+ 3rd Worst Movie of the Year
+ Most Undeserved Hit of the Year
 |
| A man perched on a cliff against a sabre-toothed tiger near a couple of pyramids under construction makes up this dramatic poster for Roland Emmerich's 10,000 BC |
A nomadic tribe centered around hunting mammoths head out on a perilous journey.
10,000 BC is written by Harald Kloser (2012 (2009)) and Roland Emmerich (Universal Soldier (1992)) as one of the relatively few films that take place long before historic time, (historic time being defined as the period that we have written historic records from.)
The film first tries to capture us with a mammoth hunt, which only succeeds partially: It is often evident that the actors play in front of a green screen and are only in post production pitched against grand landscapes. Similarly the prehistoric animals, - and in particular the enormous sabre-toothed tiger that comes along later on, - are not convincing enough.
10,000 BC made me long for Mel Gibson's pre-Columbus' North-American arrival masterpiece Apocalypto (2006) and the lesser but still much better neanderthal adventure The Clan of the Cave Bear (1986), because Emmerich's action adventure in contrast lacks even the shade of an exciting story. None of the characters really spring to life either, and boredom allows us as audiences time to reflect on their eclectic racial mix and how they rapidly move from mammoth-strewn ice country to bamboo jungle to what we must take to be Egypt, mostly by foot...
Meanwhile Kloser and Thomas Wanker's (Dresden (2006, TV movie)) grandiose score pounds away and clearly tells us that we are meant to take the improbable, humor-bereft junk that is 10,000 BC seriously. This is one mammoth stinker.
Related posts:
Roland Emmerich: White House Down (2013) or, Duck, Mr. President!
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2012 (2009) or, Giant Mega-Stupid Movie!
2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2008 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2008 in films - according to Film Excess
Mentioned movie: Apocalypto (2006) or, Journey to An Extinct World
Cost: 105 mil. $
Box office: 269.8 mil. $
= Box office success
[10,000 BC premiered 22 February (Tokyo, Japan) and runs 109 minutes. Columbia Pictures and Sony dropped the project due to a "busy release calender", and Warner Bros. picked it up. Star actors, visual effects details and using ancient languages were skipped for budget reasons, and to make the production easier. Shooting took place in New Zealand, Namibia, South Africa and Thailand from April 2006 - ?. The film opened #1 to a strong 35.8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent two more weeks in the top 5 (#2-#5) and grossed 94.7 mil. $ (35.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Mexico with 17.2 mil. $ (6.4 %) and Spain with 13.1 mil. $ (4.9 %). Emmerich returned with another bona fide tentpole turkey, disaster epic 2012 (2009). 10,000 BC is rotten at 8 % with a 3.2 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of 10,000 BC?
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