a minor Harryhausen classic; one of my childhood favorites

TheUnknown837-1

I grew up with a passion for movies like "The Valley of Gwangi" and "One Million Years B.C." To this day, movies like these still have that nostalgic quality that brings me back to them for continuous revisits of my childhood. Although a computer can create a far more convincing and modern special effects dinosaur, somehow I find these older films with the twenty-inch-tall models animated frame by frame on a tabletop more captivating. "The Valley of Gwangi" was one of my childhood favorites and to this day, it remains a jewel in my collection of favorite films.

Part of the reason I think I am enamored by this movie so much is that it combines two of my favorite genres: the dinosaur movie and the cowboy movie. James Franciscus stars as an entrepreneur who while visiting a spitfire of an ex-flame (Gila Golan) discovers she has come into her possession a miniature, prehistoric horse. When Franciscus, Golan, and others retrace the horse's origins to a desolate wasteland known as the Forbidden Fallen, they are placed under attack by a variety of prehistoric animals, including a fourteen-foot-tall flesh-eating dinosaur known as Gwangi.

"The Valley of Gwangi" is a supreme blend of the Western and science-fiction genres. It was qualities of both. It has the cowboys, the lassos, the spitfire leading lady, it has dinosaurs and people running in peril from the thrashing teeth of the ferocious Gwangi. Nostalgic elements like these appeal to those who grew up knowing these fascinating films as opposed to the mundane so-called 'films' of today.

The special effects were done by none other than Ray Harryhausen himself who also worked on classics such as "Jason and the Argonauts", "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad", and "Clash of the Titans." He's at peak form here with his dinosaurs, primarily Gwangi, who really is the most characteristically alive element in the movie, more interesting than star James Franciscus and the other humans characters. Like he has done with almost all of his creations, Harryhausen portrays Gwangi basically as the standard monster on the loose creature with the great beast chasing after people and tearing them to shreds, but through his animation genius, he also generates a certain level of sympathy for the big lizard. And because the movie controls the level of blood and gore and does not overwork Gwangi into being merely a terror machine, the movie is not too intense for children. And the famous sequence where Gwangi is roped by the cowboys is worthy of its reputation as one of the great, seamless special effects sequences in film history.

The movie does take a little while to get started. The first third of the picture is a little slow, but once Gwangi dramatically and famously steps into view (in a shot that was homage in "Jurassic Park"), the picture really picks up to speed and becomes genuinely exciting. Perhaps most of my love for "The Valley of Gwangi" is owed to the fact that it was one of my childhood favorites and a lot of that passion still lingers in me for it and movies of its kind, but I think that even compared to the movies of today, it is a very enjoyable picture.

score 9/10

TheUnknown837-1 26 December 2009

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2180944/