Merrick here...
I've been really curious about this film for some time, and appreciate the irony / symmetry of our first test screening review arriving on the same day the trailer is unveiled.
I heard about this film a while back & didn't know what to expect. Like all things Emmerich, this seems to have a great look and heaps of audacity...qualities I consistently appreciate in the director.
Nonetheless, this is strange territory for any filmmaker, and many folks have tried and failed to walk this road in the past.
Could certainly be a lot of fun & pretty damn dazzling. Or, it could be dopey as hell. Or, both.
First, CLICK SOME MAMMOTH ASS to check out the trailer:
Okay, with that out of the way...
Towerman sent his notes after a recent test screening of the film. Keep in mind that the version Towerman saw is not the final edit of the film; many changes could be made between now and the movie's release next March.
PLEASE NOTE: MODERATE SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
Here's what Towerman had to say:
Just got back from a test screening of Roland Emmerich's 10,000 B.C. at the Lakewood Center North Stadium 16 Theatre in Lakewood, Calif. The invitation said that I should arrive by 6:45 p.m. I'm no fool(well, maybe I am) so I arrived at 5:45 p.m. I'm glad I did because when I got there, there were about 25 people in line. While there I filled out the required information cards and exchanged my invitation for an actual ticket (I provided them with my email address so I hope they contact me for future screenings).
Also, some guy working for another marketing company was there scanning the line for audience members to attend a future screening of "Smiley Face" which I soon found out from someone standing in line that "Smiley Face" was code for "Harold and Kumar 2". I decided to pass.
Anyway after waiting in line for about an hour and a half, they began to let us in 25 people at a time. They are strict on security at these things. I felt like I was at LAX going through a TSA baggage inspection line. If you had any bags whatsoever,you were required to open it up for inspection. No recording devices were allowed of course but rather than have people with recordable cellphones go through the hassle of returning to their cars to leave their phones they were advised to turn them off. So I went in and secured my seat which just happened to be surrounded by reserve seats for the Warner Bros. suits and associates from the film. I suspected that Roland would be attending so I was excited when two gentlemen sat in the two seats in front of me and started conversing in German only to find out upon closer inspection that neither one of them was Roland.
Well I didn't have to wait too long because about 10 minutes before the movie began, Roland came in accompanied by some executives and sat about two seats behind me. Soon a guy who was in charge of the screening came up front to thank us for attending and to tell us that we would be the first of the general public to see the film and he asked us to stay afterwards for a "special announcement"(filling out response cards).He also informs us that some of the effects were incomplete as well as the lighting and color corrections. "Ladies and Gentlemen", he says, "10,000 B.C.!"
The lights dim and movie begins with the Warner Brothers logo superimposed over a snow covered landscape. We soon see a scene where Camiila Belle's character(Evolet) as a child is undergoing a spiritual ceremony conducted by her tribe's spiritual leader, an old woman named Old Mother( Mona Hammond). At the same time she is being watched by D'leh( a young boy) who obviously is in love with her. Old Mother conducts her ceremonies in their native tongue and all is well until a caustic event during one of her spiritual chants gives her the ability to speak English. This ability is transferred to other members of the tribe and throughout the rest of film becomes their language of choice. At first I must say it was a little jarring to see them all of sudden speaking English but I got use to it after awhile. (I guess the filmmakers did not want to go the Mel Gibson route and use subtitles through the whole film).
Some of the actors I thought looked too contemporary and too good looking for the roles they were playing and I had a hard time believing that they were pre-historic men ( no offense Geico Cavemen). And Camilla, well she is just so damn beautiful! Perhaps a little too beautiful to be believeable in the role she is playing(think Racquel Welch in One Million B.C.).
Well after a Mammoth hunt in which he "accidently" kills one, D'leh(Steven Strait) returns to his tribe where he is seen as hero especially by his love, Evolet and his mentor Tic-Tic (Cliff Curtis).But he confesses to Evolet that he killed the mammoth by accident and that he is no great hunter.It is here that we find out that he has doubts about his abilities. Evolet then gives him an inspirational talk. It is the last one they would have for awhile for soon later that night Evolet and others get kidnapped by an enemy tribe whose leader has the hots for her and wants to keep her for himself but turn the others over as slaves to an advance race of people who look like Egyptians(they need slaves to build the pyramids).
D'leh begins his quest to find Evolet and bring her home and enlist the help of Tic-Tic and other tribesmen along with a young boy who's mother was killed in the kidnap/massacre. He also enlist the help of an small army of black tribesmen who have their own axe to grind with the goons that kidnapped Evolet. It is at this point in the film where I am reminded of John Ford's 1956 classic "The Searchers" where John Wayne spends years looking for his young niece who was kidnapped by indians however this has since become a common plot point so I don't consider it a rip-off but rather an inspiration. It also at this point where our hero gets to test his fighting skills for during his quest for his love he must fight pre-historic ostritches( almost as bad-ass as velociraptors), Mammoths and Saber-tooth tigers. In case you haven't guess, there are no dinosaurs in this film because they became extinct 65 million years ago way before the dawn of the Ice Age which is when this film takes place.
I believe that the film's strong points are it's action scenes and is weak points are it's acting scenes. It's a pretty simple story, one that has been told through the ages: Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy battles prehistoric animals to get girl back, boy loses girl again, boy comes back with an army and a befriended sabertooth tiger to get girl back, Boy marries girl (in a prehistoric way). Boy and Girl live happily ever after (at least until The Ice Age begins).
Despite some of it's weaknesses I still consider it worth seeing even in it's primitive( no pun intended) form. I thought that the film had a strong finish when they stormed the enemy tribe's territory to try to rescue Evolet. When the bad guys got their comeuppance, the audience clapped.
The film looks almost complete they just need to make the necessary adjustments to the color, lighting and maybe sound. The CGI was all there but some of was it incomplete so they will have to render in the details. When it's released on March 7th, 2008 I will go see it again to see what was left in, taken out or added in. I also want to see the CGI fully detailed
Well, until next time Towerman out!
