WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH
UK, 1970, 97 minutes, Colour.
Victoria Vetri, Robin Hawdon, Patrick Allen.
Directed by Val Guest.
When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth is a Saturday Matinee adventure. The English have a tradition of making films concerning Dinosaurs and other pre-historic monsters very well. This one is by the same production company that made the Valley of Gwangi and Creatures the World Forgot.
One of the gimmicks on its release was to issue patrons with a leaflet giving a vocabulary of the prehistoric people and a dictionary meaning for them grunts and groans that they uttered. However, this film is a good example of its kind. It does not take itself too seriously. The special effects do at times look very much like special effects but as they draw attention to themselves they are quite enjoyable. The humans in many ways take a secondary place for the monsters and the battles with the monsters, tidal waves etc. (One channel showed this film as its Inaugural feature film the night colour television was introduced into Australia.)
1.How enjoyable was this film? What expectations would audiences have? For what audiences was this film made? How well did it combine the ludicrous aspects of science-fiction and a sensible approach?
2. How well did the film use science-fiction and the imagination? Why does science-fiction appeal to the imagination? The investigation of the past in terms of the present? The interest in the past, the fascination with the primitive? How well did this film respond to expectations? Comment on the success of the technical aspects of the film, the use of colour, sets, locations, especially the creations of the animals and their action, the sequences with animated animals and people. How important was this to contributing to the film’s success?
3. What picture of primitive did the film offer, of people and behaviour, of religion, of superstition, of the creation of the world, Sun, Moon, tides, of cruelty and love, fear and joy? how interesting and convincing was this?
4. Comment on the use of language in the film, how interesting and entertaining - the barrier of not understanding language?
5. How attractive was the heroine? Automatic sympathy or her at the sacrifice, her escape her falling in love, her fleeing the villian, her happy relationship with the animals and the Dinosaur being saved and saving the hero etc?
6. How conventional was the hero and his behaviour?
7. How important was the plot for the film - using conventional dramatics in the primitive setting? The details of the plot, adventure, villains?
8. What insight into human behaviour did the film offer? Love and feeling jealousy and cruelty, the playful aspects of life?
9. What moral code did the film stand on? Audiences expectation of morals and values? What values of human experience did the film portray.
