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10,000 B.C.

Review By: Dan Deevy
DanDeevy@TheCinemaSource.com

It’s pretty difficult for people to imagine what life was like over 100 years ago. Before the introduction of things like transportation, improved communications and of course computers, people lived their lives in a very different way than what we are accustomed to today. Just imagine how hard it would be to wrap your head around living over 12,000 years ago! Well, that’s exactly what director Roland Emmerich does in this year’s first big budget epic, 10,000 B.C.

Emmerich creates this land before time by filming it entirely on location in countries like New Zealand and parts of Africa and by doing so is able to capture parts of the world that have remained untouched by man and mechanization. The result is a completely believable setting for what would chronologically be the first epic love story ever; Predating similar tragic love stories of pen and screen like Romeo and Juliet and Tristan & Isolde by thousands of years.

As the movie begins we are introduced to a small tribe of hunters living in a far away land next to a huge mountain range that no one has ever ventured to and returned from. Their culture is based around the ritual hunt of the woolly mammoth as killing these and other animals is their only source of food. Legend has it that one day a great warrior who single handedly takes down one of these beasts will rise up and ensure the survival of the tribe. The added bonus of being this great warrior is that he will be allowed to take the beautiful Evolet (Camilla Belle), an orphan girl with beguiling eyes, as his woman. Certainly incentive enough for any member of the tribe; but for young D’Leh (Steven Strait) however, it is nothing short of an imperative for him to win the woman with whom he has already fallen in love with.

Life continues as expected for the tribe until one night a band of marauders enter their village and capture the majority of their hunters and also the beautiful Evolet. Unable to stop them as they are lead away in chains as newly acquired slaves, D’Leh vows to make the great journey across the mountains and against all odds rescue the woman that he loves.

Along the way he encounters many other tribes of people, all of whom have lost family to these depredators, and ultimately becomes the leader of an unlikely army determined to set everyone free.

Now how can you not enjoy this movie? Let’s be honest everyone loves seeing a smaller, weaker yet noble force overthrow a powerful and ruthless dictator. There is nothing more exciting than watching a hero overcome tremendous odds to save his people from a violent aggressor; especially when his initial motivation is saving someone that he loves.

10,000 B.C. begins a little slowly for me with lots of talk about the legends of ...