When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth

I remember seeing this movie with my brother at the theater back in 1971. When we arrived, we received a book with the language used in the movie and a rough translation. I can find no mention of that book on any web site, and haven't purchased the video to see if it is still printed. It was great fun watching it again today after so many years. Even without the translation, the movie is very enjoyable and great fun to watch. Although the "dinosaurs" leave a little to be desired compared to today's movies, they did a great job integrating real lizards into the film.

For starters, I'd like to thank the many reviewers who so astutely point out that, in fact, dinosaurs and humans did not co-exist. What a startling revelation--why didn't someone hip us up about this sooner? Now if they can maybe tell us how to spell DUH...

This film will appeal to fans of the celebrated "cavegirl-meets- caveboy" genre. Its time-honored, trademark conventions are all there, the stop-motion animated dinosaur effects artistry, and general ambiance of geological upheaval and turmoil, and of course the primitive Stone Age language they speak (with its all- English phonics). Hokey? You bet. But... this genre is refreshing in general for its unflinching, unpretentious attitude about the sexes and human relations, plus its visual celebration of physical beauty as an icon of attraction. There is an exuberant defiance of repressed, "post- modern," pseudo-intellectual nerdiness in this genre, which fans rightly admire and appreciate. These films are not for Oprah, nor NPR.

Of course, "One Million Years BC" with Raquel Welch is the definitive epic of this type. "When Dinosaurs Ruled..." is not quite as taut by comparison, but it still delivers. The dinosaur scenes are generally good, even if none of them have quite the punch of some of those from "One Million Years BC." Likewise, our leading cave lady Victoria Vetri is Very Nice, and indeed racks well in her cavegirl outfit, but for sheer screen presence she cannot really compare with Raquel.

In fact, the cavegirl bikinis here have a bit less of the magnificently rough-hewn deerskin-rawhide look of "One Million..." But they make up for it as best they can by actually being even skimpier (hard to imagine, I know...). And Victoria and her cavegirl cohorts do a prodigious amount of running, jumping around, and just general jiggling, putting the best foot of these unbelievably teeny weeny bikinis firmly forward. For this film, its what's up front that counts, big time. I must say, those guys at Hammer studios sure do know how to costume, light, and photograph their cast. By the way, the guy's outfits are also extra skimpy (not sure what they were trying to prove with that exactly). Nothing offensive though, it is all within tasteful limits.

Compared with "One Million Years BC," there is a generally lower energy, less crackling intensity to "When Dinosaurs Ruled..." The themes are intact, though -- we still get the catfights and violent interpersonal antagonisms over pecking order ranks, and access to mates that made "One Million ..." such riveting fun. But the characters here are not quite as sharply drawn compared to the standard set in "One Million..." They seem a bit pale--not as much personality, not as much charisma. That goes double for the guys, none of whom could have taken on single-handed the rowdy carnivorous therapod of "One Million..." that attacks in the orchard, the way John Richardson did. In fact, the guys are all pretty much a bunch of putzes in this movie, its hard to root for them. But still, if you liked "One Million Years BC" you will definitely want to take in this one, just don't expect it to be quite as good.

Perhaps the only aspect in which "When Dinosaurs Ruled..." surpasses "One Million Years BC" is in its extensive use of bear tooth necklaces. Everyone has got them, and they are totally stylin'....

I saw this film when it was first released. I must've been 10--and I was a real dino freak. I was totally jazzed when I found it on video many years later.

Someone else mentioned getting a translation book at the theatre...I never got one. The magazine Castle of Frankenstein (real mag title, folks!) ran a translation guide that month. I still have that mag somewhere--they also ran a pin-up of Victoria Vetri in the movie bikini, wielding a spear (I had that page on my wall for months).

As I recall (and is pretty evident from the 1,004 times it's used in the film) "neecro" means evil. So "Sanna neecro" means the blonde chick is evil. Of course, she's not really evil. "Neecro" should mean totally hot, but these were cave days. And they had only 26 words. I'm pretty sure Superfragilisticexpialidotious wasn't one of them

The effects by Jim Danforth (not David Allen) are excellent--right up there with Harryhausen. They still hold up against 3D computer effects.

While the story has genuine dramatic underpinnings, the cave-language kinda gets in the way of clarity. Too often the viewer has no idea what's being said. That aside, it's a fun movie with great effects and british babes in skimpy outfits sharing a beach with dinosaurs.

Oddly, for a dino pic, there's a LOT of stage sets, and I don't mean the dino FX shots. They had a bit of trouble matching shots between set and location work. And it shows.

That aside, it's a fun movie with great effects. Any dino fan should check it out. It's not Jurassic Park, but then again Laura Dern didn't show cleavage.

When I was a kid, my older brother bought a cheap, B/W, very dark copy of this movie on super-8mm to play on his projector, from an ad in «Famous Monsters»... Wow! Did I love this movie!!! I must have watched it at least 50 times!

Since then, I've always wanted to see a complete version (because the reel my brother had bought was only a 15 minutes version of it) of this movie but, with no luck. Until yesterday that is, when I found a used VHS of it, and for a mere $5, I finally saw with my own eyes what my imagination could only supply till now: vibrant colors, longer scenes, "ancient" dialogues, etc...

It was better than I had imagined! I was glued to the TV set like I was 6, all over again...

I read the users comments before writing this one and found it sad that some comments, are missing the point completely! This ain't an historical movie! It's pure escapism fun! The same way "The Valley of Gwangi" is, or any Harryhausen movie was... Watching this movie made me regret having thrown out all my old «Prehistoric Scenes» Aurora model kits!

A movie that just seems to get better with the passing years. The dialog is in "caveman" with no subtitles, which means the story is told almost entirely in visual terms. But, hey, that's how movies got started in the first place! Worth noting is the Canary Island scenery which is fresh and evocative. The human scenery is attractive as well with stars Victoria Vetri and Robin Hawdon spending the entire production in nothing more than fur bikinis. Hawdon's career in film acting never took off but he did a lot of stage work in England and a lot of writing as well. Worth reading is his 1984 novel, "A Rustle in the Grass" -- a delightful novel (a la "Watership Down") about a colony of ants. His most memorable scene in this movie consists of "beefcake-bondage" and it comes when he's tied spread-eagle-style between two wooden posts. Fuel for a fire is then piled between his spread-open legs. Curiously, though, his tormentors allow him to keep on his loincloth which certainly won't protect his more sensitive parts from the rising flames but which will, unfortunately, block some of the view and thus lessen the fun. Well, they were only cavemen and thus have a lot to learn about the nudity factor in torture and executions.