One Million B.C. (1940)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Wonderful character development!

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

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

This one had some good special effects for it's day - you can see this kind of special effects used for a few years in Hollywood after this one was made - a far cry from the CGI of today.The story is heartwarming. It's about how the "primitive" humans may have survived and a romance between two people from different tribes that fall in-love with one another. Loana's (Carole Landis) tribe seems more advanced with their use of jewelry, their manners, the way they treat one another etc... while the man she falls for, Tumak (Victor Mature), seems to come from a less advanced group - he's a bit more brutal. Loana teaches Tumak quite a few things including: sharing, gentleness, and love.Akhoba (Lon Chaney Jr.) is the father of Sakana and Tumak. He's a wise man but still has quite a bit he could learn from Loana's ways.It's a good film if you like movies on "cavemen" or prehistoric themed films. I quite enjoyed it.8.5/10

It's rather a Weak and Flaccid Film. Although the Hammer Remake with Raquel Welch/Ray Harryhausen is much Better, it is Amazing how many Non Monster Scenes are virtually Identical. Of course there are No Excuses (except maybe making it on the cheap) for the Lame and Less then Impressive live Animals made up to Look Prehistoric. Not Seven Years after "King Kong"(1933).It doesn't look bad, but it ends up a Ho-Hum, rather Banal Trip back in Time. A Good Musical Score and fairly Good Pacing keep things from Petrifying, and the Cast is Willing and Able. The Success of this Movie is probably what brought Willis O'Brien out of Retirement and gave Ray Harryhausen the Opening for Better Things to come, that New Cycle started with "Mighty Joe Young" (1949).

Just watched this classic Hal Roach production on the TCM site. It's the story of a man and woman and how they get their previously enemy tribes together. Actually, what I just said made the movie sound simplistic which, despite the prehistoric setting, it's not. In fact, I was surprisingly enthralled by the story, the acting of Victor Mature and Carole Landis (though Ms. Landis is also good eye candy), the fights of the "dinosaurs" (actually lizards, alligators, and armadillos), and the exciting special effects concerning the volcano eruption. Roy Seawright deserves mega-kudos for that last sequence and possibly for Mature's fight with what looked like a model dinosaur worthy of Willis O'Brien. Also loved the music score that was played throughout. That score might have broken whatever monotony the slower scenes may have had. So with all that said, I'm recommending One Million B.C. for anyone interested in these old-fashioned effects movies.

One Million B.C. (1940) ** (out of 4) Prehistoric tale of a member (Victor Mature) of the Rock people who is kicked out of the group after standing up to their evil leader (Lon Chaney, Jr.). Soon he finds himself with the more peaceful Shell people but various battles are about to follow. This here is basically a remake of D.W. Griffith's Man's Genesis and its sequel Brute Force. Both of those shorts are better than this film but there are some very interesting ideas here. It's worth noting that Griffith himself was hired to oversee the production of this movie but apparently him and Roach had a falling out after the legendary director thought he was being brought in to direct. One can only wonder what Griffith would have done with the film but Roach or his son weren't the right choice. I loved the idea at how they pretty much made a silent film as there is very little dialogue throughout. The only problem is that they don't know how to do a silent and this makes the picture drag along at several spots. What does work however are the wonderful special effects, which still hold up fairly well today. The volcano erupting is the highlight of the movie but the battle scenes are well done too.