The People That Time Forgot (1977) User Reviews (59)

Diverting sci-fi fantasy based on Edgar Rice Burrough's story...

[Doylenf · 6/10 · 17 May 2008]

Not bad at all, despite the flat performances by some members of an attractive cast and the familiarity of it all. "This island never sleeps," says the full-figured DANA GILLESPIE to PATRICK WAYNE...especially when it's crawling with prehistoric creatures. She's clad in an outfit that looks as though Frederick of Hollywood had a hand in the costuming.

Photographed in Spain, the color photography is excellent, the creatures look fairly realistic, and the opening sequence with the plane being attacked by a huge bird is bound to hook you into the story. It's rather like a poor man's "Jurassic Park", but it has its moments.

John Wayne's son, PATRICK WAYNE, is certainly a handsome male lead but has all the animation of one of the dinosaurs, never making us believe he's the leader of the dangerous expedition. Others in the largely unknown cast are pretty good and John Scott's music is effective in creating the necessary suspense.

It's a diverting enough adventure, very watchable and suitable for family viewing.

Summing up: Not bad at all, the sort of film that kiddie matinees were all about.

Best line after a native attack: "I'm sick and tired of running away from those dreadful people!"

Fantastic and entertaining adventures full of monsters in a lost continent by Kevin Connor

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 30 March 2010]

At the beginning of the film are reunited captain Lawton (Tony Britton) piloting his icebreaker , along with McBride (Patrick Wayne), Lady Cunningham (Sarah Douglas) and Norfork (Thorley Walters) , everybody undertakes an expedition to Antartic in search for Tyler (Doug McClure) who has been missing in that region for various years. The trio (Patrick Wayne , Sara Douglas, Thorley Walters) along with a plane pilot descend over a barren land and meet a primitive women (a gorgeous Dana Gillespie with amazing cleavage showing her boobs). They have to confront numerous risks , dangers, endure torrential landslide , volcano eruption , cavemen warriors, samurais , prehistoric animals and discover a lost tribe .

This enjoyable adaptation results to be a special version of the Edgar Rice Burroughs adventure yarn . There's rip-roaring action, spirit of adventure, derring-do , thrills, and turns out to be quite amusing. It's a brief fun with average special effects , passable set decoration , matte painting , functional art direction and non use of computer generator. This fantasy picture packs thrills, action, weird monsters, lively pace and fancy scenarios. The monsters are the real stars of this production and its chief attribute. The tale is silly and laughable but the effects and action are acceptable . Among the most spectacular of its visuals there are a deeply shrouded cavern full of skulls roaring menacingly towards the camera, a little tableau comprising attack of a giant monster in a cave, and the futuristic backgrounds of the nasty headquarter .Highlights of the adventure includes a roller-coaster trip, appearance of prehistoric reptile such as Pterodactilus, Stegosaurius, Tiranosaurious and some horsemen dressed Samurai-alike riding out from mountain throughout horizon . In addition, the final scenes where appears a grotesque executioner played by David Prowse (Darth Vader), a dwarf and usual villain chief and several others. Some illogical parts in the plot are more than compensated for the excitement provided by Roger Dicken's monsters, though sometimes are a little bit cheesy and primitively made . Filmed in glimmer cinematography by cameraman Alan Hume on location in Santa Cruz De La Palma (Canary Islands) and Pinewood studios , England. Adequate and thrilling musical score by John Scott. This is the fourth collaboration between producers John Dark, Max Rosemberg and director Kevin Connor who also made in similar style : ¨ Land that time forgot¨, ¨All the Earth's core (76)¨, ¨Warlord of Atlantis (1978)¨, mostly starred by Doug McClure and with Roger Dicken as the monster-maker. The film will appeal to kids who swallow it whole and sit convulsed in their armchair.

