Dojo Classics - Teenage Caveman!

Teenage Caveman starring Robert Vaughn is a movie that's been on my bucket list for some time. The title alone makes it appealing in its own strange way. You have to want to see what that's all about.

What it is all about is a small society of cave dwellers (the cave is the famous Bronson Cavern) who are restricted in their goings and comings by a collection of "laws" that prohibit their exploration of the seemingly much more fertile lands beyond their limited range. Admittedly those lands have dinosaurs, but those dangers are offset by a more bountiful food supply.

The "Teenage Caveman" wants to explore, despite what his elders tell him and ultimately ignores the pleas of his parents to be a dutiful member of the society and goes off to find out what lies beyond the river. He finds battling dinosaurs and some of the most miserable movie quicksand ever, which sadly gobbles up one of his buddies. This death means he himself should die, but he doesn't immediately.

He ventures forth again into the forbidden lands, this time followed by his dad and other cave dwellers intent on his punishment. But they are all surprised to find a mysterious creature who theoretically can unleash death with its mere touch. What happens then makes this movie much much more interesting.

Spoilers follow so unless you have already seen the movie or never plan to, do not read.

The twist is a simple one, but not one I ever saw coming. The mysterious creature is actually an impossibly old human being who along with twenty-three of his colleagues survived the atomic war which devastated the world and reduced the population to a mere handful who eke an existence like their Cro-Magnon ancestors. He is the last of his group who have been given extremely long lives due to radiation and who have watched over the survivors from a distance hoping they will find a successful way to rebuild society. The world it seems has been destroyed and rebuilt many times.

End of Spoilers.  

 It's a neat twist, not uncommon in stories I've read, but nothing in this movie prepared me for this turn of events. I immediately liked the movie better, which is pretty dreary most of the time, because the payoff is so good.

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Battle Beyond The Stars!

I have very nice memories of seeing Battle Beyond the Stars in the theaters way back in the day. The movie is infamously a Roger Corman production which immediately gives it a cache and a name recognition which many an exploitation movie might lack but it is perhaps Corman's most expensive movie and that makes it look pretty good still after all these decades. There's a lot of young energetic creativity on display and the movie benefits from solid non-ironic acting by seasoned pros as well as vital creativity in the creation of the myriad aliens. 

John Sayles wrote a damn good movie which took the time-tested template of The Seven Samurai and stuck into outer space. With a familiar and immediately compelling plot the stage is set for a wide variety of aliens, an assortment which is allowed for the most part to play out during the course of the heroic tale. But of course this is a movie made under the auspices of Roger Corman so the first and last edict is to bring in the project either on or under budget so that a profit can be made. Corman is only an artist when his debts are paid and his pockets are full and that is not necessarily a criticism on my part. He's an entertainer and that has less rigid expectations of quality. 

This movie launched the career of James Cameron and much is made by those on the spot of how he was elevated to lead the special effects efforts after the first guy fell behind. Those early tales also point to the elements of out-sized ego which seem to permeate Cameron's personal style. James Horner got his start on this one too, and was exceedingly young when he composed a very effective score. 

Richard Thomas though still young at the time heads a veteran cast. A movie cannot stray very far when the rock solid talent of  John Saxon, George Peppard and Robert Vaughn are dominating the proceedings. On hand in smaller roles are Jeff Corey, Morgan Woodward, and Sam Jaffe. Youthful beauty is delivered by Darlanne Fluegel and Marta Kristen. 

But as lovely as they are the overwhelming presence of the bombshell Sybil Danning marks this movie as a keeper. There's not a scene she's in that your eyes don't clamber all over that stunning frame and much of that curvaceous frame is well positioned for maximum audience enjoyment. 

This is a movie about divergent peoples joining forces for a host of reasons to stand up to a tyrant who demands they willingly surrender their liberty and become slaves. It's about people overcoming their differences to stare down an enemy to them all. It's a movie which offers a lesson for the modern world indeed. 

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