When Heavenly Bodies Ruled the Earth

retrorocketx

"When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth" is a follow up to the successful "One Million Years BC". It lacks the sweeping sense of an overpowering and savage primordial landscape, even though it was shot in the same location. The setting here is more mundane, much less foreboding, occasionally even idyllic in appearance.

Human presence on the planet is more assured in this movie compared to "One Million Years BC". It looks like humans are on the verge of mastering their environment, and there is never a sense that basic survival is at stake. The biggest crisis involves interactions between individuals, and individuals verses groups. When the two tribes meet up, they are cooperative and have already been on friendly terms. There are stirrings (and seizures) of religious feelings, which include elaborate funeral rites and celebrations, and most importantly, sacrificing a blond girl to whatever heavenly body (sun or moon) seems the most threatening phenomena at the moment.

As in "One Million Years BC", a distinction is made between blondes and brunettes. In this movie, blonds are considered evil. The movie opens with several young blond cavewomen set to be sacrificed to the sun at dawn by the rock tribe. But times are a-changing, the moon is coming into being and its birth disrupts the environment. One of the blond cavewomen, Sanna, escapes the sacrifice, falls into the sea, and is rescued by a handsome member of the coastal tribe. From this point the plot is reminiscent of a 1960s bikini beach party, shot through with jealousy. And if nothing else, "When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth" is a gourmet feast for bikini watchers.

The opening narration says, "It is the beginnings of man living with man." They forgot to mention it is also the beginnings of witch hunts! The story boils down to a personal conflict between Sanna and the dark-haired women of coastal tribe who want to make her a scapegoat, and the obsessed rock priest who is determined to sacrifice her. Men control religion, and fight effectively, but it is women who drive this movie. Unfortunately, the story is uneven and lags in many places. The same made up language is used for dialog as in "One Million Years BC", but since there is much more social interaction in this movie the constant banter gets tiresome as the movie progresses. The music is often light and playful, which disrupts the power of the drama.

The dinosaurs do not have powerful impact on the story, even though they look great. The plesiosaurus attack and the chasmosaurus attack are excellent dinosaur scenes. The giant rhamphorhynchus attack is too derivative and lacks a connection with the story. In this movie, dinosaurs are defeated or neutralized by man in almost every instance in which they come in contact. Sanna even manages to tame a dinosaur during her exile, but this potentially amazing feat ends up with only a mediocre effect on the story.

This is a moderately enjoyable caveman movie. I appreciate it for dealing with primitive religious concepts, and savor the emphasis on heavenly bodies.

score 6/10

retrorocketx 3 December 2008

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1984682/