Monday, March 17, 2008

10.000 BC - The Movie






So I went to the movies last night. The choices were somewhat limited because of their showing times so I ended up watching "10.000 BC". I already knew that it was going to be hokey and far-fetched but the next best option required another hour wait so I went for it anyway. I do love anything with a hint of extinct animal life and these "epic" type movies do draw me in, as any special on The History Channel, Animal Planet and Discovery on the subject. I watch all those dinosaur shows on how Earth was hit by a huge asteroid that killed most life on the planet many millions years ago. Love that stuff!
The "10.000 BC" previews looked quite good, full of huge mammoths and saber-tooth tigers, cavemen-like hunters in loin cloths running on the savanna, that type of stuff. This is one of those movies that are OK for a DVD rental but save your cash on theater tickets, because if you take away the CGI effects there is very little left to it. The scenery shots are gorgeous and the special effects are pretty amazing, specially the mammoth hunt and the giant turkeys scene in the tropical forest.




The plot is pretty basic and no big surprises on how it will end. This tribe of hunters, somewhere in North Africa (?) is attacked by Egyptian (?) slave traders and most taken captive, with the exception (of course) of our hero hunter that happens to be away having a personal moment of solitude and contemplation when they arrive. The would-be slaves, including his too-pretty love interest, are taken across snowy mountains, deep forests and sandy deserts until they reach their final destination. They are being tracked all along by our hero, who along the way gathers a small army of African tribes whose loved ones have also been kidnapped by the bad guys. The plot is full of historical holes and I won't bore you with all the details as the inaccuracies are too many to list here, but I don't think the director was aiming to make a documentary anyway.
If you have nothing better to watch this movie is OK entertainment and actually giggle-inducing on certain scenes that are meant to be deep and serious, so if you have a sarcastic side you might actually enjoy it. Otherwise, I say skip it.



2 comments:

Alan said...

Well, the Fan-boy blogosphere and podcasters have all given it a way thumbs down. I'm sick and tired of Anglo-looking actors portraying non-Anglo characters so for that reason alone I won't see it.

Pumpkin Man said...

This movie is once again about the whites in charge, with the help of the blacks, fighting the dark Arabic types. So cliche....

PM