Better Than I Remembered

[Theo Robertson · 6/10 · 1 June 2005]

I first saw THE PEOPLE THAT TIME FORGOT in the early 1980s and as a sequel to the fondly remembered THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT I was very disappointed in it . Having seen it again over 20 years later I do realise that it's a very flawed movie/sequel but it's not without some value

Many of the problems are to do with the slow first half . We the audience know that the travellers are going to be meeting giant rubber dinosaurs but these rubber puppets aren't used to their real potential and the only sequence I can recall from over 20 years ago was when the pterodactyl smashed into the plane . What probably makes the sequence stick out in my memory is that this is one of the few times that a dinosaur does anything really bad in the movie but I guess that's because this isn't really a monster movie at all

The movie is far more similar to a half forgotten Hammer adventure film called THE LAST CONTINENT rather than a sequel to THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT , it's an adventure story featuring a lost kingdom and you can't help thinking that perhaps the story was once intended to be an original screenplay since Doug McClure's character seems to have been resurrected to kick off the plot but he's not given much to do and his role is even more superfluous than that of Charlton Heston in BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES a film not a million miles removed from this one

The film does improve in the second half as the expedition comes across a kingdom of pseudo Samuri warriors even if does lead to some plot holes , I can understand the concept of parallel evolution but why would this only apply to one race and not the others . Think about it: One race in this lost land has the culture and technology of 16th century Japan but everyone else seems to be living in the stone age . Credible ? Probably not ( Was it just an excuse to have a busty red head run around not wearing much ? ) but it's not really a credible movie

It is a fairly entertaining one though and better than I remembered from a couple of decades ago . The fact that you don't need to have seen the prequel is both a strength and weakness for THE PEOPLE THAT TIME FORGOT but it stands firmly on its own hind legs for a non discerning audience

Great story - Bad FX

[wcmartell · 10 January 2006]

I saw this film on a drive in double bill with THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT - and had read the books when I was 11 years old (Ace Paperbacks). LAND has hand puppet dinosaurs that don't move and look silly, PEOPLE has men in rubber suits as dinosaurs that look silly. Both films change the Burroughs stories (probably for budget reasons), but PEOPLE does something interesting - it combines the 2nd and 3rd book in Burroughs' series, using Act 1 of PEOPLE and Act 2&3 of OUT OF TIME'S ABYSS. The Weiros from ABYSS have been changed into Nagaas - a volcano cult dressed in Japanese Armor. (The Weiros were humanoids evolved from Pterodactyls - hard to do on a $1.98 budget.) This way they could take the old prisoner from ABYSS and turn him into Doug McClure's character.

PEOPLE is much better than LAND for a couple of reasons. LAND not only had crappy FX, it looked like it was shot on an indoor stage! So even when there isn't some bad process shot of a hand puppet T-Rex growling, the movie looks fake. PEOPLE was shot on location in Spain, and has some nice big panoramic shots - one amazing shot of the team crossing the crest of a mountain looks like something out of LAWRENCE OF ARABIA. The other reason why PEOPLE is better - cavegirls! If you read the books (with Frazetta covers) there were always half-naked cavegirls. As an 11 year-old boy, reading these was like discovering your Uncle's Playboy collection. Half naked girls! LAND has no cavegirls at all, PEOPLE has the Ajor character from the novel in a laced leather outfit that fits the drive in AIP scenario to a T.

I love the books, and would love to do a modern adaptation (with today's FX).

• Bill

Uninspired Sequel

[retrorocketx · 4/10 · 24 November 2008]

I am a sucker for Lost World movies. This one was made as a sequel to the Land that Time Forgot. The movie picks up with an attempted rescue attempt of Tyler, who was left stranded on the lost land of Caprona. But let's face it, The People That Time Forgot is not a good movie. It has some potential but overall the movie drags. And for a lost world movie, the landscape and creatures are boring.

The first 15 minutes of the movie were great and I was hooked. The props and costumes evoke the period of post WWI. The miniature ship and float plane are particularly interesting models and interact well in their miniature settings. Our adventurers enter the lost world by flying the float plane over mountains after getting in as close to the south pole as possible in a steam ship. Just as in the movie "Land Unknown" (1957) the plane is damaged and forced to land by an attacking pteronodon. Our adventurers have arrived in the lost world! From this point however, the movie drops way down in quality.

The landscape is bleak and uninteresting. I wondered why this boring heath and volcanic rock area was chosen over a lush jungle like the first movie. Worse, the dinosaurs are a step down in quality from "Land the Time Forgot", which is saying something. They don't have much to do besides provide a glimpse of a threat through the trees and roar ineffectually. They don't eat anyone. Only one creature, a cave monster actually gets to attack our heroes.

The 'people' of this land are a let down. One group is the very silly, ever chasing and yelling at a distance cave men. They capture the adventurers, but we never get a close look at them, nor do we get a glimpse of their culture. The other 'people' of this world are the skull collecting samurai. Again, we see very little of what might make them interesting. OK, there are a few moments where the skull samurai get to pose and preen a bit while preparing to decapitate the women. But really, why bother calling the the movie 'The People That Time Forgot' if you are not going anywhere with the people? The first movie gave us so much more in terms of cultural groups.

