10,000 BC: Flying terror birds, stampeding mammoths and the blue-eyed legend!

(Stills) The animal in man is like a primitive being that just waits to break free and take him into the deep dark dense jungles of a bygone epoch where the ruling spirit was survival of the fittest. Even it holds true today though the meaning of fitness has changed a lot for us, we still love the prehistoric fight for survival, the extinct animals, the intriguing myths and the illustrative legends. This is the very fact exploited by Roland Emmerich in 10,000 BC, a sure shot Apocalyptic success. Roland Emmerich agrees that he was influenced by One Million Years B.C. and Apocalypto but gives the credit to Robert E. Howard for his fictional work that inspired him to take us back to a harsh and primeval prehistoric age in quest of truth and courage. Making use of rampant digital imagery to recreate a beyond belief lost era of wilderness depicted in and out.

Roland Emmerich has previously directed directorial wonders and thrilling adventure spins like Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow, again the help of special effects is not to be forgotten. Bringing upon a new and awakening civilization is also another trademark Roland Emmerich style. His strength lies in visualizing a hair raising sensation and in the process do everything to prevent himself from becoming a true visionary. The goose bumps and anxious look can be bargained for in a 3D video game or a cheap horror movie as well. Finally, you ask what more! One thing that might be out of the scope here is that you get a feeling that the ice age man Roland Emmerich would have loved to have some amazing animal as pets such as the likes of godzillas, dinosaurs and now adding mammoths to the great choices. So, the fact that Roland Emmerich is more of a special effects and visual sensation man than that of characters or script fancies is not thoroughly uncalled for. He tries hard to show some human beings and their existential problems in between when dangerous and creepy animals are not running behind you for a sumptuous dinner.

Steven Strait in 10,000 B.C.

Tanushree Dutta, Sheetal Menon at the Premiere of 10,000 BC at Fame, Andheri on March 5th 2008 >>

10,000 BC is the story of a man (or a prehistoric superman!) and his desire accompanied by valor and strength of character going beyond the horizon following the trail leading him to rescue his lady love from the clutches of an evil warlord. Set in the lush green valley, inhibited by mammoths and terror birds named Phororhacos, the Yagahl tribe is happy with its adventures with the giant mammoth, they acknowledge the fact that they are hunters and are proud to accept it and the legend of the ‘White Spear of the North’ is passed on from generation to generation. The tribe has its own set of rules and spiritual prophecies that make a base for the tribe’s survival, a survival that is finding it tough to cope up with the changes in nature, but for them abandoning the tribe is the biggest crime. Into this setting, Roland Emmerich puts his protagonists who weave a tale of love and passion in the most astonishing manner.

Camilla Belle in 10,000 B.C.

D’Leh, played by Steven Strait, is an outcaste shunned completely by the tribe for something his father had done by trying to search alternate source of sustenance by leaving the tribe, an act that made him a coward and shamefaced in the eyes of the fellow tribesmen. While D’Leh struggles to live with this scruffy fact and befriended by the wise Tic’Tic played by Cliff Curtis, he continues to grow stronger and the hard truth gets him ready to face challenges that require physical and mental strength. He finds a soothing love in the azure-eyed Evolet, played by Camilla Belle, who has been prophesied to be the cause of the great fate of the Yagahl by the Old Mother played by Mona Hammond. The tribe for whom hunting mammoths are more than a survival need prepares to hand over the white spear to anyone who kills the lead male mammoth of the herd. This winner would also win the love of Evolet eventually. In a dare-devilish way D’Leh follows the male mammoth and accidentally kills it. This leads to the tribe accepting him as the leader which he humbly denies. While the tribe is unable to decide a leader, they are attacked by another tribe who kidnap Evolet. Upon this D’Leh decides to follow the tribe and get back his love. He faces many adventures where we get to see some super human moments like D’Leh surviving attacks of terror birds, saving a saber-toothed tiger and builds an army to confront the brutal and vindictive who use prisoners and mammoths to Pyramids under the guidance of a malicious figure. The story ends with the note of the beginning of a new era that dawns upon.

Camilla Belle in 10,000 B.C.

Without being biased by the special effects that were crucial for this movie’s success, we can easily ignore the other film-making stuff. There is nothing spectacular about the acting or screenplay. The depiction of a pre-historic tribe with their odd names does not capture your fancy to a greater extent. Other than the chilling bloodshed and the giant and mad mammoths making a havoc, the movie hardly gives out any message. The pseudo-epic or the myth of the blue-eyed one is a movie that will appeal a certain generation, a generation that has made such movies a hit.

Rating: 3/5

Pages: 1 2

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 30th, 2008 at 2:16 pm and is filed under Reviews, 2008 Releases, Drama, Adventure . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.