The People That Time Forgot (1977)

If you like big fake dinosaurs--and who doesn't?--this is the movie for you. Patrick Wayne stars as the intrepid Major Ben McBride, searching the Arctic for his lost friend. Sarah Douglas is at his side as Charly, the spunky lady photographer with a dainty puckish streak. As luck would have it, they come across a tropical zone that is home to big fake dinosaurs, surly Neanderthals, and nubile cavewomen with truly astonishing cleavage. Ah, but if only it were that simple. An evil rival tribe has been exterminating the gentle cave people and must be stopped. Whatever else you may want to say about producers Samuel Z. Arkoff and John Dark, they simply do not skimp on explosions. The People That Time Forgot has a detonation-filled corker of an ending that leaves the cast absolutely showered with dirt clods. Highly entertaining. --Ali Davis Amazon.com

Mostly for Laughs and a Youthful Sarah Douglas

"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 make 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. March 16, 2007

A saga for the Ages!!!!!

The Duke would have been proud of his son for making such a fine film. An expedition to the South Pole in search of a missing scientist brings forth a movie of which the world has never seen the likes of!

Enroute to the rescue the party is attacked by a pteridactl that downs their plane in the middle of no where. They must lasso a stegasaurus to get the plane unstuck. Special effects indeed that you must see to believe. But even more amazing than the special effects in the Cave Girl, ohh la la!!!!!

Her beauty must be seen to be appreciated. For a cavewoman she looks great. Perfect salon hair, makeup, shaved legs, and a rack that cannot be described. Her breasts are unlike anything I've ever seen, as if done by an artist. Her cleavage is absolutly perfect. This chick would give rival cavegirl Raquel Welch a run for her money.

Well the party survives attacks by more dinosaurs, vicious cavemen, and weird Samuris who ride on horseback. They worship a volcano god that wants sacrifices all the time. The chief priest looks a lot like Tor Johnson, the hulking Swedish wrestler who starred in Plan 9 from Outer Space and The Beast of Yucca Flats.

For fun, adventure, and an angry pilot who likes to yell "Goddammit!" a lot and shoot down flying dinosaurs, then The People that Time Forgot is perfect for you! November 30, 2006

"THE MOVIE SOME PEOPLE STILL ADORE SINCE CHILDHOOD"

I really don't have much to add as everyone has basically given more or less the same run down of the plot. I first saw this as the prime-time movie of the night on ABC network around 1979 or 1980? It was great and me being a dinosaur enthusiast was just ecstatic. My age at that time would've been 7 or 8 y/o. and with my young mind knew this had to of been a theatrical release.
One of my favorite segments is when our weary band of survivors are walking through this cave and all of a sudden a group of six or seven long- necked dinosaurs come popping out of these holes in the cave wall, nipping at Sarah Douglas' torn arm sleeves- oh, what exitement! On top of that Sarah's character- Lady Charlotte"Charly" for short, who was the resident photographer-as her uncle(the owner of the newspaper that financed the expedition), hired her for this excursion, finds an ingenious way to temporarily blind the biting dinosaurs with her camera's flash bulb so the others who are trapped on the other side of the dinosaurs can safely run through. The dinos are laughable as their mouths don't even bite, chomp or do anything. The characters could've just walked on by.
Now you all know that Sarah Douglas went on to be the ruthless Elsa forever banished in the Phantom Zone along with General Zod and I forgot the third guy's name(is it Grodd?), in the classic 1978 "Superman" movie; only to escape in "Superman II". Then Sarah was the villianess in "Conan the Barbarian" along side Mr. governor of California,Arnold S.- too long to spell out-sheesh! Sarah was yet another sinister character on the television series "Falcon Crest". To top that off she was also a 'Visitor' rivaling Jane Badler's Diana in "V the Final Battle" mini-series. Diana showed Sarah's character Pamela, who was the queen of the lizards. The last movie I saw Sarah in was another "Night of the Living Dead" sequel from the mid 90's, againg playing a somewhat greedy, over amorous pofessor/laboratory technician who gets her cumuppence at the end of the movie. Sarah also appeared on an episode of the Brittish 70's sci-fi series "Space 1999", in an episode entitled 'The A/B Chrysalis'. Patrick Wayne played Sinbad in "Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger", the third and final installment of the Sinbad films- also released in 1977. Whoa, was he busy filming in 1976 and 1977. Shane Rimmer was in "The Spy Who Loved Me", also released in '77 and had a quick cameo as a taxi driver in "Superman". Dave Prowse, the muscle bound, testosterone laden executioner was Darth Vadar- physically, but the voice supplied that of James Earl Jones. He appeared to be much older in "Return of the Jedi" though. Tommy Britton who played Captain Lawton I think is 'Q' in the James Bond films. The rest of the cast I've never seen them in any other productions except this.
I'm going to close with my all time favorite scene when Ajor(Dana Gillespie) bites Saballa's(Milton Reid) hand and he falls into the bubbling volcano ready to blow it's top. Then Ajor exclaims..."Nagaramata...when he speaks,all die"! How hilarious! When I repeated it several times to see what the other character's reactions were, it looked like they were biting their lips to prevent themselves from cracking up with laughter. Next time you guys watch this scene pay close attention to Sarah Douglas and Patrick Wayne. The late Doug McClure is just shaking his head and probably thinking who wrote this horrendous dialogue. Remember, you'll never escape the wrath of the island of CAPRONA!


