When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1970)

Director:

Val Guest

Writers:

J.G. Ballard (story)
Val Guest (screenplay)

Release Date:

17 March 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi | Romance

Tagline:

A Hammer film greater than 'ONE MILLION YEARS B.C.'

Plot:

Set in a non-existant past when humans and dinosaurs lived together, a small tribe is struggling to...

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Shirtless Male Bondage | Female Nudity | Catfight | Eclipse

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Victoria Vetri	...	Sanna
Robin Hawdon	...	Tara
Patrick Allen	...	Kingsor
Drewe Henley	...	Khaku
Sean Caffrey	...	Kane
Magda Konopka	...	Ulido
Imogen Hassall	...	Ayak
Patrick Holt	...	Ammon
Jan Rossini	...	Rock Girl
Carol Hawkins	...	Yani (as Carol-Anne Hawkins)
Maria O'Brien	...	Omah
Connie Tilton	...	Sand Mother
Maggie Lynton	...	Rock Mother
Jimmy Lodge	...	Fisherman
Billy Cornelius	...	Hunter

Runtime:

Germany:100 min | Portugal:97 min | USA:96 min

Country:

UK

Language:

Aboriginal | English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | UK:A (original rating) | Finland:K-16 (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) | Finland:K-12 | Portugal:M/12 | USA:G | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain

Company:

Hammer Film Productions

Trivia:

Victoria Vetri revealed in a 1984 interview that the U.K. version of the film contains nudity. The nude scenes include her character Sanna making love to Tara (Robin Hawdon) in a cave.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Caveman (1981)

Nostalgic tool for prepuebescent development

"When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth," like its predecessor "One Million Years B.C." was one of those great movies when I was a kid that helped ease my transition from comic-book-reading, baseball-card-collecting dinosaur geek to comic-book-reading, baseball-card-collecting chick freak. I was seven when it was released, and I still remember the TV airwaves saturated with advertising. I whined and screamed and begged my brother to take me, and he did. Great part was, we caught this flick as part of a double-feature with Harryhausen's "Valley of Gwangi." Eat your heart out, stop-motion animation fans!

Perhaps because of the great childhood experiences surrounding this movie, there's a kid-voice in my head that still sees it as near-flawless cinema. But in all honesty, it's just G-rated exploitation in the purest sense of the word. The dinosaurs in the movie promos draw the young boys in, and once their behinds are in the seats they slowly become less cognizant of the prehistoric beasts and more cognizant of the way Victoria Vetri's cave tunic gives her breasts that extra lift or the way her legs seem to be constantly shimmering with sweat. Even at seven I noticed this, which is why "Dinosaurs" provided a great transition into puberty for me half a decade before it actually hit. A lot of fun, this, but don't mistake it for art. Watch it for the beasts and the (scantily clad but not naked) boobs, toss in a bag of microwave popcorn and a few beers. It may be G-rated but it's still kind'a fun.