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Everyday was a bad hair day in the year One Million B.C. How else to explain the horrible wigs everyone wears in "One Million Years B.C."? Hammer Films and Fox joined forces to remake the Victor Mature 1940's classic with a modern day sensibility (circa 1966) and twist. The nasty, chief of the Rock People banishes his son Tumak (John Richardson) when the old man tries to take away the Tumak's food. Tumak survives a fall off a cliff and hooks up with the a tribe of blondes that are much nicer than his tribe called the Shell People. He's immediately accepted by them when he saves one of their children from an Allosaurous attacking the village. Tumake fights off the dinosaur armed only with a spear and wins both the heart and admiration of one of their tribes woman named Loana (Raquel Welch). ***

Tumak continues to proves his value when he must rescue Loana from a another dinosaur. Needless Needless to say, when Tumak brings Loana home to meet the parents, they are less than hospitable. Tumak's rivalry with his jealous older brother continues to simmer. The two were rivals for their father's affection and eventual leadership of the tribe. He and Loana are ambushed by the older brother. He attempts to rape her. Tumak fights his brother off injuring him. He returns his brother safely to his old tribe. There's lots of other interesting fun in store for prehistoric man including a exploding volcano, additional prehistoric monsters and the chance that Raquel Welch might just fall out of her two piece fur bikini. ***

"One Million Years B.C." embodied every boy's dream for three decades. It had nasty looking dinosaurs, a beautiful woman to die for, nobody washed and the communication consisted of grunts and primitive sounding gibberish. The film continues to be cheesy fun even in this age of CGI effects and self referential cynical humor. Ray Harryhausen's animation (its the only other reason other than Welch to watch the film) continues to astound. Although it doesn't have the complexity of CGI effects, it appears more grounded in reality. His dinosaurs look like they could chew the meat off your bones. The all intents and purposes this is "Jurassic Park" for the 60's and what inspired Michael Crichton and Steven Spielberg in the first place to make their monster movie. ***

While beautifully restored, this isn't the uncut version released on laserdisc some years ago. This is the 90 minute release that was released theatrically in the United States. The international version runs 9 minutes longer and includes some additional animation by Ray Harryhausen. Still, if this is the version you grew up with, you can't go wrong. ---

A nicely restored version of this classic film finally shows up on DVD. While it's light on the extras, the stunning picture quality makes up for this shortcoming. I'm a bit mystified as to why Fox chose to release the domestic vs. the international release that runs a full 9 minutes longer. Perhaps it had to do with the restoration. Still, it would have been nice to have the longer version available (as well as the 90 minute version) in the same set. The international version of this film also includes interviews with Welch and Harryhausen that aren't available here. It's a pity Fox couldn't license these extras. ***

An essential purchase for anyone who grew up watching this classic film on Saturday morning. While it won't bring back ancient memories (at least for some), it'll bring a smile to your face and remind you of a simpler world.