up being kind of fun. But final scene of the film...awkward and lame.