One Million Years B.C.

Director: Don Chaffey

Overview

Essentially an anti-war allegory, this story centers on Tumak, a member of the warlike Rock People. Following a fight with his father, Tumak is exiled into the desert. The gentle Shell People find him and kindly take him in. Unfortunately, Tumak is unable to control his aggressive tendencies.

Product Details

Release Date:	11/27/2018
UPC:	0024543586364
Original Release:	1966
Language:	English
Time:	1:40:00
Sales rank:	16,142

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Raquel Welch	Loana
Percy Herbert	Sakana
Robert Brown	Akhoba,Payto
Martine Beswick	Nupondi
Jean Wladon	Ahot
Lisa Thomas	Sura
Malya Nappi	Tohana
Frank Hayden	1st Rock Man
Terence Maidment	1st Shell Man
Mickey De Rauch	1st Shell Girl
Yvonne Horner	Ullah
Jean Waldon	Ahot
Richard James	Young Rock Man
John Richardson	Actor
Mario Nascimbene	Composer

Technical Credits

Michael Carreras

Michael Carreras	Screenwriter,Producer
Ray Harryhausen	Special Effects
George Blackwell	Special Effects

Editorial Reviews

It's hard to suggest, without laughing, that even part of a movie like One Million Years B.C. might be considered "realistic." After all, its human characters fight turtles the size of apartment buildings, as well as actual dinosaurs and other dinosaur-like creatures -- which makes it just about the perfect Hammer Studios release. Given this, you'd think the filmmakers would just abandon all pretense of realism and have the characters speak to each other in English. But director Don Chaffey has enough commitment to scientific plausibility that his cavepeople communicate via grunts and other pre-linguistic babble. Did they think viewers would only care about looking at Raquel Welch in her iconic prehistoric bikini, and not about what she might have to say? In fact, the film's true role in cinematic history was to help establish Welch as a buzz-worthy commodity, after her breakout role in Richard Fleischer's Fantastic Voyage a couple months earlier. If it weren't for this star-making performance, the movie's 100 minutes would be even more interminable to sit through. Basic character relationships are established through a series of fights, banishments, reconciliations and betrayals, but there are only so many possible layers of complexity with this type of narrative. The movie basically moves from one bestial encounter to the next, with something that best resembles sideways momentum. At least the beasts themselves look good, as One Million Years B.C. finds effects wizard Ray Harryhausen at the top of his game. For modern viewers, the film is probably best appreciated as kitsch, and on that level, it satisfies well enough.