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| Peter Gilmore, Lea Brodie and the great Doug McClure prepare for danger in WARLORDS OF ATLANTIS. Images: STUDIO CANAL. |
THE DOUG McCLURE ADVENTURE TRILOGY (comprising THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT, AT THE EARTH’S CORE and WARLORDS OF ATLANTIS)
Released on UK DVD from July 30th 2012, by STUDIO CANAL
Reviewed by Scott Weller
Hand in your lightsaber, Luke Skywalker, put away your cape, Batman; the original action man of fantasy is back. Yes, I’m talking about straw haired, resilient big guy Yankee hero Doug McClure, returning to heroic duty and fist packing, axe wielding dino-battle in three classic seventies fantasy adventures from AMICUS FILMS that were the cream of the British Film Foundation family screenings of the summer holidays from my glorious youth, and now fabulously and deservedly re-released for new summers and new children to enjoy on nicely priced DVD, from those wonderful people at STUDIO CANAL.
UK fantasy/horror icons Milton Subotsky, John Dark and Kevin Connor were the behind the scenes wonder kids trio responsible for all the enjoyable McClure starring action films of the mid to late seventies released through EMI, which would become true genre classics of their time. It’s great to see their work celebrated anew, the films retaining their evocative and enjoyable screen nostalgia, and taking us back to a more innocent and fun time at the pictures. Having been such a staple part of my youth, I was very happy and keen to revisit them all once again…
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| A new realm of volcanos and dinosaurs discovered in THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT. |
THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT (1975)
World War I is raging from land into the high seas, and the desperate survivors of the torpedoed SS Montrose merchant/passenger ship join unlikely forces with the crew of the German enemy U-Boat that sunk them to discover the long lost mysterious island of Caprona, a true land that time forgot in this interesting and kid-friendly classic 1975 movie adaptation of the equally classic tale from Edgar Rice Burroughs, whose vivid storytelling talents are happily back in fashion again in 2012: this ripping yarn set 96 years earlier, when lost islands, civilizations and strange creatures were still theoretically possible in the imagination, and within a historical period when the world hadn’t been so fully mapped and explored...
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| Intrepid survivors: Lisa (Susan Penhaligon), Tyler (Doug McClure) and Bradley (Keith Barron). |
Brought over to win American audiences who would recognize him from his popular stint on the classic US western series THE VIRGINIAN, Doug McClure, who we shall now refer to within the rest of this review feature as Big M, is well cast as the square jawed engineer hero Bowan Tyler, who leads the capture of the enemy U-boat. Alongside him in their first on-screen appearance, and right to the bitter end of the volcanic devastation that hits Caprona, is the lovely Susan Penhaligon, a then rising star of the time whose performances in popular TV were of the kind of petite English Rose sexpot variety. Here, before the arrival of more voluptuous female figures in later Big M movies, she provides some fine audience appeal as Lisa Clayton, whose biology skills certainly come in handy later in the film.
A lot of other fine UK actors make a welcome jump to the big screen with LAND, too, including Keith Barron as Montrose Captain Bradley and John McEnery (whose name is sadly incorrectly spelt on the new DVD release sleeve!) as the island enthused German commander Von Schoenvorts, backed up by a memorable Anthony Ainley (later to be long running DOCTOR WHO enemy, The Master) as a snidely and supercilious German second-in-command, Dietz, and the original human version of STAR WARS Jabba the Hutt: bulky Irish actor Declan Mulholland, all of whom encounter beasts and dangers on the newly discovered island-if in doubt machine gun ‘em!-including the kind of classic creatures that will then and now appeal to children/family audiences of all ages like Stegosaurus, Pterodactyls and Allosaurus, all from the puppeteering hands of their talented creator, seventies UK effects star Roger Dicken, shot in competently filmed sequences using classic vistavision cameras from respected British cinematographer Alan Hume.
