THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT

An old seadog finds a capsule floating in the ocean. Opening it, he finds a British captain’s log dating back to June 3rd, 1916. Reading it, he learns of how the captain’s ship was torpedoed by a German U-boat at the height of World War One.

We flashback. The survivors of the attack include American seafarer Tyler (Doug McClure) and his pretty partner, biologist Lisa (Susan Penhaligon). With the aid of their Brit comrades, led by Bradley (Keith Barron) and Sinclair (Andrew McCulloch), the group board a rowing boat and begin to search through the misty waters for a route home.

However, it’s not long before their aggressors catch up with them and a fight breaks out on the deck of their U-boat as the Brits try to take it over. They achieve this, and demand the Germans – led by the cool, calculating Captain von Schoenvorts (John McEnery) make sail for the nearest British port.

But, sneaky fuckers that they are, they deliberately sabotage the route … and, following confusion caused by a close call with bombing planes overhead, the U-boat ends up somewhere completely different instead (the filming location was just off Tenerife).

Following what can hardly be called a slow start (but certainly one that’s light on the promise of monsters), we finally get some rubbery action at the 35-minute stage. From there onwards, the film reaches a new level of action and rarely lets up as the Germans, Brits and McClure work together to take on the terrors of the Lost World they’ve stumbled upon.

Based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ classic novel, Kevin Connor’s film is a wild mix of sweaty, wild-eyed British performances, low-budget FX and incredibly cheesy, enjoyable adventure. It would be lost on a generation brought up on the visual excesses of JOHN CARTER, of course, but if you’re of a certain age … you’ll already know how undemandingly entertaining this commendably straight-faced slice of rubbish (in the most affectionate sense) is.

From the footage of the actors in a studio, performing in front of a projected ocean background; through the patently model boats ‘exploding’ in the ‘sea’; to Barron’s earnest, moustachioed performance opposite McClure’s typical, squinty-eyed ham: THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT would be easy to knock … but it’s even easier to leave any negativity at the door and simply ENJOY.

"Mystery Science Theatre 3000" may think the film worthy of a good piss-taking. I’m sure they’re right to do so. But the inner boy in everyone – girls included – is likely to adore this film on its most base level.

Ignore, however, the inferior sequel that cropped up a couple of years later: THE PEOPLE THAT TIME FORGOT. And if you ever happen upon the 2009 retelling of LAND, starring C Thomas Howell … well, you only have yourself to blame if you sit through that pile of shit.

Studio Canal continues its most welcome range of DVD titles celebrating the 50th anniversary of Hammer rivals, Amicus Studios, with this rather basic but satisfactory release.

The film comes fully uncut in a nicely preserved, clean and vivid transfer that stays true to its original 1.85:1 theatrical aspect ratio. The picture presentation is enhanced for 16x9 televisions.

Colours are reasonably strong and natural; blacks are solid and consistent. While the picture flickers a little in the opening moments and the titles sequence does come across as a tad soft, rest assured this soon settles into a more than adequate offering. The film looks older here than its 1975 origins, but that’s partly down to the low budget and Technicolor palette.

English mono audio is free from noteworthy concerns.

The disc opens to a static main menu page. From there, a static scene-selection menu allows access to the film via 8 chapters.

In a nice touch, we get a few extras on this release.

First up, we get an engaging studio interview with the affable Penhaligon. She speaks of how she got the role in her early 20s, touches upon her parallel TV career and elaborates on a few of the shoot’s challenges. At 7 minutes in length, this is a short-lived but fun piece.

An interview with Connor is even shorter (6 minutes) but arguably the better of the two, the director exhibiting an uncannily good memory for events such as getting the job, casting the film and his own take on the sometimes troubled shoot.

Finally we’re treated to a stills gallery which claims to take a look at 50 years of Amicus. This is basically a slideshow of 8 offerings, mainly relating to THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT but also offering a couple of AT THE EARTH’S CORE promotional pieces too.

THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT continues to provide solid, hammy entertainment to this day. Cynics will scoff at how hideously dated it is; the rest of us will say they’re missing the point …

Review by Stuart Willis