Movie Watchin Wednesday

July 8th - One Million Years, B.C.

Tomorrow we'll be watching One Million Years B.C., directed by Don Chaffey.  It was marketed with the tagline "Travel back through time and space to the edge of man's beginnings...discover a savage world whose only law was lust!"

The film was the subject of FilmCouch #62, in which Paul and Adam watched both One Million Years B.C. and 10,000 B.C to find out if 990,000 years of evolution make a better movie.

Synopsis:

This film was advertised with the slogan "See Raquel Welch In Mankind's First Bikini!" While archeologists tell us humans did not live at the same time as dinosaurs, and our prehistoric ancestors probably didn't look much like Ms. Welch and her co-stars, One Million Years B.C. is a good bit more fun than more scientifically accurate portrait of the era might have been. Tumak (John Richardson) of the Rock People is exiled from his tribe after a fight with his father, and after days of endless wandering is in sad shape before he's taken in by the more peaceable Shell People. He attracts the attention of well-proportioned cave woman Loana (Raquel Welch), but once again finds himself a man without a country after his violent nature alienates the Shell People. Along with Raquel (whose character is remarkably well-groomed given the time period), this movie's greatest selling point are the special effects; legendary stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen created a dazzling collection of prehistoric creatures for this film that still look impressive, even in the more sophisticated era of computer generated imaging technology. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie

And in case you were wondering: the image of Raquel Welch used to promote the film appears on the wall of Andy's cell in The Shawshank Redemption. The warden refers to her as "Miss Fuzzybritches".

Re:July 8th - One Million Years, B.C.

What can possibly be better then cave women with styled hair and giant man-eating iguanas? Nothing!

That's all I have to say about that.

Campy Caveman Fun

I know I can look deep into One Million Years B.C. (1966), and uncover hidden meanings and messages, and underlying themes... but the truth of it for me is this: I found it hilarious, campy/cheesy, yet enjoyable.  

The stop-motion dinosaurs and super-sized reptiles and bugs are absolutely cheestastic - think "Land of the Lost" meets "Clash of the Titans."

The lack of actual dialogue forced me to focus on the visual imagery... and umm,  body laguage...  you know, of the... umm, cavemen and uh, cavewomen communicating...  did I mention that Raquel Welsh was wonderful in this??? 

Re:July 8th - One Million Years, B.C.

I liked One Million Years BC. I expected it to make me laugh, what with all the giant versions of average reptiles. Plus the women folk were just a little too much with their scantily clad beach bunny bodies. But it surprised me too with some interesting ideas about society and culture in the presence of nature. I expected it to end with a happy caveman and woman having advanced beyond their barbarianism (ie. figuring out how to be agrarian) and rising above the survival of the fittest culture to a more emotionally mature state. But then the volcano erupts and it kind of strips everyone down to basic humanity regardless of sophistication or social advancements. It was interesting, but seemed kind of drawn out. I felt like it could have been a short film and still have gotten the same ideas across.