The Valley of Gwangi
Only in the last 10 years has special effects wizard Ray Harryhausen recieved his due. His best pictures; Jason and the Argonauts, Clash of the Titans, the Sindbad series, are still good solid entertainment even today. "The Valley of Gwangi" isn't one of them,but I bought it because it's a personal favorite of mine, dating back to my college days when I'd watch the local Friday night Chiller Theater in a funeral home. Still, it's not as good a story as his best, and it's not photographed as well as they, but then, it's not entirely his fault.
Why? Because it's an old dinosaur movie, with Gwangi (a T-Rex/Allosaurus blend) still walking upright and dragging his tail. The last is a clear identifier of all "old dinosaur" movies, even the Styrachosaurus drags his tail in this one. For some, that makes this dinosaur movie hard to watch, but then Ray Harryhausen can't be blamed for the rise of the "new dinosaur paradigm" which turned these formerly slow moving reptiles into fast moving birdlike creatures who would have eaten a human for a light lunch. However, Harryhausen's skill gives this old style dinosaur some new style (post Jurassic Park) dinosaur moves that make it a worthy opponent of the cowboys who try to tie it down.
Other criticisms are a plot that is really out of King Kong,and a faux romance between Gina Golan and James Franciscus that, well, is nothing more than a pretext for everything else. However, I have to smile at the final scenes, especially the one where Gwangi has chased the whole town into this huge Gothic church, where he snaps at the hero in front of an organ. The movie was filmed in Spain, and the organ looks like a true classic Spanish style organ, with the horizontal trumpets that could easily have caught Gwangi's attention. Alas, no body thought of it, and the instrument probably wasn't playable. However, that's a detail I don't expect most people to notice. So if you want mid level Ray Harryhausen, and don't mind the pre-Jurassic Park critters, get a nice beer, a dark room and settle back for some decent, mindless entertainment.Read full review
