1974’s The Land That Time Forgot delivered a somewhat faithful adaptation of the Edgar Rice Burroughs book as well as a good lost world tale that has since become rather dated, but still counts as a genre guilty pleasure.
What Is It?
This mid-70s film adapts the first book of the Land That Time Forgot, aka Caspak, trilogy (more on that at this link) written by Tarzan/John Carter creator Edgar Rice Burroughs. The movie, as with the book, takes place in 1916 during World War I and begins with a German U-Boat sinking a British merchant ship (allegedly carrying arms to England) in the Atlantic. A small group of survivors—including Bowen Tyler, whose family is in the business of building submarines—manages to commandeer the German vessel when it surfaces after the attack. The British (and the American Tyler) continue to battle with the Germans for control of the ship, and ultimately it goes far off course to the Antarctic, where they stumble across the lost continent of Caprona, which is surrounded by inaccessible cliffs on all sides. The German commander, Von Schoenvorts, strikes a bargain for the two sides to work together because the submarine is in need of fuel and provisions. They find an underground river that leads into the continent, and they steer the vessel through its precarious depths to the interior of Caprona. There, they find a land heated by a volcano that has not progressed past the age of dinosaurs. They must then contend with its many dangers to find oil that they can refine for fuel, as well as food and water to keep them alive. And they also find themselves faced with the mystery of how evolution works in this land out of time.
Cast: Doug McClure, Keith Barron, John McEnery, Susan Penhaligon, Anthony Ainley
Crew: Kevin Connor (Director), Michael Moorcock (Screenplay), James Cawthorn (Screenplay), Edgar Rice Burroughs (Novel)
Original Release: 1974 (UK), 1975 (US)
Legacy:
This film may not count as a sci-fi classic, but it delivered some old-style lost world fun on a relatively decent budget (for its time) and also gave us a somewhat faithful adaptation of the Edgar Rice Burroughs book—up to the end, at least.
A Closer Look:
The Land That Time Forgot hit theaters in the U.S. shortly after Jaws changed the Hollywood roadmap, but the creators of this Burroughs-based movie couldn’t have known about the major shift on the horizon and followed a fairly traditional old-style format (though with a slightly larger budget). Science fiction cinema had been in the process of maturing from the 1960s into the 1970s, and this movie represents a slight step forward, even if it is mostly just a footnote now. Prior to this time, dinosaur movies were pretty much relegated to B-movie status, but this one received a more generous production allowance and better promotion—even if it hardly looks better in retrospect than the cheaper films that preceded it.
The film earned its slightly elevated status in part because it was based on an actual work of literature (well, a good pulp tale at least) by a well-known author. The movie also benefitted from a script written by Michael Moorcock that remained rather faithful to the source material for the most part. The special effects team went with what they considered an innovative means of bringing the dinosaurs to life, combining puppets with life-size mock-ups, which translated fairly well to the big screen at the time. Not as good as the stop-motion films that preceded it, but better than the man-in-a-rubber-suit routine. And for audiences flocking to theaters in 1975 looking for more spectacle along the lines of Jaws (which had opened less than two months prior), The Land That Time Forgot came as close to fitting the bill as you could get at the time.
Unfortunately, the movie just does not hold up as well today, looking very much like the cheesy B-movie it wasn’t in 1975. There’s little character development, and the romance between Bowen Tyler and Lisa Clayton is almost completely glossed over—even though in the book it is a very important part of Bowen’s motivations toward the climax. For the ending, they simply lift from One Million Years B.C. with a volcanic eruption that appears to destroy most everything, providing a rather unsatisfying conclusion. Plus, the dinosaur effects look cheap and outdated compared to the advancements in SFX that would follow shortly after.
But that doesn’t mean we can’t still revel in the earnestness and sense of fun at the heart of this movie. The original books by Burroughs delivered some first-rate lost world adventures, and this film definitely taps into that. It was a serious attempt to make a good science fiction movie that played its story straight but never took on a haughty or self-important tone. It hasn’t worked its way into the must-watch echelon of genre films, but it stands up well enough compared to the older-style films of its ilk—films that would pretty much disappear as the mega-dollar blockbusters became the norm for sci-fi movies. The Land That Time Forgot may not count as classic sci-fi, but it is definitely a guilty pleasure from the genre that delivers some retro fun.
The Story Continues:
Amicus Productions, the company that made The Land That Time Forgot, followed it up with an adaptation of Burroughs’ At the Earth’s Core in 1976. They then planned to tackle the John Carter of Mars books, but could not secure the rights. Instead, they returned to Caspak and produced The People That Time Forgot in 1977. That one was primarily based on the second book from the trilogy but incorporated elements of the third novel, Out of Time’s Abyss, as well.
While Kevin Connor returned to direct the sequel, Michael Moorcock was no longer on board, and the film took plenty of liberties with the source material. It also had a lower budget and performed poorly at the box office—looking like a dinosaur of a film (pun intended) compared to Star Wars, which hit theaters two months prior. And that killed any chance of a full adaptation of the third book in the series.
Should It Be Rebooted?
The Land That Time Forgot has been rebooted twice, though neither attempt improved on the 1974 film. In 2009, Asylum produced a super-cheap remake starring C. Thomas Howell that was only loosely based on the book. That studio is known for their direct-to-DVD “mockbusters,” which try to play off similarly themed big studio releases that hit theaters at about the same time. This one rode the coattails of the big-screen Land of the Lost reboot, but that proved to be a flop at the Box Office.
Asylum then took another stab at the property in 2025, shifting it to a modern setting and it was related to the Burroughs work in name only. It currently has no score on Rotten Tomatoes as of this writing, and the few reviews are far from kind.
Since the books are in the public domain, any studio can do their own version, and this one definitely deserves a quality remake. Plus, with current CGI technology, it could almost certainly be done on a modest budget. They could tackle the first book and stick close to the source material because Burroughs had a pretty darn good story there that should keep the attention of viewers. Then it has two built-in sequels that could follow. This could also be done as a television series with each season covering one of the original books, and it would be a perfect fit on one of the streaming services. The Land That Time Forgot definitely deserves a revival, and it could be done without spending a ridiculous amount of money, so hopefully a superior version will emerge at some point.
Interesting Facts:
Doug McClure would star in the sequel to this movie, The People That Time Forgot (1977), as well as the film adaptation of Burroughs’ At the Earth’s Core (1976), both of which came from the same production company. McClure would become somewhat of a genre mainstay in the mid-70s and early 80s, though the quality of the films he appeared in diminished rapidly. He would follow the films above with starring roles in such dubious productions as Warlords of the Deep, Firebird 2015 AD, and Humanoids from the Deep. Also, in 1975, McClure co-starred with William Shatner in the short-lived, Wild Wild West-like TV series The Barbary Coast.
Michael Moorcock has said that his original script stayed relatively close to the book, but that the film’s producers changed the last twenty minutes to provide what they thought was a more dramatic/action-packed ending.
Where Can You Watch It?
The 1974 film has been released on DVD and Blu-ray and it is still available in both formats. It is available for streaming with a subscription to MGM+ or Fubo TV.
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