The expedition characters are purely stock, and no interesting chemistry or conflicts develop within the party as a result of their potentially awesome contact with a prehistoric world. The expedition consists of a female photographer whose father owns a newspaper and is putting up the cash for this trip, Tyler's BFF who is determined to rescue him, his trusty half-drunk comic relief sidekick, and a not-convincing scientist type. Along the way they enlist the aid of a beautiful and scantily-clad cave girl (Dana Gillespie). She carries the film with her primordial sex appeal.

There are way too many padded scenes of the group strolling around the trees and hills. The fight scenes don't work because they are poorly done and they have no real drama because nothing seems to be at stake besides immediate self defense. There is no interaction among characters except for stock exchanges of uninspired dialog. Overall the actors seems confused and bored while they meander from point A to point B.

But there are a few good scenes in the film, one of the best being the meeting and rescue of Tyler (Doug McClure) in a skull infested prison cell. By the end of the movie, you realize why the filmmakers chose the location they did. A nearly unlimited number of explosions are set off at the climax of the film. That sequence ended up being kind of fun. But final scene of the film...awkward and lame.

What's that coming over the hill is that a monster? Is that a monster?

[hitchcockthelegend · 7/10 · 14 August 2012]

The People That Time Forgot is directed by Kevin Connor and adapted to screenplay by Patrick Tilley from the novel of the same name written by Edgar Rice Burroughs. it stars Patrick Wayne, Sarah Douglas, Dana Gillespie, Thorley Walters, Shane Rimmer and Doug McClure. Music is scored by John Scott and cinematography by Alan Hume.

A sequel to The Land That Time Forgot, plot finds Wayne as Major Ben McBride who arranges a mission to go and search for his missing friend Bowen Tyler (McClure). As the party go beyond the Antartic wastes they find themselves in a world populated by prehistoric creatures and primitive tribes.

There are a group of film fans of a certain age that were exposed wilfully to the joys of Kevin Connor and Doug McClure Creature Features, the four pictures made with low budgets (see also The Land That Time Forgot 1975, At the Earth's Core 1976 & Warlords of Atlantis 1978) were simply put together with a standard structure of humans discovering an unknown land, who then encounter beasties and savage races and then try to escape said world of wonder. Back then in the 70s with youthful eyes these films were magnificent things, we didn't care about clunky animatronics and miniatures, staid dialogue and poorly constructed scenes of men grappling with a man in rubber make up. Nor did us boys pay any attention to the considerable heaving bosom factor, which is here supplied with a different kind of wonder by Dana Gillespie! But they are a group of films that once loved, is a love that lasts forever, yes, it's true love.

As it is, The People That Time Forgot is often thought of as the weakest of the four, yet it's every inch the equal of "Land", primarily because the cast attack the material with great spirit (Douglas is rather splendid and not just a posh girl with a pretty face), the film stock it's shot on is of better quality and John Scott's score is bursting with vitality. There's also a ripper of a finale here, with the pyrotechnics department creating merry hell. Explosives aplenty. While the Santa Cruz de la Palma location used for the world of Caprona is perfectly bereft of civilised leanings. As with the other's in the series, the ideas at the heart aren't fully realised because of the budget restrictions, so we basically get some talk between characters, then a fight with a beast, some more talk, another fight with a beast, a meeting with a uncivilised tribe, a fight with a beast, and on it goes until the derring-do escape. There will be peril and actually this one has a very noteworthy turn of events that might surprise a few of the uninitiated.

1977 of course was the year of Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which changed things considerably in the creature feature/sci-fi fantasy stakes. Thus the Connor/McClure movies were relegated to being antique relics of monster malarkey cinema. Yet still they retain a quaint uniqueness, they are able to continually imbue many of us with waves of nostalgia, taking us back to a time when the likes of Connor made fantasy films with love and basic tools. The Land That Time Forgot was badly adapted to film in 2009 (C. Thomas Howell directing and starring), which begs the question on why Burroughs' Caspak trilogy has not been taken on by a big studio? As yet the third part of the trilogy, Out of Time's Abyss, has not received a filmic adaptation, can you imagine what someone like Spileberg could do with Burroughs' wonderful source ideas?

