In 1966, the studio Hammer Films released one of its most famous films - "A Million years BC". I must say that the specifics of the studio was the production of horror films, often remakes of old Universal films. And due to the emergence of a new classic series of monster horrors (where Frankenstein was played by Peter Cushing, and Dracula by Christopher Lee), there was a huge popularity among the audience of film productions of this studio. After all, you will agree that not all old films declared classics look as beautiful after years as before. Because of the technical capabilities of the cinema of the 1950s and 60s, the studio went to such things as a remake of a technically outdated film. The same thing happened with the film "Million years BC", which is a remake of the black and white picture of 1940. Even in the credits, the writers left the same ones that took part in the production of 1940. At first glance, the two films are almost identical. But only when it comes to the story.
Of course, the first thing that comes to mind for any viewer is that this film has nothing to do with history. Because the idea of combining dinosaurs and primitive humans side by side is absurd. But within the framework of fantasy is quite acceptable. Again, Hammer Films did not produce costumed historical films. Their main task was to entertain the viewer, and to entertain through the display of horror and violence. In addition, in the 1950s, dinosaurs again became popular in cinema due to the release of low-budget films of category B. And prehistoric monsters attacking people could hold the viewer’s attention (and even scare).
The other thing that catches your eye is special effects. Of course, you have to make a lot of discount year of the release of the film, because for 1966 everything looked pretty cool. However, in the XXI century, such combined shootings, where the actors portray the horror of chromakey, and puppet prehistoric monsters created with the help of frame-by-frame animation, today will cause more laughter than horror.
And, it should be noted, all the modernity that occurs in the setting of prehistoric times. Yes, the ancient people do not yet speak modern English (as in the film “10,000 years BC”). Their speech is rather something inarticulate (and only by their actions in the frame it becomes clear what they are talking about). However, the appearance of cave people suggests certain thoughts. If men still resembled their distant ancestors, then women with their hairstyles and makeup resembled actresses dressed in the skins of the 1960s. And I have to give them credit, the actresses in these swimsuits looked very good. Hence the huge popularity of the film at the time. Although this was not erotic by those standards, even in Puritan America, where the Hayes Code was still in force, even such a display of a half-naked woman was unacceptable in principle. But the film was English, so the Hayes Code didn't apply. Be that as it may, the image of Loana performed by "Rackel Welch" for a long time managed to remain in the memory of the audience. Even the poster of the film with her managed to play a key role in the book (and later in the film) “The Shawshank Escape”. The success of the film was so great that it was even shown in the Soviet Union. Although I think his political background was more conducive here. After all, the main character, being expelled from his tribe (where people live like savages), eventually falls into another tribe - more developed and advanced, like civilization. Therefore, it is not surprising that such a story about the confrontation of political systems in two tribes could interest Soviet ideologists.
In general, despite the technical obsolescence of the film "A Million years BC" still managed to remain an example of the classic adventure children's fantasy film.
7 out of 10