The People That Time Forgot

I first saw THE PEOPLE THAT TIME FORGOT in the early 1980s and as a sequel to the fondly remembered THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT I was very disappointed in it . Having seen it again over 20 years later I do realise that it's a very flawed movie/sequel but it's not without some value

Many of the problems are to do with the slow first half . We the audience know that the travellers are going to be meeting giant rubber dinosaurs but these rubber puppets aren't used to their real potential and the only sequence I can recall from over 20 years ago was when the pterodactyl smashed into the plane . What probably makes the sequence stick out in my memory is that this is one of the few times that a dinosaur does anything really bad in the movie but I guess that's because this isn't really a monster movie at all

The movie is far more similar to a half forgotten Hammer adventure film called THE LAST CONTINENT rather than a sequel to THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT , it's an adventure story featuring a lost kingdom and you can't help thinking that perhaps the story was once intended to be an original screenplay since Doug McClure's character seems to have been resurrected to kick off the plot but he's not given much to do and his role is even more superfluous than that of Charlton Heston in BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES a film not a million miles removed from this one

The film does improve in the second half as the expedition comes across a kingdom of pseudo Samuri warriors even if does lead to some plot holes , I can understand the concept of parallel evolution but why would this only apply to one race and not the others . Think about it: One race in this lost land has the culture and technology of 16th century Japan but everyone else seems to be living in the stone age . Credible ? Probably not ( Was it just an excuse to have a busty red head run around not wearing much ? ) but it's not really a credible movie

It is a fairly entertaining one though and better than I remembered from a couple of decades ago . The fact that you don't need to have seen the prequel is both a strength and weakness for THE PEOPLE THAT TIME FORGOT but it stands firmly on its own hind legs for a non discerning audience

With a plot like this one, it's hard to go wrong. A post WWI expedition sails to the Antarctic to try tofind a lost man in a prehistoric land tucked between the high icy mountains. Prehistoric dinosaurs keep popping up throughout the film. Then there's always the evil tribe of bad guys causing plenty of trouble. I can't forget to mention the scantily clad cave girl. I doubt if prehistoric women ever looked like this. Throw in a volcano and you have an adventure movie called 'The People That Time Forgot'. The characters and situations are not entirely believable or realistic and the dinosaurs could have used more work on them, but all in all, it was a pretty good, fun movie that's worth watching.

I remembered horrible performances, cheap sets, and a contrived storyline. It's amazing I bothered with this one again, but I'm glad I did. While this is no masterpiece, it is actually much better than I remembered. Continuing forward from the original installment, "The Land That Time Forgot," picks up the Bowen Tyler (Doug McClure) character after having been left behind by the crew of his original mission, and discovers what has happened in his life since his isolation began.

While this IS horribly dated, Patrick Wayne is actually quite good. You may remember Patrick Wayne from Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger. He is also John Wayne's son, who was offered the role as Superman in the original movie, but turned it down due to his father's accelerating cancer.

The sets were not as bad as I thought I remembered, either, but the dialog delivery is still pretty false and unnatural.

All in all? As a "B" flick, this isn't bad for a rainy day diversion. It's still not a masterpiece and is RIPE for a remake, but there is some entertainment to be derived from this work.

It rates a 4.7/10 from...

the Fiend :.

I saw this film on a drive in double bill with THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT - and had read the books when I was 11 years old (Ace Paperbacks). LAND has hand puppet dinosaurs that don't move and look silly, PEOPLE has men in rubber suits as dinosaurs that look silly. Both films change the Burroughs stories (probably for budget reasons), but PEOPLE does something interesting - it combines the 2nd and 3rd book in Burroughs' series, using Act 1 of PEOPLE and Act 2&3 of OUT OF TIME'S ABYSS. The Weiros from ABYSS have been changed into Nagaas - a volcano cult dressed in Japanese Armor. (The Weiros were humanoids evolved from Pterodactyls - hard to do on a $1.98 budget.) This way they could take the old prisoner from ABYSS and turn him into Doug McClure's character.

PEOPLE is much better than LAND for a couple of reasons. LAND not only had crappy FX, it looked like it was shot on an indoor stage! So even when there isn't some bad process shot of a hand puppet T-Rex growling, the movie looks fake. PEOPLE was shot on location in Spain, and has some nice big panoramic shots - one amazing shot of the team crossing the crest of a mountain looks like something out of LAWRENCE OF ARABIA. The other reason why PEOPLE is better - cavegirls! If you read the books (with Frazetta covers) there were always half-naked cavegirls. As an 11 year-old boy, reading these was like discovering your Uncle's Playboy collection. Half naked girls! LAND has no cavegirls at all, PEOPLE has the Ajor character from the novel in a laced leather outfit that fits the drive in AIP scenario to a T.

I love the books, and would love to do a modern adaptation (with today's FX).

• Bill

At the beginning of the film are reunited captain Lawton (Tony Britton) piloting his icebreaker , along with McBride (Patrick Wayne), Lady Cunningham (Sarah Douglas) and Norfork (Thorley Walters) , everybody undertakes an expedition to Antartic in search for Tyler (Doug McClure) who has been missing in that region for various years. The trio (Patrick Wayne , Sara Douglas, Thorley Walters) along with a plane pilot descend over a barren land and meet a primitive women (a gorgeous Dana Gillespie with amazing cleavage showing her boobs). They have to confront numerous risks , dangers, endure torrential landslide , volcano eruption , cavemen warriors, samurais , prehistoric animals and discover a lost tribe .

This enjoyable adaptation results to be a special version of the Edgar Rice Burroughs adventure yarn . There's rip-roaring action, spirit of adventure, derring-do , thrills, and turns out to be quite amusing. It's a brief fun with average special effects , passable set decoration , matte painting , functional art direction and non use of computer generator. This fantasy picture packs thrills, action, weird monsters, lively pace and fancy scenarios. The monsters are the real stars of this production and its chief attribute. The tale is silly and laughable but the effects and action are acceptable . Among the most spectacular of its visuals there are a deeply shrouded cavern full of skulls roaring menacingly towards the camera, a little tableau comprising attack of a giant monster in a cave, and the futuristic backgrounds of the nasty headquarter .Highlights of the adventure includes a roller-coaster trip, appearance of prehistoric reptile such as Pterodactilus, Stegosaurius, Tiranosaurious and some horsemen dressed Samurai-alike riding out from mountain throughout horizon . In addition, the final scenes where appears a grotesque executioner played by David Prowse (Darth Vader), a dwarf and usual villain chief and several others. Some illogical parts in the plot are more than compensated for the excitement provided by Roger Dicken's monsters, though sometimes are a little bit cheesy and primitively made . Filmed in glimmer cinematography by cameraman Alan Hume on location in Santa Cruz De La Palma (Canary Islands) and Pinewood studios , England. Adequate and thrilling musical score by John Scott. This is the fourth collaboration between producers John Dark, Max Rosemberg and director Kevin Connor who also made in similar style : ¨ Land that time forgot¨, ¨All the Earth's core (76)¨, ¨Warlord of Atlantis (1978)¨, mostly starred by Doug McClure and with Roger Dicken as the monster-maker. The film will appeal to kids who swallow it whole and sit convulsed in their armchair.