In the early 1970s’ Amicus Pictures (Owned by Milton Subotsky and Max J Rosenberg) decided to pump so life into the declining British fantasy film industry by bringing the works of Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs to the big screen. The company’s rival, Hammer, had abandoned its standard horror films for features starring half naked women in an attempt to put more bodies in the seats and the time seemed right for Burroughs strait forward action tales to fill the void.
The first of the four Burrough’s stories to be produced by Amicus would be an adaptation of the short story “The Land That Time Forgot” which was first published in Blue Book Magazine in 1918. Milton Subotsky had first penned a screenplay for the film back in the early 1960s’ but this first draft was initially rejected by the late Burrough’s estate. It was under their prodding that the script was rewritten by Jim Cawthorn and Michael Moorcock. Their dialogue heavy, light on the action script however didn’t meet Subotsky’s approval so it was reworked yet again.
The film began production at Pinewood Studios in April 1974 with a mere $750,000 budget that had been put up by American International Pictures in exchange for the American distribution rights. This extremely low budget forced the film-makers to settle for cost cutting measures in the effects department. Hand puppets were used for the films dinosaurs in many scenes where costly stop motion animation had intended to be used. The effect looks primitive when compared to modern CGI effects, but for the time period in which it was created the effects in The Land That Time Forgot faired well against most rival productions.
Script problems and hand held dinos were not the only problems the production would face in its early stages. Originally Stuart Whitman was cast as the American engineer Bowen Tyler but Samuel Arkoff of AIP protested. Their next choice, Doug McClure, finally agreed to take the role after initially passing on it. McClure was billed as the perfect leading man by Kevin Connor. A reputation he had earned as the lead on the TV Western “The Virginian.” On the set however McClure earned another type of reputation after his tendency to hit the bottle caused him to miss a couple of days shooting and punch a hole in producer Johnny Dark’s office door. Despite this McClure was considered a nice guy by his costars. He even held the hand of a nervous Susan Penhaligon (cast as biologist Lisa Clayton) during the explosions of the films volcano erupting climax. John McEnry, who played the German U-boat Captain von Schoverts, was continually acting up on the set due to his belief that the production was beneath him as an actor. This lead to his voice being dubbed over by Anton Diffrin due to his demeanor and lackluster tone. Aside from this however none of the other off screen troubles manifested themselves in the finished product.
The films plot is a strait forward Burroughs adventure story. The survivors of a torpedoed allied cargo ship turn the tables on their attackers and seize control of their U-boat. The Germans manage to damage the ships compass and instead of steaming to a neutral port the group finds itself of the coast of the legendary island Caprona where time has stood still since prehistoric times. Forced to venture ashore in search of food, supplies and fuel the crew encounters a bevy of dinosaurs that intend on making sure no one escapes alive. As in all good adventure stories of this type just about everything and everyone the group encounters is set on doing them mortal harm and danger lies behind every turn. The groups focus is a simple a straight forward one. Keep from being eaten and figure out a way to get off the island before it consumed in a river of molten rock. Seems all good dinosaur flicks have to end in some kind of volcanic catastrophe and this film is no exception even though Moorcock had originally written it with a different ending.
The Land That Time Forgot (1975)
Amicus Pictures
Directed By: Kevin Connor
Written By: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Jim Cawthorn, Michael Moorcock, Milton Subotsky
In the early 1970s’ Amicus Pictures (Owned by Milton Subotsky and Max J Rosenberg) decided to pump so life into the declining British fantasy film industry by bringing the works of Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs to the big screen. The company’s rival, Hammer, had abandoned its standard horror films for features starring half naked women in an attempt to put more bodies in the seats and the time seemed right for Burroughs strait forward action tales to fill the void.
The first of the four Burrough’s stories to be produced by Amicus would be an adaptation of the short story “The Land That Time Forgot” which was first published in Blue Book Magazine in 1918. Milton Subotsky had first penned a screenplay for the film back in the early 1960s’ but this first draft was initially rejected by the late Burrough’s estate. It was under their prodding that the script was rewritten by Jim Cawthorn and Michael Moorcock. Their dialogue heavy, light on the action script however didn’t meet Subotsky’s approval so it was reworked yet again.
The film began production at Pinewood Studios in April 1974 with a mere $750,000 budget that had been put up by American International Pictures in exchange for the American distribution rights. This extremely low budget forced the film-makers to settle for cost cutting measures in the effects department. Hand puppets were used for the films dinosaurs in many scenes where costly stop motion animation had intended to be used. The effect looks primitive when compared to modern CGI effects, but for the time period in which it was created the effects in The Land That Time Forgot faired well against most rival productions.
