A small container is tossed from atop a tall cliff into the sea, where it travels across the ocean to arrive on the shore of a quiet fishing village. It is found, opened and pages inside it read, detailing the mysterious story of a German U-boat crew in the North Atlantic, in the year 1916, during the First World War. The Captain, Von Schoenvorts (John McEnery) ordered an attack on a cargo ship carrying passengers, which was sunk. Among the survivors were Bowen Tyler (Doug McClure) and Lisa Clayton (Susan Penhaligon), who were found in a lifeboat by what was left of the ship's crew. When the U-boat surfaced, the survivors boarded it and managed to trick their way into taking over, little knowing of the adventure they are about to embark on as they search for a place to land...
Written by esteemed science fiction author Michael Moorcock and James Cawthorn, The Land That Time Forgot was British horror producers Amicus' attempt to draw in family audiences with a fairly well-budgeted fantasy epic, this one based on the novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs. For the first half hour, it presents itself as a tale of wartime derring-do as a small scale battle for the control of the U-boat ensues. When the survivors are in charge, they try to attract the attention of a British ship, but end up shot at for their trouble. When the Germans are in control, they try to meet up with a supply ship, where submarine expert Tyler "will be shot", but he and Captain Bradley (Keith Barron) work out a way to fire torpedoes at the German vessel, and sink it. So a stalemate is reached.
There are many questions which have vexed the minds of mankind's greatest thinkers, but one of the questions pertinent to this film is, of course, "how do you pronounce diplodocus?" Is it "Di-PLOD-ocus" or "Diplo-DOE-cus"? The reason for asking this is that after sailing through the Atlantic for days, the motley crew catch sight of land. As they are running out of food and water, they are grateful for the chance to get more, but this seems to be a vast, uncharted island and frozen to boot. By chance, they notice a stream of water that is warm, and follow it to see a tunnel leading into the side of the cliff.
Emerging on the other side is a tropical view that intrigues them all, especially the German Captain and Lisa, who conveniently are both experts in biology and know the names of the prehistoric creatures they are faced with. Tyler is a self-sufficient man who thinks with his fists more often than not, so it's interesting to see the nominal villain as the more intellectual, environmentally-minded character. Don't worry, as the Captain's sidekick Dietz (Anthony Ainley) provides the required boo-hiss traits.
Yes, it's a step back in time to a continent untouched by the modern era, and if there's anything wrong with the film it's that it loses all momentum once we get there. Happy to show off its effects work, the action has the U-boat crew putting aside their differences - for now - and settling down to eat dinosaurs and explore. They even build their own encampment and refine the oil they have discovered. Those effects boast excellent miniatures courtesy of Thunderbird man Derek Meddings, but the giant lizards are painfully obvious puppets, some of grand proportions so they can pick up the odd cast member in their mighty jaws.
Up until the island business, The Land That Time Forgot has a nice line in chilly atmosphere, but the second half isn't a complete dead loss as a tribe of Neanderthals arrive, a plot-explaining friend is made when one of them is captured, and the difficult-to-believe secret of the evolutionary cycle there is revealed. Then there's that unashamedly bleak ending, which would have been more powerful if the sequel hadn't happened shortly after. For McClure, this would be the start of a cycle of such British, big screen excitements of the seventies, making it treasured by some fans. Not bad enough to be camp, it provides muscular entertainment, but is perhaps nowadays more useful as nostalgia for those who grew up watching it on television. Music by Douglas Gamley.
British director, a former technician, who helmed some cult movies in the seventies such as From Beyond the Grave, Trial By Combat, Motel Hell and four Doug McClure features: The Land that Time Forgot, At the Earth's Core, The People that Time Forgot and Warlords of Atlantis. Despite going on to make other theatrical films like The House Where Evil Dwells and Sunset Grill, he became prolific in television, with episodes of Space: 1999, Remington Steele and Moonlighting to his credit. He also gave us underwater miniseries Goliath Awaits, a Frankenstein adaptation and the unintentional laugh fest Diana: Her True Story.
