A MOVIE THAT TIME FORGOT

I am writing this in order to fulfill a two-article contract with my friend Mark (see my entry entitled, "The Lost Starlost".) His request that I write about "Doug McClure movies" did encourage me to rent The Land That Time Forgot as I haven't seen it in over twenty five years. Along with movies like At the Earth's Core, and The People That Time Forgot, it played on television a lot back then. These titles were great matinee fare.

This movie just rocketed by... it helped that Land is only ninety minutes in length. (Today, studios would find a way to make this a 120 minute, or more, bore.) The setup to the picture was quite good: Without giving too much away, our hero Doug McClure, with a little help, occupies a U-boat, and this vessel delivers our cast to a land that time forgot. I was surprised at how well directed it all was. For example, there is a combat scene on the boat's deck between the German crew and the invading party. It isn't just a quick one-two-three. There are some skirmishes which show the mayhem involved when two groups are fighting for something important. There is a bit of a PG sensibility, but the point is well made. (Steven Spielberg illustrated this aspect of skirmishing to great effect in his otherwise unremarkable film, Saving Private Ryan.)

Once on the island we are treated to a bunch of rubber-suit dinosaurs. I say this with affection. You get the point. It was a cost saving measure as stop motion animation would have been a lot more involved; financially and otherwise. It is hard to believe that the aforementioned processes were the only way to do 'monsters' before the pivotal year of 1993 -- the year of the unremarkable (other than the dinosaur business) movie, Jurassic Park. Land also features some lovely scenic backdrops and mattes. This isn't Kansas.

The ending is not what I expected: Perhaps this is the effect of Hollywood movies today where there has to be an explosion of some type, literally or even figuratively, to finish the last reel. Land does have a scene with explosions and fire near the end, but avoids the construct of happy, happy.

The Land That Time Forgot was a lot of fun, overall, and a bit of a surprise as I was expecting less.