In the early 1970s’ Amicus Pictures (Owned by Milton Subotsky and Max J Rosenberg) decided to pump so life into the declining British fantasy film industry by bringing the works of Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs to the big screen. The company’s rival, Hammer, had abandoned its standard horror films for features starring half naked women in an attempt to put more bodies in the seats and the time seemed right for Burroughs strait forward action tales to fill the void.
Written By: Ken Hulsey Sources: Paul Bales / Avery Guerra
Infamous actress Traci Lords, yes the same Traci Lords who did the nasty as an underage porn star and tried her hand at being a trance DJ, has been cast in the upcoming film from The Asylum called "Princess of Mars."
I can smell a lawsuit a brewing, because just last month it was announced that Andrew Stanton was directing "Princess of Mars" for Disney. That film is set to star Taylor Kitsch, Willem Dafoe and Lynn Collins as the princess.
Both films are based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs's novel by the same name. In fact Burrough's penned several novels about John Carter, a wounded Civil War veteran, who mysteriously finds himself transported to Mars where he encounters savage Martians, strange creatures, a slew of sexy maidens.
From what I can gather, the Disney version will stay true to the original story, and the version produced by The Asylum will be a modern redo. I think that it would be safe to assume that Disney would take a more 'family-friendly' approach to the story, while The Asylum would take a more 'colorful' path with Traci Lords.
I honestly can't see two films called "Princess of Mars" coming out without there being legal trouble, so guess what? My money is on The Asylum changing the name of their film in the near future to save themselves the hassle.
Other news from the independent studio, who has brought us such classics as "Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus" and "Transmorphers 2", includes a very good article about how the studio makes a profit from their 'mock-busters' in Variety and a brand-new effects sequence from their upcoming disaster flick "Megafault". Hey, if "Mega Shark" could muster a ton of international attention, why not "Megafault?"
"Megafault" is being directed by David Michael Latt and stars Brittany Murphy, Eriq La Salle, Bruce Davison and Justin Hartley.
Here's the plot:
A seismologist and a miner must stop a massive earthquake that threatens to tear the world in half.
Hmm.....if they had Brittany Murphy and Traci Lords in an adult oriented "Princess of Mars"...then they would really have something there!
Veteran actor Willem Dafoe has just signed on to play the brutal green Martian warrior, Tars Tarkas, in Disney's "John Carter of Mars".
The film, which is being helmed by Andrew Stanton (Wall-E) is adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs's novel "A Princess of Mars", which is just one several such stories penned by the author.
In the original series of books, John Carter, a wounded Civil War veteran, mysteriously finds himself transported to Mars where he encounters savage Martians, strange creatures, a slew of sexy maidens.
Dafoe's character, Tarkas, becomes an ally of Carter, and the two travel and fight side by side like an intergalactic "Lone Ranger and Tonto." That being said, it is a safe bet that the actor will called upon again if the film spawns any sequels.
In June it was announced that Taylor Kitsch had been cast as Carter and Lynn Collins would be wearing as little as possible as the sexy Princess of Mars.
Gosh it's good to see Edgar Rice Burroughs's stories being used as films again!
Written By: Ken Hulsey Sources: Paul Bales / Avery Guerra
You can say what you will about some of The Asylum's other films, like "Transmorphers" and "Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus", but their remake of the 1974 Amicus film, "The Land That Time Forgot" looks pretty damn awesome.
The film, which stars, and is directed by, C. Thomas Howell, is a modern take on the original film, which is based on Edgar Rice Burrough's 1918 short story.
Here is my synopsis of the original "The Land That Time Forgot":
The films plot is a strait forward Burroughs adventure story. The survivors of a torpedoed allied cargo ship turn the tables on their attackers and seize control of their U-boat. The Germans manage to damage the ships compass and instead of steaming to a neutral port the group finds itself of the coast of the legendary island Caprona where time has stood still since prehistoric times. Forced to venture ashore in search of food, supplies and fuel the crew encounters a bevy of dinosaurs that intend on making sure no one escapes alive. As in all good adventure stories of this type just about everything and everyone the group encounters is set on doing them mortal harm and danger lies behind every turn. The groups focus is a simple a straight forward one. Keep from being eaten and figure out a way to get off the island before it consumed in a river of molten rock.
The CGI dinosaurs in this one look pretty good and the bits that we get to see in the trailer have me kinda stoked to see what the entire film has in store for us.
I really liked the fact that they included the German U-Boat from the original film in this remake. I was actually very pleasantly surprised when I saw it in the trailer.
Paul Bales of The Asylum was cool enough to supply us with the first images of the dinosaurs from "The Land That Time Forgot", plus the films trailer:
