That was an excellent one.

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Just what I expected

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Another movie to tap into the fertile imagination of Jules Verne, the 1961 production "Valley of the Dragons" is loosely based upon - or maybe we should say inspired by - Vernes' story "Career of a Comet". It begins in the 19th century, when a Frenchman named Hector Servadac (Cesare Danova) and an Irishman named Michael Denning (Sean McClory) are about to have a duel (over a woman). But a comet makes contact with Earth at that precise moment, and Hector and Michael are swept up, along with a large chunk of Earths' prehistoric past, and deposited on the moon. The two men agree to put aside their differences, in order to survive, and end up dueling with ancient beasts, dealing with primitive tribes, and romancing cave babes Deena (Joan Staley) and Nateeta (Danielle De Metz), respectively.This is a fair diversion. There's nothing special here, but nothing overwhelmingly bad either. Even if done on a low budget (and heavily dependent on stock footage from "One Million B.C." and "Rodan"), it still manages to be just amusing enough for this viewer to stick with it. The attractiveness of Staley and De Metz doesn't hurt at all, and Danova and McClory deliver reasonably engaging performances. The black & white photography and atmosphere are respectable, while the special effects, largely consisting of trick photography designed to make ordinary animals seem huge, are passable. The action drags for a portion of the running time when our heroes are wooing their ladies. However, there is a mighty fine swimming sequence.The climax may very well be comprised of this stock footage, but that doesn't make it any less exciting. Some of the moments are horrific as humans and animals alike fall victim to a major volcanic eruption.Harmless stuff overall, if also unmemorable.Six out of 10.

Jules Verne's name is shamelessly and regularly dropped in and around this Movie, but none of that matters. What is at stake here is its ability to draw in the Kids with Giant Monsters and Scantily Clad Girls. There is a ton of that seen here, but a lot of it had been on Screen before as it unabashedly clips Scenes from other Movies.If you can forgive its Plagiarism this is a fast moving Movie with a few of its own quite interesting Shots. There are plenty of Lizards in the Background and some of them are quite brutally disposed of as they menace and mangle everything in sight. Also in sight is an underwater Cheesecake Scene that had the Boys howling in the 1961 Theatres. An Entertaining piece of Schlock is fondly remembered by its now Grown Up (or have they) Audience, but is just below Mid-Range for this type. Its familiarity is its weakness, but there is enough Cool Stuff to be forgiving. Its an easy Movie to make Fun of but also an easy Movie to have Fun with.

One of the cheaper adaptions of Jules Verne for the big screen occurs with this film Valley Of The Dragons. Unless those ancient pteranodons are the dragons, there's really no mention of them.Sean McClory and Cesare Danova are a pair of 19th century adventurers ready to fight a duel over the affections of a woman who no doubt as they figure later on was egging it all on. An earthquake erupts and these two are swept up in it and transported to the head of a comet upon which a prehistoric society still thrives complete with other animals of the Cenozoic age.In no time flat these two wind up leading a pair of feuding tribes and bring them together. And they both get a pair of women companions as there is little other recreational activity.The footage from One Million BC is once again recycle for another imitation film. Valley Of The Dragons is even shot in black and white no doubt to better integrate the prehistoric footage.It's an interesting concept, but brought to the screen in a cheap knockoff manner. The science is also quite suspect a little below the standard of Jules Verne.

I cannot believe you guys! All this claptrap and no mention of Joan Staley's infamous underwater swimming scene?!?I saw this movie when it was first released and I was barely pubescent at that time. The audience was quietly taking in the Verneian antics of our shanghaied duo, until one of the main characters (I forget which) runs off for a swim with the Joan Staley character (Deena).OK, so Deena takes off her prehistoric sunsuit and lo and behold she is wearing a Stone-Age bikini! OK, nothing to get excited about --- pretty chaste even for 1961. No elastic in prehistoric times, though, so the top fits rather loosely.So the couple jump in the lagoon and start playfully swimming and diving underwater. The decent underwater cinematography lingers on each of the characters as they cavort about.It quickly becomes evident that Deena's bikini top is not going to hold her fairly ample anatomy securely in hiding from the voyeurs in the audience.I will never forget the eruption of hoots and whistles from the darkened theater as the camera continued to follow Ms. Staley from such a point of view as to make it all too evident that Deena would have no trouble feeding any of her progeny, especially considering the equipment on display.Granted, this sort of thing hardly rates the consideration of a PG rating today, but in 1961, it was dynamite. I was at a point in my development where the fuss being made by the male members of the audience only served to make me embarrassed and uncomfortable. The scene seemed to go on forever.I was elated to be able to get recently a VHS copy of the movie (recorded, believe it or not, from a TV presentation), and waited breathlessly for the scene burned into my mind as a young lad.And there it was in all its glory. And every bit as provocative as it was in that little Galveston, Texas theater back in '61.One of the best bits of vintage, unexpected cinematic cheesecake I have ever had the pleasure to encounter.