Ah well, we can but dream, in the meantime we will happily make do with our cheesy antiquities. 7/10

Not As Bad As I Remember

[FiendishDramaturgy · 5/10 · 15 June 2007]

I remembered horrible performances, cheap sets, and a contrived storyline. It's amazing I bothered with this one again, but I'm glad I did. While this is no masterpiece, it is actually much better than I remembered. Continuing forward from the original installment, "The Land That Time Forgot," picks up the Bowen Tyler (Doug McClure) character after having been left behind by the crew of his original mission, and discovers what has happened in his life since his isolation began.

While this IS horribly dated, Patrick Wayne is actually quite good. You may remember Patrick Wayne from Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger. He is also John Wayne's son, who was offered the role as Superman in the original movie, but turned it down due to his father's accelerating cancer.

The sets were not as bad as I thought I remembered, either, but the dialog delivery is still pretty false and unnatural.

All in all? As a "B" flick, this isn't bad for a rainy day diversion. It's still not a masterpiece and is RIPE for a remake, but there is some entertainment to be derived from this work.

It rates a 4.7/10 from...

the Fiend :.

Not entirely believable or realistic but worth watching.

[ChuckStraub · 6/10 · 24 October 2004]

With a plot like this one, it's hard to go wrong. A post WWI expedition sails to the Antarctic to try tofind a lost man in a prehistoric land tucked between the high icy mountains. Prehistoric dinosaurs keep popping up throughout the film. Then there's always the evil tribe of bad guys causing plenty of trouble. I can't forget to mention the scantily clad cave girl. I doubt if prehistoric women ever looked like this. Throw in a volcano and you have an adventure movie called 'The People That Time Forgot'. The characters and situations are not entirely believable or realistic and the dinosaurs could have used more work on them, but all in all, it was a pretty good, fun movie that's worth watching.

Inferior sequel

[dave13-1 · 4/10 · 15 April 2012]

The Land That Time Forgot was a surprisingly decent entry into the lost world of cavemen / dinosaurs adventure genre of the 70s, but this paint- by-numbers follow-up is nothing special. Block of wood celebrity offspring Patrick Wayne leads a band of rescuers in search of first movie survivor Doug McClure. The resulting chases, fights, narrow escapes etc. are the usual stuff of adventure movies, but the stunt choreography comes off as ordinary and uninspired. Oh-so-British Sarah Douglas is along as one of Wayne's crew but she has little to do here other than stand around looking uncomfortable. And the Lost Land itself, an important and colorful presence in the first film, is less imaginatively conceived this time around. Not a bad time waster when you have nothing better to do for a couple of hours, but try not to expect too much in the way of visionary fantasy. It isn't here.

Monsters and Stars of Yesteryear, with a dollop of strange.

[smittie-1 · 7/10 · 23 December 2005]

Wow... where to begin? How 'bout by saying that THE PEOPLE THAT TIME FORGOT is the purest form of '70s "Love Boat" style casting mixed up with some plentiful, if not entirely convincing, special effects, and that this film represents the genre of cheeseball SF in all its questionable glory? Doug McClure, Dana Gillespie, that cowboy dude who was related to somebody, they all traipse across the screen and shout "Gawddammit!" and have heavy monologues with an intensity akin to Shakespeare's MACBETH... instead of an obscure adaptation of one of ERB's less remembered stories. But it's all good fun, especially the pilot guy who does his hash marks with five lines and THEN a dash and treats pterodactyls with the same ornery attitude he'd give crows in his cornfield. He looks like the type to have a cornfield. And TREMBLE at the fury that is "confused 1970s gender commentary" and "barely simmering sexual resentment"! I'd be resentful too if the other woman was Dana Gillespie and I'd been playing the 'headstrong hair-in-a-bun' type too long.

Very briefly, Doug McClure's character (who got left behind in movie #1)has got a buddy who sets up an expedition to find the lost continent of Caprona and save ol' Rawhide. There's the prerequisite gang of SF stock characters including the frosty professional lady and the salt-of-earth mechanic along with the scientist and McClure's buddy... who he knew in the war or something. Nuff said, their plane crash lands beyond the ice mountains, stranding them in Caprona where they find puppet monsters and evil cavemen. No, not evil, just misunderstood. Eventually the party picks up a cave babe and finds The Mountain Of Skulls where McClure has grown a beard and been imprisoned, in that order. The Naga Samurai Type Guys will sacrifice the ladies and execute the men-folk unless Rawhide and Wayne can two-fist a way out of there. Which they do. But then they get chased by a volcano. When's the last time you saw anything like that?

