STUDIO: Warner Home Video
RELEASE DATE: June 24, 2008
STARRING: Steven Strait, Camilla Belle, Cliff Curtis, Joel Virgel, Affif Ben Badra, Mo Zinal and Omar Sharif
WRITTEN BY: Roland Emmerich and Harald Kloser
DIRECTED BY: Roland Emmerich
FEATURES: Alternate Ending
Deleted Scenes

After presenting mankind with a potentially troublesome future in the global warming disaster flick, The Day After Tomorrow, director Roland Emmerich has decided to tackle the seeds of our equally troublesome past in 10,000 BC, his latest popcorn epic. The man certainly knows how to make a summer blockbuster, for better (Independence Day, The Patriot) and for worse (Godzilla, Stargate). But as far as I’m concerned, his films are most successful when he celebrates the confines of the genre, rather than tries to escape them.

10,000 BC attempts to capture the pivotal moment in prehistoric times when the nomadic hunter’s way of life began giving way to that of builders, agriculturalists and warlords, with horses, metal tools and slave labor at their disposal. The story centers around the Yaghal people who, at the start of the film, are growing desperate in the face of thinning mammoth herds. While in this vulnerable state, they are attacked by a band of mysterious invaders on "four-legged demons," who kidnap most of the able-bodied members of the tribe. Ancient prophecies foretold of the onslaught but they also spoke of a hero who would rise up and ensure the Yaghals’ survival. That hero is D'Leh (the dashing Steven Strait, of Sky High and The Covenant), a young and reluctant leader, whose longtime love, Evolet (the impossibly beautiful Camilla Belle, of When a Stranger Calls and The Ballad of Jack and Rose), was among those taken. So D'Leh and two fellow tribesmen, Ka'Ren (newcomer Mo Zinal) and Tic'Tic (the underrated Cliff Curtis, of Live Free or Die Hard and Whale Rider), embark on a rescue mission. Along the way, they are joined by warriors from four other tribes that have also fallen victim to these attacks. And in the end, their treacherous journey leads them all to the building site of the Great Pyramids, where the next age of civilization is quickly and violently unfolding.

The film begins promisingly enough. The story set-up is a bit cheesy and five minutes too long, but the very first action sequence - a mammoth hunt - is an exciting one. The lifelike, digital beasts lumber magnificently before the scene explodes into an all-out chase at break-neck speed, through a spectacular desert canyon setting. Likewise, the film’s final battle sequence is equally impressive, as the camera circles high above the Pyramids, swarming with endless droves of barbarians, hunters, slaves and animals. The heroes’ adventures in between those two, including encounters with saber-tooth tigers and bird-like reptiles, are also handled competently. And throughout, the backdrops are beautiful, the creatures are fierce, the costumes are elaborate and the actors are easy on the eyes. But the biggest problem with 10,000 BC is that it takes itself way too seriously. On a number of occasions, the movie teeters on the verge of becoming one hell of a b-movie, but sadly, never gives into the inclination. The film provides its share of fun, but not without constantly reminding us how grave the stakes are and how far-reaching the ramifications of D'Leh’s actions could be. It works overtime to make sure we’re picking up on some not-so-subtle messages about the value of mankind’s “old” ways (the Yaghals take from the Earth only that which is necessary for the survival of their family and friends) vs. the dangers of its “modern” ambitions (the antagonists exploit the land and enslave the people and creatures around them, constructing monuments to their own glory). Note to the directors of big-budget summer movies: if your source material doesn’t naturally convey much dramatic heft, please don’t try to force it on us… especially when all we really want to do is get in from out of the heat for a few hours.

The DVD version of 10,000 BC is suspiciously light on extras. No one’s clamoring for more insights into Emmerich’s directing methods, so the lack of commentary isn’t missed. But for a movie such as this, one would at least expect to get a behind-the-scenes look at some of the memorable visual effects, costumes, makeup, etc. Instead, it contains only a few forgettable deleted scenes, along with an alternate ending. In some cases, such as the I Am Legend DVD, an alternate ending can change the entire outcome of a film, as well as its implications. Here, it changes nothing; we simply get an extra scene in which the film’s narrator is revealed to be none other than Omar Sharif, who tells his tale at a campfire, surrounded by intently listening children. Sharif’s narration in the film is already wince-inducingly over-the-top - each breathy word is delivered slowly, in a pained, ancient voice - so I’m glad Emmerich opted not to use the footage. But nonetheless, the fact that he even considered doing so, in an obvious attempt to associate itself with Sharif’s other desert epic, neatly sums up this film’s problem. Is 10,000 BC a worthy descendent of Lawrence of Arabia? No, not even close. But had it ditched a bit of the self-importance, claiming Conan the Barbarian as a distant ancestor might not have been out of the question...