The Land that Time Forgot is the first of three adaptations of the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs by director and in many ways the most successful. The success is in the relatively serious way in which the film was approached. It has alas, become all too commonplace for irony to invade adaptations of vintage science fiction, so as to distance the adapters from the inherent silliness of the material. That doesn't happen here. This movie is one of four produced by John Dark and directed by Kevin Connor and starring Doug McClure. It pits men against the wildest of natures and forces them to make difficult choices every minute.
A German U-Boat sinks an English ship and the survivors of that ship through an array of coincidental events take control of the U-Boat but end up lost and eventually discover the long lost island of Caprona. They use the submarine to gain entry to the interior of the forbidding island and find a world in which evolution has gone wild. It takes a while and many lives lost to the dangers of dinosaurs, but eventually we learn that on Caprona as nowhere else evolution happens within lifetimes and that individual creatures (including man) will transform over time.
I'm not sure it all makes sense really. Caprona was one of Edgar Rice Burroughs' wildest inventions, but it fashions a fantastic setting for people to struggle against the world and themselves. That happens here too as the two factions (German and English) combine forces to survive and hopefully escape Caprona, but eventually fall victim to the old violent passions. Those that survive will send a message which will result in a sequel. More on that next time.
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