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| Take that Mr. Spielberg! McClure runs from a new flying threat! |
If anything, though, it’s not the dinosaurs that are the problem here, it’s the continuing island environment itself and the equally evolving primitive tribesmen, of which we mustn’t forget the important contribution made by Lou Ferrigno /Bill Oddie lookalike Neanderthal hybrid Ahm (Bobby Parr) who, one of the few non-hostiles, acts as mild comic relief alongside our heroes and helps move the plot along at a key point.
A solid script from and James Cawthorn and sci-fi writer Michael Moorcock, it’s DAS BOOT meets JURASSIC PARK, then, if all done on a lot less money, obviously! It’s easily the best of the three Big M releases from STUDIO CANAL due to this and the aforementioned quality cast. There’s also the claustrophobic set designs of the U-boat interior and exterior, well realized by set designer Maurice Carter, built in and around some of the biggest soundstages in Europe, at Shepperton Studios, whose once water tank is well used through the film, alongside further location filming in Surrey which passes muster alongside some very good model work for the time from British effects legend Derek Meddings, who uses further reasonably successful back projection shot footage to enhance the scope of the mysterious new realm.
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| Danger on Caprona for Bowan and Lisa. |
Then newcomer director Kevin Connor keeps it all moving confidently and spiritedly, where it eventually ends on a grim but satisfying note that also leaves the way open for an eventual, if less satisfying, sequel several years down the road: THE PEOPLE THAT TIME FORGOT…
The overall picture quality transfer of the release has a few moments of scene and music reel change deterioration, but generally it’s of a good quality. Of the three Big M releases this has some bonus features, including two short but sweet interviews with Susan Penhaligon and director Kevin Connor about the making of the film during an unusual and almost dearth time for British movie-making, and a few movie stills and posters primarily linked to LAND and AT THE EARTH’S CORE. It’s a shame more couldn’t have been done for all the releases, really. There must be a couple of behind the scenes featurette’s out there somewhere in the archives they could have found for inclusion.
KOOL TV RATING: 8.5 out of 10
AT THE EARTH’S CORE (1976)
With the aforementioned Edgar Rice Burroughs back in the public eye with the recent adaptation/release of the epic fantasy adventure JOHN CARTER, its easy to see a lot of his trade mark characters and storytelling in the next of Milton Subotsky’s produced fast paced film adaptations of his classic work, what with its beautiful Princess, strange creatures and subjugated tribesman/warriors…
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| Doug McClure with co-stars Peter Cushing and Caroline Munro. |
With less cast than THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT (though EARTH does features a nice little cameo from LAND’s Keith Barron at the beginning), Big M has a more dominant role in this film and a chance to flex his big screen attitude and muscles as David Innes, a talented cigar-chomping big guy of an inventor seeking fame and fortune, who, with wispy and enthusiastic Dr. Abner Perry (the equally legendary Peter Cushing), makes a journey into the Earth’s core with their mole machine scientific wonder, but quickly go far beyond their planned for and anticipated journey of exploration and boundary breaking to arrive within a strange new underground world far removed from anything they’ve seen before; soon becoming involved in a life and death battle to free a human slave society from the carnivorous and mesmeric influence of a race of bloodthirsty dinosaur bird creatures.
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| Oh, did we mention Caroline Munro was in the film? |
Peter Cushing is clearly having the time of his life playing the eccentric scientist Perry, waving his umbrella around at the various monsters, and later proving himself as a fine archer: he’s sort of like a geriatric John Steed, in a performance we’re all the more enriched for having (and any film where Cushing gets to say the line, “ You can’t mesmerize me. I’m British!” is quality in my book!), whilst his partner ship with the Big M works well- brains and brawn in fine symbiosis. As the Big M’s romantic interest, the stunning Caroline Munro as Princess Dia truly lives up to the mantra of God Created Woman. Certainly worth fighting and dying for if you ask me! Nice to see the actress’s real voice used in a film for a change, too, and not over dubbed.
