"The People That Time Forgot" (1977) is the sequel to "The Land That Time Forgot (1975). Both titles were borrowed from Edgar Rice Burroughs along with the basic premise, a prehistoric tropical paradise in the heart of Antarctica; inhabited by dinosaurs and cavemen. Burroughs detailed how volcanic activity kept the region warm and how a rim of mountains protected the land from the frozen temperatures that surrounded it. The film does not bother to include these scientific details nor much else from the original Burrough's stories so don't think less of him just because some hacks borrowed his idea and made this movie.
The movie features an expedition to find Bowen Tyler (Doug McClure) the main character in the 1975 film. The rescue effort is not exactly massive, it is a tiny four person expedition led by Tyler's childhood friend Major Ben McBride (John Wayne's son Patrick). The pairing of these two actors was probably an effort to demonstrate to the world that there was actually an actor out there with less talent than McClure. Wayne peaked at age 18 with a bit part as the youthful Lt. Greenhill in his dad's film "The Searchers" and mysteriously managed to find a succession of acting opportunities in vehicles so bad that even he could not damage them to any great extent.
The bottom line is that this movie works best as a mock party feature; complete with laughably bad special effects, Saturday matinée serial quality production design, and high school play quality acting. Also good for some laughs is Dana Gillespie as cave girl exploitation element Ajor. Dana was a British singer, best remembered not for her tunes but for her lingerie clad presence on the cover of her album "Weren't Born a Man". Despite her enormous talents I always thought she looked too "Butch".
A young Sarah Douglas (of "Superman" fame) plays the newspaper reporter accompanying the expedition. Douglas was extremely beautiful at that age and has a fair degree of acting ability as well. I'm not sure what is the most out of place, a classy young woman heading into the jungle with this group or a competent actress being included in this lame ensemble.
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.
The movie features an expedition to find Bowen Tyler (Doug McClure) the main character in the 1975 film. The rescue effort is not exactly massive, it is a tiny four person expedition led by Tyler's childhood friend Major Ben McBride (John Wayne's son Patrick). The pairing of these two actors was probably an effort to demonstrate to the world that there was actually an actor out there with less talent than McClure. Wayne peaked at age 18 with a bit part as the youthful Lt. Greenhill in his dad's film "The Searchers" and mysteriously managed to find a succession of acting opportunities in vehicles so bad that even he could not damage them to any great extent.
The bottom line is that this movie works best as a mock party feature; complete with laughably bad special effects, Saturday matinée serial quality production design, and high school play quality acting. Also good for some laughs is Dana Gillespie as cave girl exploitation element Ajor. Dana was a British singer, best remembered not for her tunes but for her lingerie clad presence on the cover of her album "Weren't Born a Man". Despite her enormous talents I always thought she looked too "Butch".
A young Sarah Douglas (of "Superman" fame) plays the newspaper reporter accompanying the expedition. Douglas was extremely beautiful at that age and has a fair degree of acting ability as well. I'm not sure what is the most out of place, a classy young woman heading into the jungle with this group or a competent actress being included in this lame ensemble.
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.