Check it out. Dana Gillespie had (cough) personal relations with David Bowie, and here she is waving a Bowie knife around. Coincidence? Most likely, yes.

The women are attractive, the dinosaurs are nasty, the plot moves along fast enough and you get unexpected samurai action- though I just revealed the presence of said samurai... spoilers... oh well, the whole thing's weird enough to warrant a look, especially for someone not used to that sort of thing... weird dinosaurs, I mean.

Lame and Absurd Adventure

[claudio_carvalho · 4/10 · 1 February 2014]

The newspaper of the family of the photographer Charly (Sarah Douglas) sponsors an expedition to the Arctic in the ship Polar Queen to find and rescue Bowen Tyler (Doug McClure). Soon the rescue team formed by Tyler's friend Ben McBride (Patrick Wayne), Professor Norfolk (Thorley Walters) and Charly fly in an airplane with the pilot Hogan (Shane Rimmer) to a distant place while Captain Lawton (Tony Britton) waits for their return on board of the Polar Queen. However they are hit by a pterodactyl and crash in a weird land of prehistoric animals. Soon they meet the native Ajor (Dana Gillespie) that surprisingly speaks English. They learn that Tyler had taught English to her tribe that evolved from the Stone Age to the Iron Age, but he was captured by a wild tribe. While Hogan fixes the airplane, Ajor joins the group to help them to find Tyler and bring him back to the civilization in a dangerous journey.

"The People That Time Forgot" is a lame and absurd adventure with a silly story. It is funny to see the hot native Ajor with a fashion haircut (1977); or the tropical forest in the middle of the Arctic; or Hogan scoring the number of pterodactyls that he has killed; or Professor Norfolk throwing away Charly's camera to lighten the weight in the airplane; or the group skilled in sword fighting. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "O Mundo Que o Tempo Esqueceu" ("The World That Time Forgot")

Stands out from the crowd.

[G.Spider · 9/10 · 18 June 1999]

The sequel to 'The Land That Time Forgot'. With World War 1 now over, the British navy sets out to the lost world of Caprona to find the still-missing hero of the first film. However, their amphi-plane is attacked by a pterodactyl and they are forced to crash-land.

This is a rare case - a sequel that is just as good as its predecessor. The characters are well-thought-out and believable, the plot is entertaining and well-written and the music is good. The consequences of developed societies advancing the development of untouched tribes also makes for an interesting storyline. The special effects are improved, despite the odd dodgy model, and on the whole the film is excellent viewing.

Fun For What It Is

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 12 June 2013]

Major Ben McBride (Patrick Wayne) organizes a mission to the Antarctic wastes to search for his friend (Doug McClure) who has been missing in the region for several years. McBride's party find themselves in a world populated by primitive warriors and terrifying prehistoric creatures, all of whom they must evade in order to get back safely to their ship.

This is the sort of movie that has Sam Arkoff and American International written all over it. While it will probably never be looked upon fondly by critics, it has a healthy dose of sailors, dinosaurs, some primitive people... the kind of things you might expect in a fun little adventure film.

Edgar Rice Burroughs, who wrote the original story, really needs a re-examination. He is known primarily a the creator of Tarzan, and the attempt to bring John Carter to the big screen failed... but there are plenty of tales that could be adapted successfully if done properly. We simply do not have "fun" films like this one anymore.

"Pterodactyl's are far more interesting than Germans." Fun enough monster film.

[poolandrews · 5/10 · 1 June 2005]