Looking fairly decent in his blondish mega-curl afro wig, Cy Grant plays one of the brave primitive tribesman who helps Big M lead the strike back against the reptile bird/dinosaur descendants in their city. It’s not spoiling it to say he dies in the end, but not without having a bloody good fight!
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| The mole machine about to do its work... |
A darker more claustrophobic tale than both the preceding LAND THAT TIME FORGOT and the proceeding WARLORD OF ATLANTIS, veteran British cinematographer Alan Hume returns to get some good experience at filming and lighting monsters and imaginary worlds prior to his work with the even more weird and wonderful creatures within George Lucas’s palace of Jabba the Hutt in RETURN OF THE JEDI eight years later. Kudos also to Maurice Carter for the films impressively built subterranean caves (ruled by the Sagoth slavers: their alien/Mongolian hybrid make-up being quite sinister on first sight), as well as an even better primitive jungle, with a purple magma-humed sky overhead…
Milton Subotsky’s script adaptation is basic and has a few plot holes sprinkled about, but its heart is in the right place, whilst Kevin Connor’s direction retains some visual invention and good pace, backed up with an intriguing and distinctive electronic score from Mike Vickers. Despite the occasional wire work showing (no CGI removal possible in those days), the flying baddy monsters of the film-the Mahars- are quite scary at times, with their creepily effective and unblinking until they kill, Alligator-like dead eyes, backed up with some good sound design showing us their mesmeric and telepathic influences as they sweep down and eat their prey in one memorable sequence.
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| A horny conflict for two volcanic beasts! |
There’s also a couple of wonky back projection moments involving McClure fighting creatures, whilst a lot of the subterranean based beasts are clearly men in suits, but they can be forgiven for such an ambitious British adventure flick of the time, and applauded for their attempts in visually fathoming out what creatures of such a strange underground and heat soaked environment might look like.
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| Abner and David at the controls of their mole machine. |
It may not be quite as memorable as the other two Big M films that bookend it in this release, but its still very enjoyable nonetheless. The picture transfer is good though the mono sound clearly shows.
KOOL TV RATING: 7 out of 10
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| Watery action with the WARLORDS OF ATLANTIS. |
WARLORDS OF ATLANTIS (1978)
He’s been on land, he’s been to the Earth’s Core, but now the Big M is conquering the planet’s last frontier underwater for WARLORDS OF ATLANTIS, in a non Edgar Rice Burroughs story conceived by well-regarded and resident DOCTOR WHO writer, the late Brian Hayles (well known as the creator of that series memorable Martian creatures, the Ice Warriors), who pens a briskly paced and lively tale with an interesting new aliens on Earth dimension/twist to the legendary lost civilization of Atlantis.
But it all begins above the seas, as the Texas Rose sailing vessel travels the waters of the legendary Bermuda Triangle on a scientific expedition whose ultimate goals have been largely kept secret from the rest of the workmanlike, if seedy, crew. Back to make the cinema screen just that little bit larger, sturdy Big M plays nautical engineer Greg Collinson, whose revolutionary diving bell craft will take his partner in exploration, Charles Aitken (Peter Gilmore), into its first immersions. But they are soon attacked by a giant multi-tentacled squid, which kidnaps them and the Texas Rose crew and transports them deep under the ocean (deeper than James Cameron’s real life expeditions probably!) to the underwater civilizations of Atlantis and its seven cities. Once there, Big M and the rest of the captured party are held hostage to become slaves whilst the higher intelligences of the Atlantian society try to shape and manipulate Aitken, as well as Humanity in general, into doing their bidding and creating the technological advances they need for themselves so as to escape Earth.
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| Lea Brodie and friend say "Cheese". |
Another memorable cast of actors join Big M in his adventures. No stranger to the world water lanes, and used to his sea legs from his long stint on the classic BBC ONE series THE ONEDIN LINE, Peter Gilmore gives just the right note of posh scientist eccentric to his performance as Aitken, and a fine comedy/action hero foil for the presence of Big M. And for what would be called big-screen crumpet, Lea Brodie, another complete package in the God Created Woman department (of which this is her major film introduction) is gorgeous, possessing a great figure and an innocent but firm screen presence alongside our heroes. She shoots a gun just as well as Princess Leia, too!
