Customer Reviews

The Land That Time Forgot

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I'm giving this four stars because as Asylum Movies go it's one of their best.


However it is not an updated take on the novel The Land That Time Forgot: A Tale of Fort Dinosaur which was disappointing. Whether read as one complete novel or in it's trilogy release As The Land That Time Forgot, The People That Time Forgot and Out of Times Abyss The story of Caprona contains an evolution based mystery and a love story. It is not about time traveling via the Bermuda triangle. This screenplay isn't even loosly based on the previous movies The Land That Time Forgot/The People That Time Forgot which contained FX of mediocre laughable quality. Those however in hindsight at least made an attempt to use the source material. This resembles a low budget attempt at something like Time Spike more than anything in the ERB book.

If you liked what Asylum's Take on Journey to the Center of the Earth , which ironically contained an earth driller right out of Edgar Rice Burroughs' At the Earth's Core (Pellucidar Series) (Bk. 1) , you'll enjoy this.
However their T-Rex is becoming almost as overused as their dragon
Also of note , pun intended, the set up for a The People That Time Forgot sequel using the note in a bottle is appropriate.

Yup, this is a low budget movie with cheesy special effects, but you know what? For a low budget movie with cheesy special effects, it really isn't too bad. Sure some of the stuff that happens is unrealistic, but this movie does not take itself too seriously and is kind of fun. The monsters look fake compared to other movies like Jurassic Park and that mess that Will Farrell put out, but who cares? Just enjoy it. And wow, Timothy Bottoms looks so much like George W. Bush in this movie.

I'm a big Edgar Rice Burroughs fan and don't usually like movies that change things from the book. My thought is, if the book was good enough for you to want to make a movie of it, why are you changing things? However, though this definitely changed things from the E.R.B. book, I loved it!

It had elements from the book. The Nazi's and their U-boat were there, but it was more just an island in the Bermuda Triangle with dinosaurs on it. Even so, the story was good. The acting was good and for a low-budget movie the special effects were really good. I have to give kudos to C. Thomas Howell for great directing.

It begins on a small boat in a storm. There are two couples, plus the captain and his mate. The next morning, when the storm is gone, they have no idea where they are. They spot an island and decide to head for it. They drop anchor and all but one head for shore. They soon discover pterodactyls and a t-rex, and upon finding the beach once more, discover the boat is gone. Not long afterwards, they discover they aren't the only people on the island, some of which include Nazi's and a U-boat, stranded during WWII, which for them has only been a year or so..

The only options available on the DVD are "Play" and "Chapters" which is slightly disappointing as I would have loved to see a "Making of". Ah, well. I'm not going to complain about what is there. For the price, it's well worth it.

I rate this four-and-a-half stars out of five, but as that option isn't available, I had to click on five stars. No biggie. This could use a boost to it's rating.

"The Land that Time Forgot" is a suprisingly good Asylum film. It is a fun romp on a tropical island. It has the Bermuda Triangle, dinosaurs, WWII Germans, unresolved plot threads, and a relatively happy ending. The special effects are acceptable, and the actors are having fun. Three stars for being a fun film.

Caveats: Naturally, this movie doesn't have anything to do with Edgar Rice Burroughs; it has more in common with Gilligan's Island. The DVD has two extremely short "Making of" and "Bloopers" reels. The movie has no Commentary feature.

This is the fourth Asylum film that I have watched in the past 72 hours. "The Land that Time Forgot" is the best of the bunch so far.

i've seen this movie many times on syfy and even watched the older verison of the land that time forgot movie. it's wasn't that bad and a decent attempt to update the book and set the story in our time. and i like for asylum films to do it again iwth the sequel, the people that time forgot and set the story up a few years after the first movie.

It's watchable ..... just. I don't know the whole thing just seemed to be slapped together with a few substandard special effects and questionable story line. E.R. Burroughs must have rolled in his grave after this rendition.

The Land That Time Forgot (2009), is a modern interpretation, of Edgar Rice Burroughs' classic fantasy tale, where travelers on a small boat, encounter strange circumstances during a storm, land on a small island, and encounter dinosaurs, and other travelers also trapped there, from various periods in time.

There are several plots twists that keep things interesting, one involves the presence of a German WWII era submarine, and members of her crew, who considering the situation, turn out to be some very mellow sailors. The discovery that there is oil on the island, provides a reason for the survivors to work together, to try and find a way to escape, as they set up their own refinery.

A film of the same name was released in 1975, and this version has kind of a retro 70's vibe. The feature could easily have been more harsh or violent, but things are rather subdued. The one gunbattle that takes place, is sanitized, and no one gets hurt. The German sailors are cooperative, instead of being hardened killers. The special effects are not bad, and the raptors that are the main threat, are fairly well done. Dinosaurs do chomp a couple of people, but that is the most violent thing you will see, in this lightweight adventure.

C. Thomas Howell (The Hitcher), both stars and directs this feature, that has decent production values, and a fairly competent cast, that also includes Timothy Bottoms, Scott Subiono, and Darren Dalton, who also wrote the screenplay. If you happen to see this on your cable schedule, you might what to check it out. Although recently released on DVD, another less expensive version is also available.

Starring: Timothy Bottoms and C. Thomas Howell.
Very solid script by Darren Dalton and Directed by C. Thomas Howell.
Not too many creatures,But what is here is very ,very menacing.
The "Land" intrigues us because is it Catalina Island or any California beach shot VERY carefully.
Acting is well rehearsed and unknowns carry alot of the weight to fill out story,Oh...They are marooned Nazis from a submarine that think VERY logically about survival.
One of those picky things is,Obviously this is headed to SyFy channel by lack of bad language and female glimpses.
Solid action and some moments derived from Gilligans Island and Lost.

Hey, it's Timothy Bottoms! And he's not playing George W. Bush! But if I were stuck on an island full of dinosaurs with George W. Bush, he would act exactly like this!

Hey, it's C. Thomas Howell! A long damn way from "The Outsiders"! And he looks emaciated! Hey, C.! Have a sandwich!

Hey, it's that gal from "One Tree Hill"! She can't act here, either!

Hey, it's an Asylum movie! But this time, the story's not so bad! This time the effects are passable! This time the direction is competent! C. Thomas Howell was the director! He still needs a sandwich!

Hey, it's better than Will Ferrell's "Land of the Lost"! Hey, slamming my fingers in a drawer is better than Will Ferrell's "Land of the Lost"!

Three stars, because the Nazi U-Boat (don't ask) looks pretty cool!

Campy, cheesy, poor acting, yet oddly captivating. It's not just about prehistoric dinosaurs chasing people around an island. It has WW2 German soldiers who don't know the war is over. In the middle of the madness, there's an old phonograph that plays records of German waltzes, and a petroleum moonshine still. Nice touches. I don't like weak women in movies. This film gives us two who do absolutely nothing except act helpless and frightened all the time. I'll probably never watch it again, but I'm glad I saw it once. It was time well spent and I wasn't disappointed.

I do, however, consider $22.49 grossly over-priced. Rent it from your local video store.