Agreeable hokum.
Written by director Val Guest based on a treatment by J.G. Ballard, the Hammer production "When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth" is a good diversion that goes a long way based on the striking hotness of its young female cast members, its entertaining stop motion monsters created by Jim Danforth, and its convincing enough recreation of a prehistoric time (never *mind* the fact that we all know that cavemen and dinosaurs didn't really co-exist!). The luscious Victora Vetri, 1968 Playboy Playmate of the Year, stars as Sanna, cast out from her own tribe who develops an attachment to Tara (likable Robin Hawdon), who receives similar treatment from his own people. The admittedly episodic movie doesn't have a lot of story, but definitely delivers in the thrills department, especially in the scenes where the cavemen are interacting with the dinosaurs, among them a pterodactyl and a triceratops. One of the cutest of all has Sanna taming herself a young dinosaur. Partly filmed at Shepperton Studios and partly filmed in the Canary Islands, this always has a great look going for it, with art direction by John Blezard and cinematography by Dick Bush. The music by Mario Nascimbene is appropriately rousing. The characters, for the most part, are hard to discern from each other, except for a select few; lovely brunette Imogen Hassall is a hoot as the nasty Ayak. (If nothing else, the girl watching makes this a pleasure to watch. And it's worth noting that the Warner Bros. double feature DVD that pairs this with "Moon Zero Two" features the 100 minute long uncut UK version that features extremely delectable Vetri nudity.) The characters have a limited vocabulary, speaking 27 key words with "zak" meaning "gone" or "left" and "m'kan" meaning "kill" or "killed" (for example). Although it would help to have the translations, this is a story often told just as much with images as dialogue, so it doesn't matter too much. It still amounts to good visceral entertainment, with fine, consistent pacing, and creating one engaging sequence after another. Film fans who enjoy prehistoric era tales should find this enjoyable stuff, with some poignant moments amid its breathless mayhem. Eight out of 10.score 8/10
Hey_Sweden 1 April 2012
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2590391/34987
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