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| Cyd Charisse as Atsil shows Aitken (Peter Gilmore) the wonders of the alien technology. |
Adding weight to attract American audiences and win some press attention alongside stalwart Big M there’s some heavy hitting talent playing the Atlanteans in the form of Daniel Massey and the legendary Cyd Charisse, whose age defying legs light up the screen at selected intervals. At the time, the actress probably thought she was slumming it doing a family fantasy film, but her and Massey give worthy intellectual villainy to their cameo performances. Film and TV baddie presence Michael Gothard also makes for an eerily alien presence, too, as the blonde wigged warrior leader, Atmir.
The rest of the cast include a pre-STAR WARS and CHEERS John Ratzenberger as a shifty villain, alongside Gerry Anderson/BOND stalwart Shane Rimmer as Captain Daniels, and Hal Galili, another villain playing actor, who appeared in one of the classic BONDs, GOLDFINGER, playing a character named Solo no less!
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| Some not very nice Atlantean warriors capture our heroes. |
Once again there’s very memorable and hummable music from Mike Vickers, well-staged action by the late Marc Boyle, and sturdy, inventive and never boring direction from Kevin Connor, who brings his camera to bear to make the most of PINEWOOD STUDIOS impressive set designs from INDIANA JONES veteran Elliot Scott. Some very good for their time, state of the art effects from BOND veteran John Richardson prove inventive for a pre and slightly post-STAR WARS British movie, alongside some nice matte paintings and good miniatures/back projection work linked to the exotic and evocatively ancient Malta/Gozo’s location filming, all looking suitably hot and alien.
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| Our heroes make their escape from Atlantis. |
And where would a Big M film be without its carnival of monsters, eh? WARLORDS is a cornucopia of inventive and gruesome beasts of all shapes and sizes, handled once again by Roger Christian, all created and realized here through a variety of rubbery means-some better than others but all on-screen memorable, from an impressive giant squid that would give Captain Nemo the terrors, to flying dinosaur piranha hybrids, to impressive gargantuan fish/rhinos whose battering ram tails are determined to smash through the Atlantean defenses despite the courage of human slave canon gunners in one of the films most memorable sequences. It’s all a distinct breed apart from anything created by Ray Harryhausen in his stop-motion universe, and closer to the kind of Go-Motion work later used by Phil Tippett in RETURN OF THE JEDI, but it proves equally effective. It was nice at the time to see both types of fantasy film-making surviving and flourishing, though you could see that Dicken was soon going to be the perfect choice for the grossly memorable monstrosities of the Face Hugger and Chest-burster of Ridley Scott’s 1979 cinematic nightmare, ALIEN!
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| One of the Atlantis alien beasts comes back for seconds! |
As the monster mayhem escalates, stopping for a major breather story-wise in these Brit-fantasies is never an option. Always on the move and never boring, WARLORDS is well paced/edited to keep family audiences entertained throughout. It may only have a fiftieth of the budget of something like today’s JOHN CARTER but it’s just such fun, and probably the purest and most potent source of UK made family entertainment then and now.
The film is what it says on the tin and was probably the last real gasp for the UK fantasy factory of the in and out of fashion family adventure/monster genre. Before Luke and Darth turned up and changed the face of film-making forever…
The picture quality transfer of WARLORDS is crisp and virtually blemish free for an unrestored film of thirty years plus age, and the sound transfer is excellent. Extras wise, there is a fun if singular trailer.
KOOL TV RATING: 8 out of 10
Also available on DVD from STUDIO CANAL this month is the low budget cult British sci-fi sixties tale: THEY CAME FROM BEYOND SPACE, starring the late Michael Gough. Available here:
