MST3K

For the episode, see MST3K 1107 - The Land That Time Forgot.

The Land That Time Forgot is a 1974 science fantasy film produced by Britain's Amicus Productions. It was directed by Kevin Connor and stars Doug McClure, John McEnery, and Susan Penhaligon.

It was filmed in Technicolor, and is based on the 1918 fantasy novel The Land The Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The screenplay was written by James Cawthorn and Michael Moorcock. The original music score was composed by Douglas Gamley.

The film premiered in America on the August 13, 1975.

Plot[]

During World War I, in an unknown location, a bottle is thrown into the sea. Floating to the coast of England, it is discovered by a sailor, who opens it and discovers a manuscript that tells of the adventures of Bowen Tyler, which he begins to read:

A German U-boat sinks a British ship with few survivors. Tyler and a woman named Lisa Clayton are found by a small group of the ship's crew. When they observe the U-boat surfacing, Tyler persuades the crew to overthrow the Germans and take the ship. Tyler takes command, hoping to sail to an American port. The ship's captain, Von Schoenvorts, has his crew steer toward a safe sea port. But German officer Dietz gets loose and smashes the sub's radio.

Off course and running out of fuel in the South Atlantic, the U-boat and its crew happen upon an uncharted sub-continent called Caprona, a fantastical land of lush vegetation where dinosaurs still roam, co-existing with primitive man. There are also reserves of oil which, if the Germans and British can work together, can be refined and enable their escape from the island.

Tyler discovers the secret of Caprona: individuals evolve not through natural selection, but by migrating northward across the island. They manage to get the submarine working again, but a sudden outbreak of volcanic eruptions across the island complicates their plans. Dietz starts a mutiny and shoots Captain von Schoenvorts to take command. Dietz abandons Tyler and Clayton in Caprona in an attempt to escape, but the U-boat cannot function in the boiling waters and the crew is killed as the ship sinks. Tyler and Clayton are stranded and, being the only survivors of their group, are forced to move northwards. With little hope of rescue, Tyler throws the bottle containing the manuscript into the sea.

Cast[]

Notes[]

  • A sequel, The People That Time Forgot was produced in 1977, also directed by Kevin Connor and starring Doug McClure.
  • The cast also includes an actor named Colin Farrell (born in 1938). This is not the same person as the Irish actor Colin Farrell (born in 1976) who appeared in such films as Daredevil, SWAT, and In Bruges.
  • Special effects supervisor David Meddings had previously done effects work for the Doctor Who serial "Invasion of the Dinosaurs". The dinosaur effects in it are regarded by Doctor Who fans as some of the most abysmal effects work in the show's history.
  • Ostensibly set in the 1910s (the same timeframe in which the novel was published), it may be worthwhile to note that the German U-Boat crew are not Nazis.
  • Burroughs' novel was adapted into a another film (produced by The Asylum) in 2009.
  • The discussion that takes place between Captain Von Schoenvorts and Lisa Clayton is the same debate about the sinking of the RMS Lusitania, a British ocean liner that a German submarine sank during World War I. The German government claimed that the sinking was justified because the Lusitania was carrying supplies that could be used in the war effort (in addition to the many civilians on board).

MST3K Connections[]

Critical Response[]

  • Leonard Maltin wrote: "Two-and-a-half stars. ... not bad as adventure yarn, but special effects (dinosaurs, volcanic eruption) are not convincing."[1]

References[]

  1. Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide, 2015 Edition