The Land That Time Forgot

PG

1975

1h 31m

Fantasy

List

43%

Tomatometer

14 Reviews

38%

Audience Score

1,000+ Ratings

Bowen Tyler (Doug McClure) is among a small group of survivors taken in by a German submarine after the vessel has sunk their ship. When a struggle ensues between the German officers and their captives, the U-boat, which is running out of fuel, ends up coming across an uncharted island. Unfortunately for the passengers and crew, dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures roam the land, and everyone must fight to survive the perils of the lost island.

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Jay Cocks

TIME Magazine

Instant second childhood is guaranteed in less than 90 minutes.

Sep 6, 2009

Full Review

Geoff Andrew

Time Out

It starts off promisingly with some stylised and ridiculous heroics involving a German sub, but once the island has been occupied and a few excellent monsters vanquished, the plot settles down to some very ordinary machinations.

Feb 9, 2006

Full Review

New York Times

Just as the much grander Jaws became less scary the moment its mechanical shark appeared, the early virtues of Land collapse once the island is reached and the traffic jam in artificial monsters develops.

Rated: 2/4

May 9, 2005

Full Review

Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

The outdated, gimmicky dinosaur segments are the real treat, using rubbery puppets enlarged by camera tricks (appearing like toys during close-ups) to create excitement.

Rated: 5/10

Aug 30, 2020

Full Review

Tim Brayton

Alternate Ending

A drab little splat of a movie, a swashbuckling adventure about a mysterious island full of dinosaurs in which the adventure is inert.

Rated: 2/5

Jul 4, 2018

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Creative Loafing

A higher budget and a longer running time would have made this even better, but even as it stands, it's a satisfying film in the Saturday-matinee mold.

Rated: 3/4

May 28, 2016

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Michael C

The original film adaptation of "The Land That Time Forgot" is a good movie. That's it. Just good. That in and of itself is fine of course. The special effects are mediocre at best, but they are fine for a movie of this kind (and budget). Almost reminded me of the original Toho Studios Godzilla movies. The late Doug McClure is all well and good as the main hero of the story Bowen Tyler. One of the movie's liabilities is it is very slow moving at times. There were parts of the movie which just seemed to drag on for too long. Another liability is the fight sequences between the main characters and the primitive humans who live on the hidden island of Caprona. There were too many quick cuts and the camera did not focus enough of aspects of the fights, the scene just kept jumping from clip to clip to clip. With that being said, "The Land That Time Forgot" is not a bad movie. It is good and entertaining, but I think it could have been better.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

05/06/24

Full Review

alan g

Should be,"the movie that time forgot". Insipid plot, horrible acting, special effects that are not special. Good thing everyone dies so no sequel.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

03/22/24

Full Review

Liam D

I also watched this through Netflix's MST3K and some of the riffing was actually very funny so once again a great track elevated a pretty mediocre movie

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

08/15/22

Full Review

martin a

An interesting concept for a film, that tells the tale of a German U Boat torpedoing a Ship carrying weapons, that leaves a few survivors in a lifeboat, that end up taking over the U Boat when it surfaces. In the struggle between the two sides, they get lost and run out of food and fuel, and end up discovering a secret land with dinosaurs and more They agree to a truce to try and work together to get off the land. It all goes well, but they are attacked by natives, and for some reason blow up dinosaurs that are no problem, and also manage to discover oil, but a volcano erupts and they start to leave without the two main stars. It is sad that all of the cast die with the exception to the two. More could have been done with this film, but it is still very enjoyable

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

glenn p

One of my favorites growing up.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

They need to get to the dinosaurs earlier, it's why we're here. For the first 20–30 mins, it was a continual back and forth over who controlled the submarine: the Germans or the British (with the aid of a swashbuckling, American (Doug McClure)). The descent into this land from which time is no longer counting was actually pretty cool, marked with the quick introduction of the plesiosaur. My hopes were pretty high at this point, thinking to myself, "We finally made it. Let the wild rumpus start!" And while overall I did enjoy the low-budget dinosaurs, the story and acting falls apart, leaving me checking the remainder of the run-time on several occasions. A notable exception to the dinosaurs are the pterodactyls, which were indefensible in their low-quality; neither their mouths nor wings moved, as if an invisible hand was carrying them through the air. It felt like a movie that came out closer to 1955 than 1975, but the little charm it had quickly wore off. The ending also left me scratching my head, as I couldn't understand why everyone in the submarine was like… dying? Considering that the 2009 remake of the film has a (Not Rated/9) on RT, maybe TLTTF should remain as a novel.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

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Kevin Connor

Director

Doug McClure

Bowen Tyler

Susan Penhaligon

Lisa Clayton

John McEnery

Captain Von Schoenvorts

Keith Barron

Bradley

Anthony Ainley

Dietz

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Synopsis

Bowen Tyler (Doug McClure) is among a small group of survivors taken in by a German submarine after the vessel has sunk their ship. When a struggle ensues between the German officers and their captives, the U-boat, which is running out of fuel, ends up coming across an uncharted island. Unfortunately for the passengers and crew, dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures roam the land, and everyone must fight to survive the perils of the lost island.

Director: Kevin Connor
Producer: Robert H. Greenberg
Screenwriter: Michael Moorcock, James Cawthorn
Production Co: Amicus Productions, Lion International
Rating: PG
Genre: Fantasy
Original Language: English (United Kingdom)
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 16, 2008
Runtime: 1h 31m

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