The Valley of Gwangi

Intro:

This is a series on old dinosaur movies. Specifically, I am looking at anything released before 1990; before Jurassic Park revolutionized cinema with its CGI animation. I will not be covering anything "dinosaur-adjacent", such as kaiju monsters like Godzilla or the creature from The Giant Behemoth, which are perhaps inspired by dinosaurs, but clearly not meant to represent any real world genus. I will also be skipping over films that are heavily dependent on "borrowed" footage from other films, such as the Valley of the Dragons / Prehistoric Valley.

Also known as:

The Valley Of The Mists

The Valley Where Time Stood Still

Gwangi's Revenge - The Valley of the Dinosaurs

Runtime:

1 hr 36 min

Background:

The Valley of Gwangi is a 1969 American film and the last dinosaur-themed movie to use stop-motion effects by Ray Harryhausen. Willis O'Brien, who was responsible for the effects in 1933's King Kong, had planned to make The Valley of Gwangi decades earlier in 1942, but the studio at the time didn't think the public had any interest in prehistoric animals. Willis O'Brien died in 1962, at which point the script rights were purchased from his widow. The plot of Gwangi was inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's book The Lost World with elements of King Kong mixed in - namely a wild animal running amok in human society. Early drafts had Gwangi fighting circus lions and getting rammed off of a cliff by a truck. Although meant to be an allosaurus, Harryhausen based Gwangi's model on the tyrannosaurus painting by Charles R. Knight, and scaled Gwangi to be within the upper limit of the largest known allosaurus and the average adult size of a tyrannosaurus.

A year was spent on the special effects, of which there were more than 300 - a record for Harryhausen. The lassoing of Gwangi was the most labor-intensive animated sequence because it required coordination of Gwangi's animation with live actors on horseback. The first animated sequence in the film was achieved with a toy horse and rider purchased from a toy store because the 40-foot (12-meter) drop was deemed too risky for a real horse. A real elephant was also planned for later in the film but one large enough to satisfy Harryhausen's requirements couldn't be found.

Filming was done in Almería and Cuenca, Spain, although directer Jim O'Connolly reportedly "didn't have his heart in it" and "lost interest in the middle of shooting". Producer Charles H. Schneer also "didn't care for the subject matter" or "the period in which it was set". Their lack of enthusiasm worried writer William Bast, who was forced to make last minute changes to the script. The lack of advertising and getting double-billed with a biker film at theaters is credited by Harryhausen as the reason for Gwangi missing its target audience. However, Gwangi has gone on to become a cult classic that is still referenced in media from time to time, including in the hugely popular Jurassic Park.

Plot Summary:

Tuck Kirby, a former stuntman for Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show turned businessman, wants to buy Omar the stunt horse from his ex-girlfriend, T.J. Breckenridge in Mexico. T.J.'s rodeo has been struggling to stay afloat, but one of her employees, Carlos, found something that could boost attendance at the show - an eohippus named El Diablo.

"Eohippus. The so-called Dawn Horse. The ancestor of our present day horses. Notice it had three toes? Through evolution horses have grown much larger and that center toe has become the hoof." -Horace Bromley

British paleontologist Horace Bromley, in the hope that he may be knighted for the discovery, wishes to know where Carlos found the prehistoric horse, but Carlos refuses to say. Because Carlos is an ex-member of the Romani tribe, Tuck and Horace seek answers from the Romani and learn that the horse came from a place called the Forbidden Valley. Tia Zorina believes the eohippus to be cursed and that they will all suffer until it is returned to the valley. Horace tips Tia off about the horse's location, knowing that the Romani would attempt to release the animal. Tuck and Horace then follow them in secret to the valley's location. T.J. and her crew follow suit upon discovery of the theft.

In the Forbidden Valley, the two teams are beset by a pteranodon that Carlos manages to kill with his bare hands. They then try to capture an ornithomimus for the show, but are forced to retreat by the appearance of Gwangi the allosaurus. Gwangi gives chase until a styracosaurus scares him off.

While setting up camp for the night, it is discovered that all of their bullets are blanks used in the show. Without real ammunition they will have to improvise in the case of an attack. In the morning, when Gwangi reappears, the group tries lassoing him. Eventually Gwangi breaks free and kills Carlos before succumbing to a rock-slide that blocks the entrance into the valley.

Still alive, the group secures Gwangi in order to take him back to town for display in T.J.'s show. On opening day, a Romani working for Tia Zorina, unlocks Gwangi's cage to free him, only to be killed when Gwangi breaks free. Horace is crushed by a falling piece of the cage and Tia is trampled by the fleeing crowds. Gwangi kills an Asian elephant before rampaging through the town. Tuck lures Gwangi into a cathedral where one of the braziers is accidentally knocked over, burning Gwangi alive.

"I saw it in a dream. The wide jaws clamping shut on a riderless horse. Gwangi has killed him like he killed his brother." -Tia Zorina

Thoughts:

Gwangi is worth watching for anyone with an interest in old stop-motion dinosaur movies or the weird western genre. Dinosaurs in the Wild West has only been done in one other film, so Gwangi manages to stand apart from similar films of its time in that regard. Harryhausen's special effects are excellent as always and the lassoing scene was a technical feat for its era. The acting isn't the best, but about what you expect from these types of movies and features a passable plot.

Related Articles:

• One Million B.C. (1940) / One Million Years B.C. (1966)
• Journey to the Beginning of Time (1955)
• Dinosaurus! (1960)
• Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965)
• The Valley of Gwangi (1969)
• The Land That Time Forgot (1974)
• The Crater Lake Monster (1977)
• The Last Dinosaur (1977)
• Legend of Dinosaurs & Monster Birds (1977)
• Planet of Dinosaurs (1977)
• Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend (1985)