| The People That Time Forgot | |
|---|---|
 U.S. theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Kevin Connor |
| Screenplay by | Patrick Tilley |
| Based on | The People That Time Forgot byEdgar Rice Burroughs |
| Produced by | Max Rosenberg |
| Starring | Patrick Wayne Sarah Douglas Thorley Walters Dana Gillespie Shane Rimmer Doug McClure |
| Cinematography | Alan Hume |
| Edited by | John Ireland Barry Peters |
| Music by | John Scott |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | American International Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 91 minutes |
| Countries | United Kingdom[1] United States[1] |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $400,000-$500,000[2] |
| Box office | $3 million[3] |
The People That Time Forgot is a 1977adventurefantasy film based on the novelThe People That Time Forgot (1963) andOut of Time's Abyss (1963) byEdgar Rice Burroughs. Filmed inTechnicolor, it was produced by Britain'sAmicus Productions and directed byKevin Connor. Like Connor's other two Burroughs-derived films,The Land That Time Forgot andAt the Earth's Core, the film was distributed in the United States byAmerican International Pictures. It is the last film made by Amicus before the production company folded.
The film is a direct sequel toThe Land That Time Forgot, which initiated the series in 1974. The story follows a rescue expedition, led byPatrick Wayne in search of his friend, played byDoug McClure, who had vanished many years before. The expedition lands onCaprona, the same fantasticprehistoric land wheredinosaurs andbarbarian tribes of men co-exist.
Major Ben McBride (Patrick Wayne) organises a mission to the Antarctic wastes to search for his friend Bowen Tyler (Doug McClure) who has been missing in the region for several years. A British naval survey ship takes them to Caprona. McBride's party: thepaleontologist Norfolk (Thorley Walters), gunner and mechanic Hogan (Shane Rimmer) and photographer Lady Charlotte 'Charlie' Cunningham (Sarah Douglas) fly over the mountain wall of Caprona in an amphibious aircraft, but are attacked by a fierce giantpterodactylus and forced down.
They find themselves in a world populated by primitive warriors and prehistoric creatures, all of whom they must evade in order to get back safely to their ship. They meet acave-girl, Ajor (Dana Gillespie), who can speak English (she was taught by Tyler); she leads them to the land of a race ofsamurai-like warriors called the Nargas, who are keeping Tyler prisoner. When the volcano that the Nargas worship erupts, they must escape the cataclysm engulfing the land. Tyler sacrifices himself to cover their retreat.
Time Out commented: "A lame sequel to Connor's earlier Edgar Rice Burroughs adaptation,The Land That Time Forgot, which was at least occasionally lively";[6] theRadio Times called it an "OK sequel," but a "constipated confection" with "ludicrous mechanised dinosaurs and hopeless acting from an interesting cast." The reviewer however, found that "A few shots, composed around celebrated fantasy illustrations, compensate for all the film's shortcomings";[7] and critic Derek Winnert similarly opined "the monsters and special effects are below par," but "there are effective moments, and there is some curiosity value in seeing singer Dana Gillespie playing Ajor";[8] whileBlu-ray.com thought the film "may not be the most polished effort around, but there's fun to be had with its crazy dino encounters."[9]