One Million BC benefits from a rousing score, good acting, and very good special effects for its time.
The movie is fascinating as a nearly dialogue-free film produced well after the advent of sound, with characters and human relationships developed largely through touch and gesture. In this way, it is also surprisingly touching on a number of occasions. My eyes actually glistened during one scene, in which female lead Carole Landis, through gentle but insistent example, teaches Victor Mature's character how to act more kindly toward others - how to be a member of a community.
I was also impressed with One Million BC is editing. Particularly impressive is the collision montage employed during the climactic battle between the humans and a dinosaur type creature, causing me to wonder if the editor was influenced by Soviet cinema - Eisenstein perhaps?
This film has two weaknesses. It gets the science all wrong - people and dinosaurs mix freely (despite supposedly having a scientific consultant), and in the very beginning there is a brief but needless narrative setup set in contemporary times, with a group of hikers taking Shelter From a storm in a cave, where they encounter ancient drawings on the walls. These drawbacks are minor though when taken with the movie as a whole.
Recommended for fans of classic science fantasy, of "dinosaur movies," and of good, classical special effects.
The movie is fascinating as a nearly dialogue-free film produced well after the advent of sound, with characters and human relationships developed largely through touch and gesture. In this way, it is also surprisingly touching on a number of occasions. My eyes actually glistened during one scene, in which female lead Carole Landis, through gentle but insistent example, teaches Victor Mature's character how to act more kindly toward others - how to be a member of a community.
I was also impressed with One Million BC is editing. Particularly impressive is the collision montage employed during the climactic battle between the humans and a dinosaur type creature, causing me to wonder if the editor was influenced by Soviet cinema - Eisenstein perhaps?
This film has two weaknesses. It gets the science all wrong - people and dinosaurs mix freely (despite supposedly having a scientific consultant), and in the very beginning there is a brief but needless narrative setup set in contemporary times, with a group of hikers taking Shelter From a storm in a cave, where they encounter ancient drawings on the walls. These drawbacks are minor though when taken with the movie as a whole.
Recommended for fans of classic science fantasy, of "dinosaur movies," and of good, classical special effects.