Review of One Million Years B.C. (1966) by Michael Y — 08 May 2011

Raquel Welch in a fur bikini. Ray Harryhausen stop motion effects. One Million Years B.C. makes history FUN!

A caveman from a ruthless and savage tribe is cast out, but finds a new and friendly tribe. The caveman has never seen another tribe, and this tribe is more advanced, which is out of his custom. Though he is cast out, a tribewoman falls in love with him and they venture into the dangerous world. This has to be one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. Apparently bikinis, hair shaving and eyeliner predates the discovery of the wheel. You see giant monsters, all of which eat people, and girl fights! I don't know who's idea it was to make a movie like this, but that person was obviously ahead of his time and a genius! I guess you can think of a couple of themes of social commentary, and it's interesting that there's no dialogue in this movie. Just certain sounds and gestures. But it's not an achievement in screenwriting. This movie really is rediculous and is one big cheese-fest of big monsters and long legs!

If there's anything good to say about One Million Years B.C. that doesn't involve cavewoman cleavage, it's the animation. Some effects are really bad, but others are pure genius. Example: The first giant monster you see is just an iguana filmed close up. That's bad. But the movie doesn't look super cool until you get a taste of Harryhausen animation. His stop motion effects are legendary and all inspirational, and he does another bangup job with his claymation characters' interaction with the actors. The dinosaurs and giant turtles aren't as complex as what Harryhausen had achieved in Jason and the Argonauts, but the detail and style is still very imperssive. The movie is pretty simply shot in a big desolated shooting location, a cave, a beach. Nothing fancy. The rest... well... it's not supposed to be accurate.

One Million Years B.C. isn't a movie for intellectuals, but it's not a badly made movie. It's not an achievement in filmmaking art, though it did start a cult following of other giant dinosaur movies chasing sexy cavewoman. This movie is just pure male fantasy, and that makes it perfect in its own way.