ONE MILLION YEARS BC Both Cuts from Kino Lorber

[AndyDursin]

February 14th. Just announced on Facebook

[Eric Paddon]

Terrific! I have wanted to see this film get this kind of treatment for years as it is IMO a deserved classic for Harryhausen's FX, the great sense of atmosphere and of course Raquel being launched into the fame she's enjoyed ever since. Can finally pitch my Laserdisc transfer of the long-cut.

[AndyDursin]

Here's my review of the Blu-Ray. Tim Lucas' "audio essay" commentary reminded me of an early Criterion track where the speaker reads off their script (so it's pretty dry), and the other extras are recycled -- but the transfer is great. Really enjoyed this film too...lots of fun.

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If you’re into the special effects of Ray Harryhausen or the bountiful physical beauty of Raquel Welch, there’s endless entertainment to be found in ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. (91/100 mins., 1966), the caveman-cult favorite that makes its long-awaited Blu-Ray debut this week from Kino Lorber.

A remake of the 1940s RKO black-and-white release “One Million B.C.,” this Hammer production – with exteriors shot in the Canary Islands – is a rugged adventure starring John Richardson as “Tumak,” a member of the stoic Rock Tribe, who’s banished from his tribe by its leader (future James Bond “M,” Robert Brown!). His subsequent trek across a harsh prehistoric landscape leads him into the land of the Shell People, populated by kinder, more caring blondes – and the lovely “Loana,” played by Welch, then on loan from the movie’s U.S. distributor, 20th Century Fox. The duo cultivate an unlikely relationship with Tumak and Loana fleeing from dinosaurs, neanderthals, and Tumak’s former tribe in Michael Carreras’ adaptation of its far inferior 1940 predecessor.

Directed by Don Chaffey and populated with Harryhausen’s creations – including a harrowing pterodactyl attack – “One Million Years B.C.” pretty much has everything you’d want from a caveman epic. Raquel looks great in as skimpy an outfit as was possible on-screen in 1966, and the movie’s lack of dialogue serves it well today – this is a straight-ahead, colorful adventure, well balanced between action and tribal sparring, with Martine Beswick also showing off her assets as one of the Rock People’s tougher dames.

Kino Lorber’s double-disc Blu-Ray includes both cuts of the film – Fox’s 91-minute U.S. release version (the only cut of the film to generate a domestic DVD release) and the 100-minute International version, which was last seen in the U.S. on laserdisc. Surprisingly, this wasn’t a case where character material was mostly trimmed for the U.S. cut – some of the movie’s punchier gore and dinosaur action was cleaned up instead (in an effort to appeal to younger kids), so the longer cut will be preferred by most. Derived from a recent 4K restoration, both transfers are finely detailed and offer clear DTS MA mono sound featuring Mario Nascimbene’s score, which veers from serviceable to strange and generally isn’t one of the film’s stronger elements. A commentary – more of an “audio essay” – has been provided by Video Watchdog’s Tim Lucas with older DVD interviews with Welch and Harryhausen also on-hand. The trailer, a poster/stills gallery, and a recent conversation with Beswick round out a terrific release!

[Eric Paddon]

Thanks for the preview! Been looking forward to a quality release of this for years and *finally* we get one that's done right with both cuts of the film but as you say, it's the longer cut that will be preferred. I think there are also some differences in the credits that Hal Roach is only credited as Associate Producer (because of his role with the 1940 film) on the US cut but not on the international one.

[AndyDursin]

Great point Eric, I actually watched only the Intl cut all the way through and, after it was over, I wondered if I had missed the credit for the original film. So the only place that credits this film as a remake is the US release? Strange.

[Eric Paddon]

I think both cuts give credit to the original 1940 screenplay but it's just the Roach credit that only appears in the US cut.

The commentary is only on the longer cut too, right?

[AndyDursin]

Gotcha.

Commentary is on the longer version. Lucas has a gravely voice and reads off a prepared script. Didn't hear much of it, but it's really dry like an old Criterion track.

The Welch and Harryhausen interviews were on the UK DVD from the early 2000's. The Beswick interview is recent -- I assume it was shot for the UK Blu-Ray (which apparently also has a new Welch interview, which isn't included here).

[Eric Paddon]

Just so long as its not like a Marian Keane on Spellbound Criterion track!

[Eric Paddon]

Well I celebrated my decade long wait for a presentation of this type by watching both cuts AND the commentary track. Transfer seems better on the international cut overall though the US cut is certainly improved as well.

The commentary track I felt was a sold B+ to A- in that we get some informative background (though when reciting Raquel Welch's later credits post-OMYBC at the end he erroneously attributed films like "The Biggest Bundle of Them All" as Fox projects when they weren't). I was glad to hear clarifications on other cuts that were made that even I hadn't fully picked up on over the years especially in the stop-motion segments (the turtle one was the only one that I was familiar with). And I have to say that its also refreshing for once to hear this film discussed without the usual air of campy putdowns one associates with any review of the film. It's especially refreshing to hear someone for a change note how Kubrick largely borrowed from this film for his much ballyhooed and overpraised "Dawn of Man" sequence in "2001" (that particular sequence is mindnumbingly dull in terms of storytelling compared to what we get here). Wilkie Cooper probably gets just a hair too much credit at the expense of how the actors managed to come off as natural in this fantasy world and help sell the story but even so, he treats all of them fairly. While it was a tad dry at times, frankly this is a better commentary than some of the overly informal ones I've heard where sometimes things are too spontaneous and even the alleged "experts" get caught fishing for a point or make a goof.

[AndyDursin]

I agree wholeheartedly about the opening of the film...someone who didn't know better might've thought Kubrick "aped" this for 2001 when in reality, if anything, it was the other way around.