Un milione di anni fa

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.

Ray Harryhausens work is unparalleled and is once again to be admired in this film. I was intrigued that the first thing hygiene wise that humans (at least women) must have come up with was shaving. The females in this movie are all clean shaven in places where women traditionally have kept themselves clean shaven. The men obviously weren't going to learn this art until some time later. Nonetheless this motion picture is one of those that never gets tired with repeated viewings.

This deals about the struggle of primitive cavemen and their battle against prehistoric monsters and other creatures . It's a remake of the 1940 movie by Hal Roach with Victor Mature , Carole Landis and Lon Chaney Jr . It starts with a prologue that tells you all you want to know about this "brutal world¨. This is a story of a long , long ago when the world was just beginning. A young world , a world early in the morning of time . A hard , unfriendly world with creatures that sit and wait , creatures that must kill to live. And man , superior to the creatures only in his cunning . There aren't many men , a few tribes scattered across the wilderness . Never venturing far , unaware that other tribes exist even , too busy with their own lives to be curious . Too frightened of the unknown to wander . Their laws are simple , the strong take everything . A chief named Akoba (Robert Brown) is leader of the Rock tribe . And his sons are named Tumak(John Richardson) and Sakana (Percy Herbert) from the tribe of the Brunettes. There is no love between them and confrontation emerges . Tumak meets a cave woman (Raquel Welch) from the tribe of the Blondes , both of whom trying to make a life for themselves and take on rival clan , subhuman, cannibalistic tribes and volcanoes on its ending in an earth-splitting volcanic eruption .

This classic Hammer -in its 100th movie- and Seven Arts production is a stupendous story of adventure , thrills and romance. The tale provides sweeping and exciting entertainment . The action scenes blend creatures and humans more seamlessly than ever before in cinema and has some nice battles between prehistoric animals . Surviving Brontosaurs, Triceratops, Dinosaurs ,Alosaurs, Pterodactyls are the true stars , rise to the occasion to amuse in an otherwise slow movie. The fantastic beasts look superb and are stunningly made by expert craftsmen as the spectacular special effects include dinosaurs , fighting between Tiranosaurius Rex and Triceratops , a giant turtle ,along with some superimposed iguanas, all of them are made by technician-artist Ray Harryhausen. As warns the movie the characters and incidents portrayed and the names used herein are fictitious and any similarity to the names character or history of any person is entirely accidental and unintentional . Produced and written by Michael Carreras adapted from an original screenplay by George Baker . Wonderful cinematography in glimmer color DeLuxe by Wilkie Cooper filmed on location in Lanzarote , Island Canarias (Spain) . Exciting music and special musical effects composed by Mario Nascimbene with usual musical supervisor Philip Martell ; furthermore rare sounds by Roy Baker . The motion picture is professionally directed by Don Chaffey . Rating : Good and unforgettable for famous fur-trimmed bikini clad that you'll always remember .

Raquel Welch's later, more solid acting performances will never erase our memories of this dinosaur-epic wherein she runs around in full cavegirl regalia. Then again, she may not want them to. Time has been surprisingly kind to this reworking of 1940's "One Million B.C." The special effects are very good, the wilds of prehistoric nature are often excitingly, colorfully captured, and handsome John Richardson is charismatic as a caveman who, along with Welch, ditches his tribe to set out on a personal journey. Yes, it's Raquel in a fur-bikini that most people will remember, but a good time is had by all. **1/2 from ****

Vaguely similar to the 'Dawn of Man' sequence in '2001' and set long ago when women wore false eyelashes and permed hair, but hadn't yet learned to eat quietly. Raquel Welch in her first starring role was helped by the fact that she didn't need to learn lines, but the real reason to watch it is Martine Beswick as a feral savage called Nupondi. And the music by Mario Nascimbene is up to Hammer's usual high standard.