The Land That Time Forgot (1974)

During World War I, a German U-boat sinks a British ship and takes the survivors on board. After it takes a wrong turn, the submarine takes them to the unknown land of Caprona, where they find dinosaurs and neanderthals.

Director:

Kevin Connor

Writers:

Edgar Rice Burroughs (novel), James Cawthorn (screenplay)

Stars:

Doug McClure, John McEnery, Susan Penhaligon

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Doug McClure	...	Bowen Tyler
John McEnery	...	Captain Von Schoenvorts
Susan Penhaligon	...	Lisa Clayton
Keith Barron	...	Bradley
Anthony Ainley	...	Dietz
Godfrey James	...	Borg
Bobby Parr	...	Ahm
Declan Mulholland	...	Olson
Colin Farrell	...	Whiteley
Ben Howard	...	Benson
Roy Holder	...	Plesser
Andrew McCulloch	...	Sinclair
Ron Pember	...	Jones
Grahame Mallard	...	Deusett
Andrew Lodge	...	Reuther

Storyline

After a German U-Boat sinks their ship, several survivors manage to take control of the boat. Bowen Tyler is the son of an American shipbuilder and Captain Bradley an experienced seaman. After several tussles with the German crew, they find themselves on a strange island. There they find a place where several stages of Earth's evolution co-exist at the same time. As a result several types of humans are found as well as prehistoric dinosaurs. There are also active volcanoes which all add up to a challenge to survive.

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Plot Keywords:

gun | sinking | uniform | captain | enemies become allies | 

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Taglines:

Journey to a savage world where time is extinct!

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Genres:

Adventure | Fantasy

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Italian censorship visa # 67867 delivered on 29 January 1976.

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Goofs

They thought they were sailing West for 6 days and heading for America. But the sun was rising in the South according to the compass. The compass had been tampered with and it swung to the correct heading of South. We have been going South for 6 days they say. But they thought they were heading West, away from the rising sun so the compass wasn't needed.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Bowen Tyler: [narrating] I do not expect anyone to believe the story that I am about to relate. It even seems incredible to me that all that I have passed through, all those weird and terrifying experiences, should have been encompassed within as short a span as three brief months. It must have been a little after 3 o'clock in the afternoon that it began - the afternoon of June 3rd, 1916.

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Connections

Referenced in At the Movies: Dinosaur/Road Trip/Small Time Crooks/Shanghai Noon (2000)

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Soundtracks

Radetzky March
(uncredited)
Music by Johann Strauss Sr.

User Reviews

Sense of wonder is at home in Caprona

I saw this movie as a kid in the late 70s at the cinema and loved those dinosaurs. I have now watched the restored version (91 min. instead of 78 min.) on DVD and still love those dinosaurs. There are few movies that I still enjoy as much as I did a quarter of a century ago, so this obviously must have something `classic' about it, though it's hard to put the finger on it. Maybe it's just the naïve charm that was lost when computer FX spoiled fun to a certain degree in Jurassic Park and later on. No actor is a candidate for the Academy Award here, the monsters look about as deadly as your daughter's puppets, but nonetheless – more sense of wonder in the forgotten land of Caprona than anywhere else.

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

13 August 1975 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Land That Time Forgot

Filming Locations:

La Palma, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

$1,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Amicus Productions, Lion International, Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1