The People That Time Forgot Blu-ray review
Release Date: May 24
Order your copy of The People That Time Forgot here!
Also be sure to order The Land That Time Forgot and At the Earth’s Core!
“It can only be one thing: Prehistoric! Definitely prehistoric.”
However, like BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES did with Charlton Heston before it, this direct sequel to LAND only features McClure’s Tyler in a cameo role towards the end. Taking the lead is John Wayne’s son Patrick Wayne, who has a lot of his pop’s tough guy presence but lacks The Duke’s swagger. Wayne plays a pal of Tyler’s who discovers the message-in-a-bottle he sent out to sea at the end of LAND and organizes a rescue party. Included are a stuffy paleontologist (Thorley Walters), a tough female photographer (Sarah Douglas, wearing Princess Leia hair buns) and an alcoholic gunner/mechanic (Shane Rimmer). Once they crash land in the mythical Caprona they team up with a busty local cavegirl named Ajor (Dana Gillespie) to find Tyler.
The intro of Asian-influenced bad guys on horseback leads our heroes to a mountain castle made out of skulls where an angry volcano god lives. The villains here are clearly visually influenced by the fantasy art of Frank Frazetta, so much so that there are, in fact, several famous Frazetta paintings hanging as tapestries! Frazetta also provided the poster art seen on the cover of this new Blu-ray edition. STAR WARS saga alums David Prowse (Darth Vader) and Kiran Shah (Teedo in THE FORCE AWAKENS) appear, while the film is capably shot by cinematographer Alan Hume who would go on to lens RETURN OF THE JEDI.
Overall this is a boisterous, rip-roaring adventure in the pulpy tradition, full of cool monsters that kids and nostalgic adults will appreciate equally. Kino Lorber have done a terrific job of cleaning the film up and giving it the extras fans of this series have been waiting for.
Special Features
Also included are substantial on-camera interviews with the film’s two British female leads. Sarah Douglas shares memories of auditioning for 1978’s blockbuster SUPERMAN while in the middle of shooting this film, while Dana Gillespie goes on humorously about the challenges of wearing her revealing cavegirl get-up (tape was needed to keep her from pouring out of it during running sequences).
Finally, we’re given vintage trailers for both THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT and THE PEOPLE THAT TIME FORGOT, making this a must-own if you have the other two, and likewise you should at the very least order LAND before diving into this one. AT THE EARTH’S CORE is also good fun, if unconnected storywise, though it features its fair share of whimsical creatures, a wacky Peter Cushing performance, as well as a scantily-clad Caroline Munro.
