There’s a lot of fun to be had in this movie that follows on, as if you couldn’t guess, from The Land That Time Forgot. Okay, that fun is mainly derived from the enjoyable cast but it all comes together to create something that is, surprisingly, the equal of its predecessor.
Patrick “son of John” Wayne plays Ben McBride, a friend of Bowden Tyler (Doug McClure, briefly reprising his role from the previous movie) who wants to seek out that strange island and find out just what exactly happened to his friend and whether or not he can help him at all. To help him on this adventure he is joined by, well, a few people I wasn’t that bothered about and the ever-watchable Sarah Douglas. Which covers all you need to know.
If you liked The Land That Time Forgot then I can’t imagine you taking a major dislike to this fun sequel. It may not surpass the original movie, and it suffers from the expected lack of originality, but it’s everything you could want from this type of movie. Patrick Wayne is a perfectly acceptable leading man while Sarah Douglas is as entertaining as ever, Dana Gillespie is a lovely tribal woman and there are decent turns from the mighty Mr. McClure, Thorley Walters, Shane Rimmer and a few others.
The effects are still more endearing than actually special but that’s a big part of the charm and a reason why these movies still have their fans. The script by Patrick Tilley is exactly what it should be and the direction from Kevin Connor keeps everything moving along nicely in between moments that put the main characters in peril or take time to show one of the many stop-motion creatures. This is no SFX extravaganza, but I sat there with a big smile on my face while watching a bunch of people try to use a dinosaur to tow an aircraft along the ground (and there’s a sentence I don’t get to write all that often).
Taken as a standalone, fun movie to watch when you have nothing else to hand, The People That Time Forgot is passable entertainment but taken as part of a double-bill with The Land That Time Forgot it becomes almost great because the two movies together simply embody a wonderful blend of adventure, fun, thrills and childish fantasy.
DIRECTOR: KEVIN CONNOR
WRITER: PATRICK TILLEY, BASED ON THE NOVEL BY EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS
STARS: PATRICK WAYNE, SARAH DOUGLAS, DANA GILLESPIE, DOUG MCCLURE, THORLEY WALTERS, SHANE RIMMER
RUNTIME: 90 MINS APPROX
COUNTRY: UK
Film Rating: