Review by Gary Tooze

 

Production:

Theatrical: American International Pictures (AIP)

Video: Kino Lorber

 

Disc:

Region: 'A' (as verified by the Oppo Blu-ray player)

Runtime: 1:31:22.518 

Disc Size: 24,510,381,114 bytes

Feature Size: 23,062,063,104 bytes

Video Bitrate: 27.99 Mbps

Chapters: 8

Case: Standard Blu-ray case

Release date: June 16th, 2015

 

Video:

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps

Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Audio:

DTS-HD Master Audio English 1646 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1826 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Commentary:

DTS-HD Master Audio English 1747 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1878 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)

 

Subtitles:

None

 

Extras:

• Commentary by director Kevin Connor moderated by Brian Trenchard-Smith

• Making of Featurette (12:03)

• Original trailer (2:10)

 

Bitrate:

 

 

Description: Prepare for a trip into the unknown with a screen epic packed with monsters and thrills! When a band of castaways lands on a mysterious island, they discover it's already inhabited by giant carnivorous creatures and wonders beyond the imagination. In order to stay alive, they're pitted to the death against deadly dinosaurs, fearsome sea monsters, soaring pterodactyls, and marauding tribes of primitive humans in this elaborate fantasy adventure where the action is unremitting. Doug McClure (At the Earth's Core) and Susan Penhaligon (Soldier of Orange, House of Mortal Sin) star in this exciting prehistoric adventure. Directed by Kevin Connor (The People That Time Forgot).

 

 

The Film:

In this low budget fantasy adventure from Britain, based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' 1918 science fiction novel, a German submarine holding American prisoners of war during World War I, veers off course. Lost at sea, the submarine empties its fuel supply and runs aground on an uncharted island in the Antarctic. The survivors find that the island contains an ancient oil refinery that can be used to fuel the submarine. The only problem is that the group of Germans and Americans have to battle gigantic dinosaurs and primitive cavemen as they make their way through the island. The Land That Time Forgot was enough of a success to spawn a 1976 sequel called The People That Time Forgot.

Excerpt from MRQE located HERE

The combination of a script co-written by Michael Moorcock, the largest budget Amicus has ever utilised, and director Connor (who made such a promising debut with From Beyond the Grave) should have added up to a lot more than this occasionally amusing Boy's Own Paper adventure. 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. In fact, by the time the ape-men arrive we might as well be back in one of Hammer's sub-anthropological sagas. It's better than Disney's similar attempt at family fantasy, Island at the Top of the World, but that's hardly a recommendation.

Excerpt from Timeout located HERE

Image :    NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

The nostalgia-inducing The Land That Time Forgot on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber looks pretty decent. This is single-layered with a supportive bitrate and is easily as good as the film has ever looked on digital. There is a nice sheen of grain that give the visuals some pleasing texture. The only issue is that the high resolution further identifies the modest effects (see Pterodactyl wires in the third last capture and the cavemen nose make-up). Contrast is acceptable and colors decent. It looks quite good in-motion.

 

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Audio :

The DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel at 1646 kbps does a competent job of exporting the film's 'creature' effects with some depth. The score is by Douglas Gamley (The Beast Must Die) and it adds to the film's adventurous charisma. There are no subtitles offered and my Oppo has identified it as being a region 'A'-locked.

 

Extras :

As with Kino Lorber's Blu-ray of At the Earth's Core we get a commentary by director Kevin Connor (The People That Time Forgot, At the Earth's Core, Motel Hell even an episode of Space: 1999) - moderated by Brian Trenchard-Smith. It has its amusing anecdotes and is decent. We also get a 12-minute vintage 'Making of' featurette showing some creation of the 'creature' effects and lastly an original trailer.

 

 

BOTTOM LINE:
I continue to be a fan of these Friday-night cornball sci-fi creature-features with the weak special effects. Doug McClure... always in these cheesy productions. I was content with the work put into this Kino Blu-ray and the commentary adds value. I find I need to be in the right mood and it's best to watch in a double-feature with a similar popcorn'er. Not to mention Susan Penhaligon - who is pretty cute. Fun, adventure, cavemen and big creatures. That, alone, is a recipe for a pleasant, if mindless, film-night, IMO.  

Gary Tooze

May 24th, 2015