5 Star

A Tale of Two Tribes.

This classic film from Hammer and directed by Don Chaffey (Jason and the Argonauts) with stop animation from the master Ray Harryhausen (The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, First Men in the Moon). One Million Years B.C. is firmly here for those of a child like heart that can let go of the here and now and just go with the flow of the silver screen and the fantasy that ensues. 4k Pure enjoyment.

Sun, sand, mountains and a warthog chasing a man in furs, what more could you want, but this is more serious, man has to eat and he has to out smart his prey. The man jumps over a bush and the wart hog follows but falls into a pit, trapping it. Akhoba (Robert Brown, The Spy Who Loved Me) is the leader of his tribe the cave people and he has two grown sons Sakana (Percy Herbert, The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Guns of Navarone) and Tumak (John Richardson, Pirates of Tortuga, The Mask of Satan) and it is Tumaka that gets the honour of the kill much to the annoyance of his brother and he claims the tusk.

Back at their cave the tribe cook their spoils as Tumak’s woman Nupondi “The Wild One” (Martine Beswick, Thunderball, From Russia with Love) claims the tusk. When the food is ready Akhoba gets the lions share then it is survival of the fittest as the two sons grab theirs and the old get the tossed bones.

But Akhoba wants more and steals Tumak’s and a fight breaks out between them resulting in Tumak going over a cliff and banished from the tribal home.

He survives his fall and then wanders the wasteland under the searing sun, he has to evade giant spiders, giant iguana, ape men and a Brontosaurus until he comes to the coast, a thing he has never seen and he collapses from exhaustion.

He remains there until he is spotted by a group of women out hunting fish, the leader of this group is
Loana (Raquel Welch, Fantastic Voyage, The Three Musketeers, The Four Musketeers: Milady’s Revenge) she takes an instant liking to this dark haired stranger and she gets the men of her tribe to take him back to their cave where he recovers.

What can this stranger do within a tribe that are more advanced than the thuggery he is used to?

This is for those who love a Saturday Matinee film and the lovers of Stop animation. Most excitingly, this release will reveal fully for the first time detailed notes and
storyboard for an unfilmed Brontosaurus sequence, which was originally planned as the film’s
dramatic climax.
http://www.rayharryhausen.com

The film will be playing at Cambridge FilmFestivalon October 24th 2016
at 12.30pm as part of the Family Film Festival. Tickets & further information:
http://www.cambridgefilmfestival.org.uk/film/one-million-years-bc

Special Features
• New Interview with Raquel Welch
• New Interview with Martine Beswick
• Exclusive Ray Harryhausen stills, storyboard and artwork
• Production stills gallery