The People that Time Forgot starts aboard a Royal Navy icebreaker named the 'Polar Queen' as it sails towards the snow covered cliffs of a lost continent called Caprona, well it's not lost anymore is it? Anyway on-board is American Major Ben McBride (Patrick Wayne, son of John Wayne by the way) who intends to find his close friend Bowen Tyler (Doug McClure) who went missing & the only clue to his whereabouts was a cannister found floating in the Sea just off the coast of Scotland containing various prehistoric specimens & Tyler's location, travelling with McBride is a photographer named Charlotte Cunningham (Sarah Douglas, complete with Princess Leia buns hairdo) who has been sent by the newspaper that is funding the expedition, a scientist named Dr. Edwin Norfolk (Thorley Walters) who intends to study the continent & a mechanic Hogan (Shane Rimmer). Captain Lawton (Tony Britton) wishes them luck & the four set off in their amphibious plane, before they know it they're over the snowy cliffs & are suddenly attacked by a pterodactyl which damages their plane & forces them to make a crash landing. Hogan says he'll need a few days to fix the plane, McBride decides to leave him to it & sets off with Charlotte & Edwin in search of his friend Tyler. Soon they meet a scantily clad (horay!) cave-woman who luckily speaks perfect English named Ajor (Dana Gillespie) who is one of the last remaining survivors of the Galu tribe, she says that she knew Tyler & that he taught her & the Galu much before the evil Naga kidnapped him & slaughtered most of the Galu. The Naga wanted the intelligent Tyler for themselves, they also worship the volcano god Naga Mata by offering human sacrifices in their city called the Mountain of Skulls. All four set off to try & rescue Tyler all the while having to dodge other hostile tribes, various dinosaurs & monsters who want to eat them & eventually the King of the Naga's a big fat bald green guy called Sabbala who wants to chop they're heads off as a sacrifice...

Directed by Kevin Connor this was the third 'lost world' film he made with Doug McClure for British production company Amicus that started with The Land that Time Forgot (1975) continued with At the Earth's Core (1976) then this one & finally Warlords of Atlantis (1978) which rounded the loose series of films off. I must admit that The People the Time Forgot isn't my favourite of the four films, far from it in fact. The script by Patrick Tilley based on the novel Edgar Rice Burroughs contains all the necessary ingredients that one would expect, swashbuckling action & adventure, fantasy, Sci-Fi, monsters, cave-women showing lots of cleavage off, a race against time to get to safety, an erupting volcano & two waring tribes one good & one evil but somehow I didn't like it as much as the others. The People that Time Forgot moves along at a reasonable pace & is generally entertaining but there are plenty of plot holes in this one that you could drive a tank through, the one that bugs me the most is that Tyler has seemingly taught the entire population of Caprona to speak perfect English as mentioned several times. The monsters barely interact with the expedition this time & really do look awfully cheap & not in a charming innocent kind of way either, probably the worst in the series & they even reuse one monster from At the Earth's Core & looking at these things can get a bit embarrassing at times. Some of the other, well most actually, special effect's are also not exactly brilliant & in particular the miniature's of the plane & boat & the matte paintings of the Mountain of Skulls which looks pretty fake as they walk towards it. The locations were also another disappointment compared to the other films, most of The People that Time Forgot takes place in a very real forest somewhere & a rocky wilderness that's both bland & unimaginative. Although they were hardly convincing themselves when compared to the sets of the other films I felt this came off as second best & seemed a little too 'real' & suffers as a lost world film because of it. The Naga city is depicted by one throne room & a dungeon cell both of which actually looked quite cool especially the dungeon with it's skull, bone & cobweb strewn walls & floor, the Naga are depicted wearing what looks like Japanese Samurai costumes & they felt strange to me. There's a cool shot when McBride takes one of their masks off though & reveals what's underneath. The acting is OK, Wayne makes for a bland hero but he's alright I guess & I'm surprised McClure has nothing more than a cameo in this one. Douglas does a good job of being attractive throughout so I've no complaints there & Gellespie is just OK as the native cave-woman. Overall I liked The People that Time Forgot but it's definitely not my favourite Connor/McClure monster film, that honour goes to Warlords of Atlantis. If you liked the others then I'm positive you'll like this & it's still good fun to watch for all ages regardless but there's just something about it that doesn't work for me that I can't quite put my finger on...

Great heroines, great film.

[SanDiego · 2 June 2001]

American International made four low budget films starring Doug McClure based on books by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the author of the Tarzan books. THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT and it's sequel THE PEOPLE THAT TIME FORGOT borrowed heavily from Arthur Conan Doyle's THE LOST WORLD but added it's own twists and turns. THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT is a non-stop adventure in the Indiana Jones mode with Major Ben McBride (Patrick Wayne, son of the Duke) out to rescue shipwrecked Bowen Tyler (Doug McClure from the first film). Among those along for the adventure is Lady Charlotte Cunningham played by a beautiful Sarah Douglas (SUPERMAN II). Despite Amelia Earhart attire she is definately hot. She reminded me of Francesca Hunt in THE SECRET ADVENTURES OF JULES VERNE on the Sci-Fi Network. Along the way they meet Ajor (Dana Gillespie) friend of Bowen Tyler, who looks and dresses like Xena, Warrior Princess (so this is where Xena got that look). Dana Gillespie is stunning and like Xena and Sheena makes a great Jungle Girl (strong, smart, gorgeous, sexy...hey what else could one ask for?) Lady Charlotte and Major Ben create a romantic tension but when Ajor enters the scene Major Ben has eyes for Ajor and Lady Charlotte just goes with the flow chumming up with Ajor as well. I found that refreshing and glad to see the women in this film be more than just damsels in distress (there is a little of that toward the end but it all evens out with everyone being able to do something heroic). Jungle Girl films have been around for a long time (check out the serials!) and I truly love them because they show women to have strength, beauty, and brains. This film is a worthy member of that genre. Like the rest of the series the special effects are uneven but always entertaining (the vehicles and sets are always stunning but these guys never did know how to make a monster). The violence is very very low key, the frights are made funny by rubber puppets, and there is no swearing. Appropriate for the entire family for those into Xena and The Lost World.

