'The Valley Of Gwangi (1969)' focuses on a group of showmen who ride to a forbidden valley in search of their latest attraction, an ought-to-be-extinct horse-like animal, after it's returned to its home by those who believe it carries a curse with it. The valley itself is, essentially, the land that time forgot; fifty million years of evolution have been ignored, leaving dinosaurs alive and kicking in the dusty American desert. The most notable of these is the eponymous Gwangi, a huge Allosaurus who seems to be the apex predator around his parts. After a certain point, it becomes abundantly clear that the picture is basically just 'King Kong (1933)' with a big lizard instead of a big ape. That's not an inherently bad thing, but it does make the final movement a bit more predictable than it might have otherwise been. In general, the movie is an enjoyable blend of cowboys and dinosaurs. Its special effects - most notably Ray Harryhausen's character-filled stop-motion work - are still impressive, too. It can be a little slow at times and it doesn't quite go 'full circle' in terms of its characters or themes, but it's a typically entertaining adventure with a certain rustic charm to it. 6/10
Review of The Valley of Gwangi
