The first in Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Caprona trilogy, The Land that Time Forgot (75) was Kevin Connor’ second feature after From Beyond the Grave (73).

Connor and producer John Dark must have found in Burroughs’ stories the ideal source for their vision as they would later bring to the screen two more of his works: At the Earth’s Core (76) and the People that Time Forgot (77).

Incidentally, the 3rd installment of Burroughs’s Caprona trilogy (the second was The People that Time Forgot), Out of Time’s Abyss, was never turned into a film.

Financed by Amicus, the British production company that was Hammer’s only major rival in the 60’s and 70’s, and by AIP, the American exploitation house behind many of Roger Corman 60’s films, The Land that Time Forgot is a surprisingly serious and reasonably well made film, in spite of its very low budget and the sometimes-amateurish special effects (stop motion animation would have made quite a difference in the rendition of the dinosaurs but was dropped due to budget constraints).

The script was co-written by Michael Moorcock, one of the leading British Science Fiction and Fantasy writers of the past few decades. This probably helped give the film a more serious feel and atmosphere, thereby keeping the unintentional comic moments, a characteristic of many B movies, to an absolute minimum.

The rather solid direction of Connor and some good performances by the mostly British cast, particularly Anthony Ainley as the sinister Dietz and John McEnery as Captain Von Shoenvorts, ensure that the message remains on track and that the consistent pace of the narrative keeps the audience involved and entertained. Even Doug McClure, the embodiment of the B movie actor, gives a fairly convincing performance.

The film offers some interesting takes on the subject of evolution and on politics, as illustrated by the decision on the part of Germans, Americans and British to set aside their political differences and to cooperate so that they can get out of the island alive. The German captain is portrayed as a reasonable man, driven by scientific curiosity, and very willing to forget the nonsense of war in the face of the incredible discovery they have just made.

In spite of several flaws, The Land that Time Forgot is a very entertaining film whose subject matter continues to capture the imagination of audiences today.

Synopsis
A small bottle size container floats in the ocean, led by the currents towards the coastline. Once ashore, a fisherman finds it and discovers a note inside. He starts to read…

It is 1916. A German U-Boat torpedoes a British ship in the English Channel. The ship explodes, leaving only a handful of survivors, including Bowen Tyler, an American on his way to France. With the assistance of the remaining crewmembers, Bowen decides to attack the U-Boat as it surfaces. They succeed and take over the German submarine. After a German soldier sabotages the radio, they attempt to signal a British ship but are shot at when it fails to recognize the origin of the signal. They decide to head west, towards America.

They fail to reach the coast after six days of sailing. Surprised, Bowen discovers that the compass has been tampered with, and that, instead, they have been heading south, towards South America. Taking advantage of the resulting confusion, the Germans reclaim possession of their boat and attempt to meet a German supply ship. Bowen and the British crew destroy the supply ship and, once again, take over the submarine.

The U-Boat is now lost in the midst of a frozen landscape. Bowen asks the captain of the sub to work with him to find a way out. They approach a snow-covered mountain whose abrupt cliffs fall directly into the ocean, providing no access for the ship. The captain believes it is the lost continent of Caprona, which navigators talked about 200 years ago. Running out of fuel, they attempt to find a way through the mountain. Noticing a warm current in the water, they dive and follow it underneath the mountain.

They surface in a lush tropical landscape, full of volcanoes, plants and trees not seen since the cretaceous period when dinosaurs last roamed the earth. One of such creatures attacks the ship and is promptly killed and eaten. During the meal, Bowen and the German and British crews decide to set their political differences aside and to work together to stay alive.

They set out to explore the island, leaving some crewmembers behind to build a camp. But local indigenous men follow them until a clearing where they decide to attack. At that moment, two T-Rex also charge the group. The locals retreat while Bowen and the others, armed with rifles, shoot at the dinosaurs and kill them. In the process, Bowen saves the life of Ahm, one of the locals, and brings him back to the submarine.

Through their difficult communication with Ahm, they discover that the island contains several pools of oil, which, once refined, could serve a fuel for the submarine. They head out to discover the oil, using Ahm as a guide. Another tribe attacks them but is easily defeated. After finding the oil, they encounter more dinosaurs and are forced to retreat towards the camp. They use the U-Boat’s weapons to kill one of the beasts. The camp is then turned into a makeshift oil refinery and German and British crews work together towards producing the fuel that will take them home. Ahm, driven by his need to rejoin his tribe, leaves the camp.

During a final expedition, Bowen and several crewmembers are attacked by Ahm’s tribe. All are killed, except for Bowen and Lisa, a woman who had initially been onboard the English vessel. The tribe captures Lisa while Ahm is killed trying to save Bowen from the claws of a Pterosaurs bird.

The island is now plagued by volcanic eruptions. In the confusion, Lisa escapes, and heads back towards the submarine with Bowen. In the meantime, the remaining crew decides to abandon the camp and boards the submarine. One of the German officers takes control of the ship, killing his own captain, and orders for the ship to dive and to abandon Bowen and Lisa. But the temperature inside the sub has reached dangerous levels and as Bowen and Lisa approach the abandoned camp, the U-Boat explodes.

Bowen and Lisa are the only survivors. They learn how to live on the island. After 3 years, they decide to write their story. They put the letter in a small container, and throw it in the ocean, hoping that one day, someone will find it and read it.