The Film 4/5

The People that Time Forgot, which is the sequel to The Land That Time Forgot brings us back to the land of Caprona.  At the first film’s conclusion, Bowen Tyler (Doug McClure) is left stranded on the island of Caprona, and tosses a canister with a note into the ocean. In the sequel, now several years later we learn that the note has been found and a new expedition is made to find him. Led by Tyler’s close friend, Major Ben McBride (Patrick Wayne from Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger) and his crew including a photographer, Charlotte Cunningham (Sarah Douglas, most notably known for her role in Superman II), a mechanic named “Hogan” (Shane Rimmer) and a paleontologist (Thorley Walters), they head to Caprona.  Right off the bat while in an airplane preparing to land on the island, they are attacked by a Pterodactyl.  Once on the ground they encounter more large dinosaurs and other beasts, a voluptuous cave girl named Ajor (Dana Gillespie) who learned to speak English thanks to Tyler, and a brutal warrior tribe known as the Nagas. The Nagas look pretty intimidating with their iron masks, swords and their hideous faces underneath their mask. They also worship the volcano on the island. The Nagas capture the expedition which leads to them finding Bowen Tyler, who was also captured by the Nagas. In the climax, the volcano erupts, while the crew, now with Tyler does battle with the Nagas while also trying to escape and avoid the fireballs that the volcano spews.  Talk about multi-tasking!

This is another wonderful science fiction fantasy adventure film with fine performances by all, a lot of great action and beautiful outdoor scenery. Doug McClure’s role in this is more or less an expanded cameo lasting nearly 15 minutes. The special effects, keep in mind there was no CGI at the time, and frankly I’m glad, are a mixed bag. This had been the case for the other three movies The Land That Time Forgot, At the Earth’s Core and Warlords of Atlantis, all directed by Kevin Connor. Whether you see some wires on the Pterodactyl’s or if the creatures look really rubbery, they have a certain charm to them, which not many of today’s CGI creatures have. Having grown up on monster movies with often cheesy effects, it doesn’t bother me one bit. Despite the special effect shortcomings, the action and adventure more than make up for it. Even the sound effects for The People That Time Forgot are pretty memorable when the volcano erupts!

Audio/Video: 5/5

Kino Lorber presents The People That Time Forgot on Blu-ray in its original aspect ratio of 1:85:1 in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, the picture quality is nothing short of spectacular. The image is much more colorful than ever; the daylight scenes are simply fantastic with robust colors throughout. This is easily the best this film has ever looked, and blows the old MGM Midnite Movie DVD away!

Kino as usual, goes with the DTS-HD master 2.0 for its audio, and, I encountered no audio issues. The dialog, volcanic eruptions and the roaring dinosaurs sound as good as ever.

Extras: 4/5

There are some excellent supplements (produced by Walter Olsen of Scorpion Releasing)  for this release; we get an audio commentary with Director Kevin Connor moderated by filmmaker Brian Trenchard-Smith plus two on camera interviews with Sarah Douglas and Dana Gillispie and a trailer.

Overall (5/5)

The People That Time Forgot was inevitable as Kino Lorber had already licensed The Land That Time Forgot and At the Earth’s Core, and this release is every bit as good as the others. This is a fun popcorn film with some great extras and excellent picture quality. Now if we can only get Sony Pictures to release the unreleased Warlords of Atlantis in the USA on blu ray, we would have the entire tetralogy in HD!