Julius-Allan Hernandez
Chicago,Il.
August 20, 2006

Ajor, Ajor, Ajor, Ajor, Ajor (Dana Gillespie in a cavegirl outfit!)

"The PEOPLE That Time Forgot" is the much inferior 1977 sequel to "The Land That Time Forgot" from 1975. The basic plot is essentially identical to "Beneath the Planet of the Apes," albeit far less serious.

An expedition (including Patrick Wayne and Sarah Douglas) goes to the savage artic hidden land of Caprona to find Bowen Tyler (Doug McClure). There they run into fairly cheesy prehistoric creatures and a ravishing cavewoman named Ajor (Dana Gillespie). She leads them to the Mountain of the Skull wherein Tyler is held captive by a hostile neanderthal-like tribe dressed in cool samurai apparel.

WHAT WORKS: The Spanish locations are outstanding, as are the costumes and many of the life-size sets and opticals. The story moves along pretty quickly (the flick's only 90 minutes long). Patrick Wayne and Doug McClure are Great and Dana Gillespie is awe-inspiring in her skimpy cavegirl outfit, in fact, in my opinion Dana blows the more popular Raquel Welch in "One Million Years BC" out of the water (Raquel is a bit too thin to my tastes; Dana has far better curves).

WHAT DOESN'T WORK: The story is less serious than "The Land That Time Forgot" (i.e. campier) and not nearly as compelling; in other words, don't expect for a second to be enraptured by the story. The miniature sets are too-obviously unreal and the creature F/X are only mediocre-to-poor (for the time period).

FINAL ANALYSIS: If you're into these types of Edgar Rice Burroughs adventures, "People" is certainly worth having in your video library. It's nothing exceptional or captivating, but it's certainly fun, light and brisk. And catching the voluptuos Dana Gillespie at the height of her physical beauty is a must. Lastly, it's far, far better than the ridiculously awful "At the Earth's Core." November 8, 2005

DON'T BUY THIS LAME DUCK EDITION

For years now, THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT was not on DVD .Obviously some moron thought it was better release the second part first. Looks like he was fired and THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT is coming to DVD.

THE GOOD NEWS except for those of us that already bought THE PEOPLE THAT TIME FORGOT and have every reason to feel ripped off:

It's Part of an MGM Midnite Movies Double Feature wave
Street Date August 24th 2004
THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT/THE PEOPLE THAT TIME FORGOT

THE BAD NEWS:

EXCLUSIVE to BEST BUY July 18, 2004

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