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| The Valley Of Gwangi(1969); Dinos and Cowboys! | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: May 17 2006, 01:36 PM (1,441 Views) | |
| KaijuFanatic | May 17 2006, 01:36 PM Post #1 |
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DVD Fanatic
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This 1969 feature with special effects by the master, Ray Harryhausen, is another fun romp that allows Harryhausen to impress us with his stop-motion dinos and adds a western flavor to the story. A pretty good cast that includes; James Franciscus, Richard Calrson, Freda Jackson and Gina Golan....my favorite performer in the film is, 'Gwangi', an Allosaurus. Mr Green I remember this being a late-night TV staple back when I was a kid.....we definitely need a channel that caters to those of us that recall with great fondness, late-night Friday and Saturday afternoon, 'Creature Features'! |
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| packmule | May 17 2006, 05:51 PM Post #2 |
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Long in the tooth
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I have the DVD of this film. I admit it's not one of my favorites but it's still great fun. I also enjoyed the scene with the pterodactyl. James Franciscus is serviceable. The "star" of course, is Mr. Allosaurus, who takes in the town, so to speak, after escaping captivity and being, predictably, in an ornery mood. One of my favorite Harryhausen effects is the "jaw snapping" action of his dinos/monsters in these types of films, which makes sense being that these creatures are generally carnivorous and also aggressive by nature. thumbs up |
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| KaijuFanatic | May 18 2006, 10:12 AM Post #3 |
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Surprisingly enough, this isn't one of my favorite 'dino' films, either! :blink: I'm not even sure I loved it as a kid, it had the dino appeal to me, but somewhere along the line, the story was a bit weak to even hold my attention. I'm not saying I think this is a horrible film, it just doesn't hold a ton of appeal for me, although I do own the DVD and watch it from time to time. |
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| packmule | May 18 2006, 04:35 PM Post #4 |
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Long in the tooth
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I saw this film at the Rialto Theater here in Atlanta with my father when I was a tyke. It was double billed with Krakatoa East Of Java(1968). There are two reasons I can think of as to why this film is not a favorite of mine: 1. James Franciscus-though hardly a juggernaut as an actor he gets the job done-I've just never "connected" to any of his performances. IMO he lacks the "presence". 2. The Harryhausen monsters in this film: while cool I am much more impressed by earlier beasts like the "Rhedosaurus" in Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, or even the Ymir(?) from 20,000,000 Miles To Earth, or some of the Harryhausen creations in fantasy films like Jason And The Argonauts and the Sinbad films. :) |
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| KaijuFanatic | May 20 2006, 08:12 AM Post #5 |
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I feel the strongest aspect of this film is Harryhausen's effects. The film is fun to me for the dinos, alone and I'm still puzzled as to why this film doesn't appeal to me more than it does, except packmule has made some comments that hit the weaknesses right on! |
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| packmule | May 20 2006, 09:13 AM Post #6 |
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Long in the tooth
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The other thing I like less about this film in regards to the featured Harryhausen creature: the size of the beast. Allosaurus, while certainly an aggressive, formidable predator in it's own right, just didn't affect me the way beasts in other Harryhausen features did, like the giant kraken in Clash Of The Titans(1981), or Talos(the bronze giant) in Jason And The Argonauts(1963), both of which were much, much bigger. I guess the bigger a monster the more I like it. eyebrow |
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| josh TX | Jul 30 2007, 10:19 AM Post #7 |
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Overblown Repression
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Gwangi doesnt have the appeal of 7th voyage or Jason and the argonauts but its still a film I enjoy as well. According to a Harryhausen interview I saw this was a Willis O'Brien vehicle that Harryhausen decided to do after O'Briens death. Harryhausen mentions O'Briens desire to mix two of the biggest genres at the time: Dinosaurs and Westerns. It sounds ridiculous on paper but it was actually pulled off quite well. |
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| packmule | Jul 30 2007, 06:53 PM Post #8 |
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Long in the tooth
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Not surprising I suppose since the two were friends and had also had a previous mentor-student kind of relationship. I've read that "Obie", a common nickname for Willis O'Brien, had quite the temper at times. Agreed. Like you this film is not a favorite either but it's a solid entry in the "Harryhausen" effects film archive. thumbs up |
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| KaijuFanatic | Jul 30 2007, 09:53 PM Post #9 |
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I've never been totally disappointed with any Harryhausen effects film I;ve seen....I may not always be a big fan of the final film, but always love the effects. Harryhausen has so much talent, I just can't get enough of his stuff. thumbs up |
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| packmule | Jan 5 2008, 09:57 AM Post #10 |
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Long in the tooth
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Here's a trailer for The Valley of Gwangi(1969): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3I0i73_C90 |
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| harryhausenfan1 | Aug 22 2010, 01:11 PM Post #11 |
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Hi Everyone, New member here. I can't believe I found this forum...quite by accident...been searching for a forum like this, and it looks like a great one! "The Valley Of Gwangi" is a stellar result of the efforts of the greatest monster-maker of all time. If you're a Harryhausen fan, this film shines. I don't care very much for today's computer-generated monsters, although I'll admit there some impressive ones out there. Give me stop-motion monsters and effects in the vein of the masters such as Ray Harryhousen, Willis O'Brien, etc. etc. They don't make monster movies like that anymore! Larry G. Edited by harryhausenfan1, Aug 22 2010, 02:51 PM.
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| "I see what you mean. . . .Mr. Kirby!" | |
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| packmule | Aug 22 2010, 04:10 PM Post #12 |
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Long in the tooth
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Welcome and thanks for the kind words! I remember watching The Valley Of Gwangi as a kid at the Fox Theater downtown(Atlanta, GA) with my father.
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| harryhausenfan1 | Aug 22 2010, 04:48 PM Post #13 |
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I mentioned in my profile that my favorite giant monster film is "The Valley of Gwangi" and I can't imagine how many times I've watched it, and I thought I knew every scene, every frame of this film...but upon seeing one of the Ray Harryhausen biographies, he mentioned that a little-known technical glitch occurred during his animation work....the film stock he ordered. The supplier erroneously sent him three different stocks, and the results could be clearly seen on screen....Gwangi changes colors during the movie! In some scenes he's green, then blue, and brown! I never noticed this, and probably never would have if I hadn't seen the bio program, but right after I saw that program, I slapped my VHS copy into the vcr, and there he was, an apparent Allosaurus/chameleon hybrid! Harryhausen remarked that the film stock mix-up flawed his efforts and the movie as a whole, but I have to disagree...if you weren't aware of it, you'd never notice it...and I for one never did! An interesting tidbit I thought I'd share with you all. Larry G. |
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