Both "One Million B.C." (1940), and this film, a remake, "One Million Years B.C." (1966) are films that are half-cherished and half-despised. They are what are classified as camp classics and I agree that both of them are exactly like that. They are both about equal in entertainment quality, but they must not be taken too seriously. Like I've stated in my review of the original "One Million B.C.", dinosaurs and caveman did not live in the same time period. They never knew of each other. But "One Million Years B.C." is a fantasy movie. It takes place in an imaginary world. And it must be treated exactly as it is: a fantasy.
"One Million Years B.C." is just as good, if not better, than the original film upon which it was based. It follows the same basic storyline and the same kind of plot. It's basically an ancient love story to perhaps explore the possible emotions of our ancestors. And then to add some campy, but innovative action to heighten the entertainment value. The film stars Raquel Welch, who in her fur bikini, is undoubtedly the most famous feature of the film. The poster shot of Raquel from this film is more famous than the film itself. And she is stunningly beautiful on screen. Also not all that bad in performance. John Richardson is a great equivalent to Victor Mature from the original and in my opinion, Richardson has a more convincing appearance and performance as a strong and bold warrior. And the rest of the entire cast is just more actors and actresses dressed in fur clothing and wearing makeup to enhance the appearance of an ancient race.
After Raquel Welch, the most famous feature of "One Million Years B.C." is the stop-motion dinosaurs created by the famous and brilliant effects artist Ray Harryhausen. Here, he is at his peak. It was animating dinosaurs in his youth when he began to learn to perform the art, so bringing them onto the screen was always right in his territory. The film features several dinosaurs, not enough in my opinion, I would have liked to have seen two or three more, but enough. All of whom are realistically created after hours and hours of hard work. And the dinosaurs are much more convincing than the people in rubber suits and giant lizards from the original. There is one graphically enlarged lizard in the film, however, and it turned out more comical than frightening with its hissing sounds and its slurping tongue. But not a bad effect or idea, nonetheless. The other dinosaurs, particularly the fearsome Allosaurus, are magnificently done. They even utilize the breathing mechanisms to make it appear as if the animals are actually breathing. And while stop-motion animation may seem obsolete now days, back in its day, it was the most convincing special effect in Hollywood. And it still remains to this day as a magical and popular animation technique.
Aside from the dinosaurs, the other special effects were acceptable for their time. There were a few moments where I could tell that the cave wall that two cavemen are shoving each other into was really made out of rubber. And a few other shots weren't perfect either, but nothing to get picky about. It is, after all, a 60s film.
Bottom line, "One Million Years B.C." is a very fine film and is very entertaining and satisfying if you just simply treat it as a non-serious fantasy film, which it is. Just sit back, enough the sight of Raquel Welch's stunning beauty, the magnificent Mario Nascimbene music score in the background, fine performances by the cast, wonderful stop-motion dinosaurs, and a great camp classic.
