When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth

1971 "Enter an age of unknown terrors, pagan worship and virgin sacrifice..."
5.1| 1h40m| G| en| More Info
Released: 17 March 1971 Released
Producted By: Hammer Film Productions
Country: United Kingdom
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

An ancient tribe attempts to sacrifice Sanna as an offering to the Sun god to save their tribe from dinosaurs. Tara, a young man from another tribe, saves Sanna and takes her along with him.

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Director

Val Guest

Production Companies

Hammer Film Productions

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When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth Audience Reviews

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.
Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.
Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
Cristal The movie really just wants to entertain people.
Blueghost Yes, you heard me right. This film out cavemans and out dinosaurs Raquel Welche's foray into the pre-historic genre. And with all due respect to the lovely miz Welch, I find Victoria Vettrini more alluring as a peroxide blonde that Welch in a fur bikini. Call me crazy.So, I'm not sure my title speaks a whole lot for the genre nor the comparison of the two films, because they are more or less on par with one another. But where "One Million Years BC" has that Hollywood glossy look to it, and in this way a bit more "professional looking" (for lack of a better phrase), "When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth" is actually better shot and has a slightly better and more thematic story.Scientific inaccuracies aside (both films score low on the dino-human cross pollination front), "When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth" has a grittier and more honest look to it. The genre wouldn't see another "realistic" portrayal of our ancestors until "Quest for Fire" hit the screen some twenty years later.As a kid my misgivings when I first saw this film were immediate; dinosaurs and mankind (in any form) did not live at the same time, and that was the big tipoff to me of what movies were "really about". Though I think at the time I just passed judgement on movies as being superficial and idiotic, which they still are. "When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth", as entertaining as it is, falls into that mold. As a kid I noted right off not only that factoid, but the fact that there weren't a whole lot of dinosaurs in this film to begin with--a major disappointment.Even so the special effects are actually pretty good even though stop motion was used to breath life into the dinosaurs. The Some of the interaction between the stop motion creatures and the live action actors are, for the time, passable and well done.All that being said I still have the major gripe with this film as I did as a kid. If you're going to make a dinosaur film, then MAKE a dinosaur film. If you're going to make a film about prehistoric man, then make that film. The dinosaurs in this film could have easily been replaced with "age of mammal" creature equivalents, but weren't probably because both screenwriter and director hadn't done their homework by visiting the La Brea tar parts in the Los Angeles area. For had they done so, then not only would this film have been less inaccurate than it already is, but that added research might have added a layer of validation for the audience who went to see this film.My parents and friends' parents specifically took us to see this film because it had dinosaurs in it. Imagine our disappointment (and perhaps shock) that the film focused on a love story between cave-people, complete with sex scenes.But, again, as far as knockoffs of "One Million Years BC" goes, it actually does beat that film overall through being a better production. Still, even though I'm giving is some positive marks here, because they are deserved, it is a dinosaur film coming out of the late 60s era of film making. Add some stock footage from "The Land that Time Forgot", and you got yourself a film that wants to be better than what it is, but is held back by the film makers relying on popular media for research instead of some paleontologists.Either way it's an interesting watch. See it once.
Kel The Cave Man vs Dinosaur movie is ridiculed as unscientific. Harryhausen came to the defense of the concept in his Film Fantasy Scrapbook-casually suggesting archaeological evidence was pushing back human origins or closing the gap between them and dinosaurs. We will never prove 100 percent what was living in prehistoric times and I could not care less one way or the other. This is supposed to be a fantasy film. The idea of humans alongside dinosaurs isn't meant to be historical fact, but imaginative fun.In watching this film and its predecessor, what strikes me the most is the total professional manner the actors treat the subject matter. Especially impressive is Patrick Allen who spends a good deal of time shouting Neekro but handles it like he's doing Richard the Third! He behaves as professionally as Frank Langella playing an evil toy in Masters of the Universe.These days people would wink at the camera or have a joke-filled script--claiming that its the only way to deal with such nonsense. One thing about the 60s and a studio like Hammer was that they treated their films seriously.My only real criticism is the inclusion of a quick shot from Irwin Allen's despicable Lost World where in two reptiles were mutilated and killed for the film. Other than that I think the movie does its best with its budget and resources and its unfortunate movies today are too uptight and unimaginative to try something like this.
Leofwine_draca I'll readily admit that I'm not a huge fan of Hammer's prehistoric adventures. The distinct lack of English dialogue in these films always seem to me to hamper them too much, so that the story gets dumbed down to the level of 'us vs them' chasing and a literal caveman mentality. In the end, the only reason you can watch these is for the spectacle, and indeed that's the case when it comes to WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH, a film that features some great and detailed sequences involving dinosaurs and not a lot else.The somewhat broad storyline involves a blonde-haired cavegirl who escapes certain sacrifice only to fall in love with the member of another tribe. Eventually, she's outcast from there too, and then hunted down by her former neighbours, all of whom seem determined to see her killed. There's not a great deal more to it than that, I'm afraid.There's not really any scope for acting here. Victoria Vetri was a Playboy pin-up, not an actress, so she fills the bikini readily enough and that's all that's required of her. Patrick Allen beats his chest and sports a masculine beard but is given little to do other than look menacing. The romance scenes between Vetri and Robin Hawdon are sweaty and laughable and, as I mentioned before, the only really enjoyable bits are those involving the dinosaurs. Jim Danforth was the man behind them, and a blinding job he does too.
tomgillespie2002 Blonde-haired cave woman Sanna (Victoria Vetri) is picked up by a seaside tribe after being thrown into the sea by her own tribe. Tara (Robin Hawdon), a member of the dark-haired seaside tribe becomes infatuated by her and woos her with the gift of his necklace. Ayak (Imogen Hassall - who tragically committed suicide in 1980) wants Tara for herself so becomes intent on removing Sanna from the tribe, but after they fight, Sanna's former tribe come looking for her and she flees for her life. Tara starts his journey to find her and bring her back, but he faces many dangers in the dinosaurs and creatures lurking in the jungles and mountains, and a tribal prophet has foreseen a tidal wave that could possibly devastate the planet.This film is every bit as tedious as it sounds. One of a few prehistoric films produced by Hammer than depicted humans alongside dinosaurs, When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth is nothing more than cheap fantasy that mixes the excitement of dinosaur attacks with big breasted women in cave girl costumes. Don't get me wrong, the sight of Vetri and Hassall all shaven- legged and oiled up wearing next to nothing and full make-up is not something I am complaining about, but that is just about all this film has going for it. The dinosaur scenes are mildly entertaining but are often repetitive, except for one scene which sees Sanna sleep in a broken dinosaur egg only to be adopted by the mother. Very silly but quite fun in it's own ridiculous way.A small caveman language was created for the film ("Akita! Akita!"), which, according to IMDb, is based on Phoenician, Latin, and Sanskrit sources. Very admirable indeed, but it is strange that such attention was made to the language when the film ignores the obvious historical fact that humans did not co-exist with dinosaurs! It seems a pointless detail when the film is clearly going for fun and titillation rather than anything remotely resembling historical accuracy. All in all, an easy way to spend a lazy bank holiday afternoon, but a rather boring and unspectacular cinematic experience. I would expect more from the director of The Day The Earth Caught Fire (1961).www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com