The Valley of Gwangi
by Jim O'Connolly
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DVD details
Actor: Freda Jackson, Gila Golan, James Franciscus, Laurence Naismith, Richard CarlsonDirector: Jim O'Connolly
Brand: FRANCISCUS,JAMES
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0; Spanish (Original Language); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 95 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-10-21
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Reviews of The Valley of Gwangi
DVD Review: Cowboys and Dinosaurs
Summary: 4 Stars
As the 1960's were coming to an end and, in the cautionary sf film era of 2001 and PLANET OF THE APES, Ray Harryhausen resurrects an old Willis O'Brien idea about cowboys tangling with dinosaurs. This is an entertaining movie -- sure, everything that came before JURASSIC PARK suffers by comparrison -- with James Franciscus (BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES), Gila Golan (OUR MAN FLINT) and Richard Carlson (CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON). Not on par with Harryhausen's best: 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD and JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, but a fun romp. A popcorn picture. Only extra is the trailer. DVD Review: Really Holds Up for Modern Viewer
Summary: 5 Stars
The wide screen image is fantastically sharp for a vintage film. "Gwangi" unimaginably succeeds to make a mash-up of a cowboy love story and prehistoric monster movie. It's not all easy viewing either -- these creatures fight to the death, and the sounds of distressed and dying monsters (as well as a circus elephant) are really wrenching. This is underscored at the end, when, as in "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms", the titular monster exits in a death struggle amongst flaming wreckage. Gwangi dies in a burning Catholic cathedral, and the human characters show sympathetic emotion for the suffering creature. It's clear that Harryhausen had a real sympathy for the passing of the Age of Reptiles, and managed to communicate it to the script writers and production crews he worked with. Postscript: Gila Golan adds some beauty as counterpoint to the beast. Her interesting life story is worth searching on the Internet.DVD Review: fantastic,
Summary: 5 Stars
this movie classic is one not to miss. the effects at that time was fantastic.DVD Review: Ray Harryhausen and some cowboys capture an angry gwangi. Look out!
Summary: 4 Stars
Valley of the Gwangi, as long as you're easily satisfied, is a movie to enjoy in spite of itself. It's a light-hearted but leaden-footed dinosaur adventure film, with a group of turn-of-the-century cowboys versus a gwangi. The idea is fun, the acting is adequate (with one exception), the script is workmanlike and the direction is dull. It seems to take forever to get to the good stuff. What it has going for it, starting half way through the movie, is the gwangi - an allosaurus - that seems to be constantly angry. The joy of the movie is that this giant, meat-eating, top-of-the-food chain creature is brought to life by the stop-motion artistry of Ray Harryhausen.
Down Mexico way at the turn of the century, T. J. Breckenridge (Gila Golan) stars in and manages a ramshackle circus, Champ Connors (Richard Carlson) and a handful of American and Mexican cowboys help out. Old flame Tuck Kirby (James Franciscus) shows up and wants to buy T. J.'s wonder horse, Omar. No way, says T. J. And she tells him that she's got an even better horse act ready to be introduced...a tiny horse-like creature she purchased with no questions asked. But eccentric Professor Horace Bromley (Lawrence Naismith), a paleontologist who is determined to prove his theory of the humanoids, identifies the whinnying little thing as an eohippus, an ancestor of the horse, which supposedly has been extinct for millions of years. When gypsies steal the eohippus to return it to a hidden valley, off in pursuit goes T. J., Tuck, Champ and the Professor, aided by Lope, a ten-year-old Mexican lad and two wranglers from T. J.'s circus. And finally, after nearly 50 minutes, the 96-minute movie really starts.
The movie, thanks to Ray Harryhausen, gives us the goods with three first-rate scenes. There's the entrance to the valley on horseback, with some strange scenery and then a quick attack by a pterodactyl that scoops up Lope. Lope's rescue is something to see. There's the great set piece of cowboys versus the angry allosaurus, with the gwangi raging after cowboy ordeurves and the cowboys regrouping to lasso the gwangi, then the gwangi breaking free to have a life-or-death battle with a oneceratops (or whatever a one-horned triceratops is called). And finally there's the raging gwangi tearing apart the Mexican town (climaxing inside a burning cathedral) where he was brought to be the lead attraction for T. J.'s circus.
Nothing about the movie is first-rate...except these three scenes. They're rousers. Franciscus does an okay job as a generic, happy-go-lucky cowboy hero and Richard Carlson, now 57, has aged into a cross between Pete Postlethwaite and Randolph Scott. He's fine but nothing special as T. J.'s protective circus manager. Gila Golan, however, is a lush young woman who can barely act, much less ride a horse. She made a handful of films. I'd swear she was dubbed.
In some ways, The Valley of the Gwangi, with it's turn of the century setting and cowboys roping a dinosaur, is charming. If only it had better actors and a smarter first-half script.
To see a handful of brave souls do amusing battle with various Harryhausen creatures, try Mysterious Island. It even has Captain Nemo, as well as some considerably better actors, such as Joan Greenwood and Herbert Lom, For grinning, vicious, clattering skeletons waving swords around, you can't do better than Harryhausen's Jason and the Argonauts.
Along with Ray Harryhausen, the movie owes a lot to Jerome Moross who composed the film score. He uses echoes from his great score for The Big Country to make Valley of the Gwangi more impressive than it deserves, especially in the cowboys-versus-gwangi set piece. So four stars with Harryhausen (and Moross). Three stars without them.
Now if you really want to see how to capture a gwangi, or at least a Tyrannosaurus Rex, I'd recommend you watch Prehistoric Park and the adventures of Nigel Marvin.
DVD Review: oldschool
Summary: 4 Stars
overlooked harryhausen gem.most either discuss jason or sinbad films,but this has a nice balance between plot and action.its an even marriage between a typical B western and dinosaur feature.before jurrasic park this was the most elaberate prehistoric adventure of its time.
Description of The Valley of Gwangi
A cowboy captures a prehistoric beast and hits on the idea of putting it on show at a traveling circus. The beast, however, has other ideas.The stop-motion magic of legendary special effects creator Ray Harryhausen is the highlight of this sporadically exciting fantasy-adventure, which pits cowboys against dinosaurs in the Mexican desert. James Franciscus and Richard Carlson star as members of a struggling Wild West show who discover their newest attraction in Mexico--a tiny prehistoric horse. Exploration into a nearby valley uncovers living dinosaurs, including the fearsome "Gwangi"-an allosaur that the circus folk capture for exhibition. But as every creature connoisseur knows, monsters in cages always break free, and soon enough, the beast is on a rampage. Originally developed by Harryhausen's mentor Willis O'Brien in 1942, The Valley of Gwangi feels like a retread of his previous titles, especially 20 Million Miles to Earth, but Harryhausen's effects are spectacular as always (especially the miniature horse), and will please monster fans. Warner Bros' widescreen anamorphic DVD includes a short featurette, "Return to the Valley," in which Industrial Light and Magic animators pay tribute to Harryhausen's influence. --Paul Gaita
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