Mostly for Laughs and a Youthful Sarah Douglas

[aimless-46 · 2/10 · 15 March 2007]

"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.

Not great especially for 1977.

[plan99 · 7/10 · 20 November 2023]

If this film had been made in 1957 and not in 1977 then its many flaws could be forgiven and it would be a classic 1950s B horror film, but as it was made in 1977 its terribleness is more difficult to forgive.

Where the Japanese Samurai came from is anyone's guess and their horse were very well equipped with saddles and bridles and stirrups which were not available until the first century AD.

I piece of nonsense enjoyable just for being a piece of nonsense and Patrick Wayne must have been desperate for work to appear in this. He must have been teased about appearing in this for many decades.

Nothing More Than A Time Waster

[sddavis63 · 4/10 · 3 April 2011]

Apparently this is a sequel to the earlier "The Land That Time Forgot" - which I saw many, many years ago but have to admit I don't remember very much of. Since this is a sequel, I guess it can be forgiven to an extent for not having much that's especially original in it. It's a typical story of a land filled with dinosaurs and "cave people" (including a stereotypical and very well endowed "cavegirl" - played by an actress named Dana Gillespie - who speaks surprisingly fluent English - having been taught by the man they're searching for - and spends most of the movie looking like she's about to burst out of her costume) as a search party heads in to find someone lost from the previous expedition. To give credit where credit is due, the sets were realistic and the dinosaur effects were pretty well done. The pterodactyl attack on the small plane near the beginning of the movie was actually quite believable - at least in the context of this movie. The cast was not particularly familiar to me. The most recognizable face (to me) was Sarah Douglas as "Charly" - a well to do photographer sent along by her family's newspaper to document the expedition. (I recognize her as Ursa - the villainess from Superman II a few years later.)

There's nothing very spectacular here. It's not a bad time waster (although it seems to start rather abruptly) even though it's not an especially good movie. (4/10)

Difficult to review

[dukeb0y · 6/10 · 2 September 2023]

. First the good. This is a good overall entertaining film. And really if it wasn't for the lady, with her chest hanging out it would be a great kids fair.

For some reason I love the old fashioned adventures. Without any computer generated images. We got a Nifty biplane, that floats so it's more of a float point. Lots of action lots of dinosaurs. I won't say it has lots of plot but it's still a cute story.

Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote it. It would have been done better. But hey it's worth a watch if you got some time on a Saturday afternoon. Okay for kids too for the most part. That's about it for this review.

What happens when a 12 year old makes a film?

[MrPither1939 · 2/10 · 22 July 2022]

Imagine being 12 years old and having access to quality movie making cameras and lighting. Now imagine that you don't have access to a script or quality actors. You have just entered the world of The People That Time Forgot. The plot is almost a half inch deep. The story line (I'm being nice) is juvenile at best. Some scenes look spectacular in costume and setting and then get ruined by obviously drawn backgrounds that look like poor doodles with a set of Crayons (the small, 8 color box). If I were 12, I might enjoy this. I'm not 12.

Patrick Wayne vs the Dinosaurs

[neil-douglas2010 · 7/10 · 20 November 2023]

A pretty decent follow up to 1974's "The Land that Time Forgot" starring John Wayne's son Patrick. His role as the hero Ben is probably the least likeable role in the film (not his fault I add, it's just the way the character was written). Anyway Ben is on a mission to find his old friend Bowen Tyler (Doug McClure) who went missing in the first film. Helping him on his mission are pilot Hogan (Shame Rimmer), writer Norfolk (Thorley Walters) and photographer Charly (Sarah Douglas). These parts are all played with great fun especially Rimmer and Douglas who herself would find global fame as the villain Ursa in the first two Superman films.

This is an enjoyable film, even it's special effects won't ruin this film for you. Perfect for a sunday afternoon.

campy adventure film, watchable, but not a classic

[TheUnknown837-1 · 5/10 · 3 July 2007]

"The Land that Time Forgot" was actually a rather great camp classic of the 70s. The special effects in that film were just horrendous, yet the movie was nothing short of entertaining and superb when it comes to fun and energy. The sequel, titled "The People that Time Forgot" is also kind of a like a movie that time forgot. The special effects used on the dinosaurs are a bit better than those achieved in the prequel (yet the pterodactyls still can't move their wings at all!) The movie is fun to watch, yet people have almost forgotten it entirely this day.

"The People that Time Forgot" features the exact kind of cast that you would expect from a caveman-dinosaur flick. Adventurers, scientists, dinosaurs, cavemen, and volcanic eruptions. So it is pretty typical for a film of its type. Acting by the cast, including Patrick Wayne and Doug McClure, was well regarded in my opinion of the film. And the fights between the humans and the cavemen, as you see in a lot of films like this, they were just plain old good fun.

But what doesn't work about "The People that Time Forgot" that did work in "The Land that Time Forgot"? The sequel is just not full of the energy and originality that the first one had. And it just didn't have the overall feeling that the first one did.

An excellent sequel to The Land That Time Forgot

[chris_gaskin123 · 8/10 · 11 September 2002]

The People That Time Forgot is an enjoyable sequel to The Land That Time Forgot and is the third sci-fi movie starring Doug McClure and directed by Kevin Conner.

A party led by The Duke's son Patrick Wayne travels to Caprona to rescue Bowen Tyler (Doug McClure). Joining them are a reporter played by Sarah Douglas and Thorley Walters, who plays a professor. After the ship has reached as far as it can, they transfer to an aeroplane which is piloted by Shane Rimmer (The Spy Who Loved Me). After shooting down a Pterodactyl, they land safely and start walking to search for Tyler. They reach the City of Skulls where he is being held prisoner. After fighting off several warriors, they escape but Tyler is killed. The City of Skulls is ruled by a huge bald bloke who reminds me of Tor Johnson of Plan 9 From Outer Space fame. They escape the volcanic eruption at the end.

Other Prehistoric monsters in this movie include a Stegosaurus, a pair of Creatosaurus and what looks like an Ankylosaurus. These monsters don't look too bad, but you can't beat stop-motion.

This movie is worth watching, especially if you a dinosaur movie fan like me.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5.

Good enough

[SanteeFats · 7/10 · 3 August 2013]

Nice follow up to "The Land that Time Forgot". In this one Patrick Wayne is searching for his long lost friend, Doug McClure, who disappeared several years ago. They come to the ice in a ship, take off in a float plane, of course with a female reporter along and a mechanic who turns out to be decently funny. The encounter with a pterodactyl while in the air causes them to land short with a chewed up prop. Most of the group proceeds on, leaving the mechanic alone to try and fix the plane. They find out that the friend has been captured by some caveman type tribe. They find Doug McClure, rescue him and his friend, get them safely back to the plane and, with some difficulty manage to take off and get back to the ship just before it has depart.

The movie that time forgot......

[FlashCallahan · 4/10 · 27 October 2014]

Major Ben McBride organises a mission to the Antarctic wastes to search for his friend who has been missing in the region for several years.

McBride's party find themselves in a world populated by primitive warriors and terrifying prehistoric creatures, all of whom they must evade in order to get back safely to their ship.....

The Land That Time Forgot was a funny throwaway bit of fluff that had a funny soundtrack and great monster effects. It was a success, so it was a given that some sort of follow up would be made.

This, however isn't the way to follow up a fun ninety minute adventure movie. Imagine Jurassic Park with an hour of the group on a boat, and then thirty minutes of them on foot, and then twenty minutes of dinosaurs? Sounds rubbish doesn't it.

Well this is that film, twenty minutes on a boat, ten minutes on a plane with cinemas most annoying pterodactyl, and then lots of walking.

The rest of the film is just Doug McClure trying to win the film from everyone else, and Ursa from Superman with Princess Leia buns.

It all ends with a glowing volcano, and not much else.

A pointless movie, devoid of the awkward charm the first film had.