El valle de Gwangi

Okay, so it's the only dinosaur and cowboy movie (that I know of). The acting isn't much, but seeing three cowboys rope a T Rex -- and then seeing the T Rex fight an elephant -- that is cool.

And "El Diablo," the little eohippus, is just too cute.

Harryhausen's stop-motion animation is wonderful. Get the DVD with an interview in which he talks about how he did the cowboy-roping scene, and current animators/fx artists talk about he inspired them -- pretty fun. In a geeky kind of way.

Shot in Technicolor by Erwin Hillier and in Dynamation, The Valley Of Gwangi sees Tuck Kirby (James Franciscus) and a team of cowboys get more than they bargained for when they enter a hidden valley in Mexico. For here, prehistoric creatures reside and the cowboys come up with the idea of capturing a Tyrannosaurus Rex to become the chief attraction in the circus they work at.

The makers of Gwangi never hid their motivations or homages, from the off they wanted to nod towards King Kong whilst pairing the Western and Fantasy genres in the process. The result of which is an enjoyable if unfulfilled movie that again sees Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion creations save the day. Directed by Jim O'Connolly with a screenplay by William Bast, The Valley Of Gwangi suffers not because of its bonkers plot (this is after all why we watch this type of genre offering), but more because of the slow first half that threatens to put the viewer into torpor. Thankfully the film is saved by the afore mentioned Harryhausen who unleashes prehistoric joys on the B movie cast (tho Laurence Naismith is considerably better than the material given him). While the ending raises the adrenaline sufficiently enough to have made the wait worth while. Jerome Moross lifts from his brilliant score for The Big Country with mixed results; it just feels out of place here, even if it's stirring and pleasing to the ears. And the Almería, Andalucía location work in Spain is at one with the material to hand.

Saturday afternoon monster fun to be enjoyed with either popcorn or something stronger from the drinks cupboard. 6/10

Highly entertaining film about a wild west show that comes into possession of a prehistoric horse so small they hope to bill as the world's smallest. When a band of gypsies return the horse to the Forbidden Valley in which it was stolen, members of the wild west show go in search of the horse and come across a Lost World of prehistoric creatures.

What's not to like here-James Franciscus, Gila Golan, Naismeth, the excellent Harryhausen Allosaurus F/X, the dino-elephant battle, the cowboys roping the dino scene, etc. Very nicely done. No great acting, of course, and nothing you haven't seen already in Kong or 100 other places, but its what they do with it here that makes it worth yer while.

Personally I always enjoy it when I see it; I think it's one of the better dino flix you can find pre-Jurassic Park.

*** outta ****, esp if you like Harryhousen's stuff.

The Valley of Gwangi is a film that, through cult enjoyment of its quality, has managed to overcome the problems that made it "forgotten" in motion pictures to enjoy its present status as a fantasy classic.

Originally written by King Kong's Willis O'Brien, Gwangi's script was never filmed, but a copy owned by Ray Harryhausen stored in his garage was resurrected in 1966. With additional work by writer William Bast, The Valley Of Gwangi was approved by Kenneth Hyman of Seven Arts Inc, which had financed Harryhausen's film with Raquel Welsh, One Million Years B.C. and who had purchased into the Warner Brothers studio.

Filming took place in Spain and lasted two years, mostly due to the time needed by Harryhausen to animate the dinosaurs. Given that the film employed over 300 animation shots (the most of any Harryhausen film), it was expected that release would not come until two years after principal photography had been completed.

The extra time paid off in Harryhausen's best animation. Adding enormously were the superior sound FX employed by Warner Brothers, giving dinosaur voices far more menacing and believeable than those used by Columbia or Hammer; attention to peripheral sound FX is also striking, notably in the finale within the enormous cathedral, where the echo of Gwangi's breathing and footsteps adds greatly to the drama.

The human cast also works well, notably star James Franciscus. The story involves the efforts of a struggling wild west show in circa-1900 Mexico. To boost attendance, owner T.J. Breckenridge (Gila Golan, cast in the film as a favor to Ken Hyman) has found a tiny horse - which turns out to be a prehistoric Eohippus, and which comes from a Forbidden Valley filled with dinosaurs. One is known as Gwangi, a belligerent allosaur that, after an extremely long chase that sidetracks to a bloody battle with a styracosaur, is captured and put on display in T.J.'s show, only to be set free and rampage through the nearby town.

Harryhausen's animation is the film's highlight, but the performances, Erwin Hillier's cinematography, and Jerome Moross' superb score all add up to an immensely enjoyable film. It suffered, though, as Kenneth Hyman was let go during filming and new Warners management released the film without publicity and as part of a double-bill with a biker film, thus missing the youthful audience that was the film's target. The film was largely forgotten until cult attention in the 1980s and '90s elevated general interest and has made it a favorite of fantasy film buffs.