10,000 BC (*)
Directed By: Roland Emmerich (The Day After Tomorrow, The Patriot, Independence Day, Godzilla, Stargate)
Starring: Steven Strait, Camilla Bell
Seen: March 22nd 2008
* Out of ****
The Yagahl, a prehistoric tribe of hunter gatherers, lives in a mountain range where they wait for the yearly running of the mammoth for the big hunt that will sustain them for another year. D’Leh (Strait), the main protagonist, is in love with Evolet (Bell), the beautiful blue eyed girl whom the tribe adopted after her tribe was wiped out by mysterious horse riding raiders years before. Incidentally, D’Leh spelt backwards is Held, which is german (the directors mother tongue) for Hero… dum, dum, dum…
One day, just after D’Leh is judged the new tribe hero for (accidentally) killing a massive mammoth, the horse riding raiders return and kill some of his tribe, kidnapping the rest to a far-off land. Now D’Leh has to set off after them to save them, and he is further motivated in this since Evolet is also kidnapped.
What follows is a continuance of the laughable dialog the movie started off with, and insane scenery changes as the characters walk between climate changes and encounter a string of prehistoric animals, including terror birds (huge, carnivorous ostriches) and saber tooth tigers. Then they trek through the desert to a pre-Egyptian civilization where the pyramids are under construction using mammoths… in the desert… yup, apparently mammoths can survive in extreme heat.
Well, more battles and heroism ensues, but any hope for an even halfway decent film has long since run out the door. This is a joke, whatever happened to the ambition of Emmerichs’ previous films (which still weren’t masterpieces, but massive blockbusters) like Independence Day and Godzilla? Like the older generation is saying nowadays, films are not about story anymore, but all about special effects – and this film has me thinking along the same lines. And the effects do not carry this one. Not by a long shot.
Starring: Steven Strait, Camilla Bell
Seen: March 22nd 2008
* Out of ****
The Yagahl, a prehistoric tribe of hunter gatherers, lives in a mountain range where they wait for the yearly running of the mammoth for the big hunt that will sustain them for another year. D’Leh (Strait), the main protagonist, is in love with Evolet (Bell), the beautiful blue eyed girl whom the tribe adopted after her tribe was wiped out by mysterious horse riding raiders years before. Incidentally, D’Leh spelt backwards is Held, which is german (the directors mother tongue) for Hero… dum, dum, dum…
One day, just after D’Leh is judged the new tribe hero for (accidentally) killing a massive mammoth, the horse riding raiders return and kill some of his tribe, kidnapping the rest to a far-off land. Now D’Leh has to set off after them to save them, and he is further motivated in this since Evolet is also kidnapped.
What follows is a continuance of the laughable dialog the movie started off with, and insane scenery changes as the characters walk between climate changes and encounter a string of prehistoric animals, including terror birds (huge, carnivorous ostriches) and saber tooth tigers. Then they trek through the desert to a pre-Egyptian civilization where the pyramids are under construction using mammoths… in the desert… yup, apparently mammoths can survive in extreme heat.
Well, more battles and heroism ensues, but any hope for an even halfway decent film has long since run out the door. This is a joke, whatever happened to the ambition of Emmerichs’ previous films (which still weren’t masterpieces, but massive blockbusters) like Independence Day and Godzilla? Like the older generation is saying nowadays, films are not about story anymore, but all about special effects – and this film has me thinking along the same lines. And the effects do not carry this one. Not by a long shot.
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