TJ Breckinridge - This gorgeous redhead owns the "Breckinridge Wild West Show" and is Tuck's love interest. TJ can be extremely stubborn and has some major mood swings throughout the film (i.e. she's a typical woman) leading to several situations that could have easily been avoided if she just shut her mouth!

Lope - He's a local street urchin that makes a living by pestering tourists. Lope ends up becoming Tuck's unofficial sidekick and manages to be rather helpful on a number of occasions, unlike certain other young Mexican sidekicks that I've seen in similar films. (Panchito, I'm looking in your direction.)

Professor Bromley - A British paleontologist that is obsessed with becoming a famous scientist in his particular field of expertise. Ironically, Bromley is rendered extinct by a creature that should be extinct, namely Gwangi.

Champ Connors - This "poor man's James Garner" is the overprotective father figure/business partner of TJ. Seriously, if anyone even remotely upsets TJ, ole Champ is on them like Michael Jackson on a six-year old! Give it a rest man!

Carlos dos Orsos - Carlos is a gypsy that works for TJ's Wild West show. He's in love with TJ, so when Tuck shows up, Carlos is quick to label his competitor as an Eohippus-rustler, leading to a bit of bad blood. However, this attempt at providing conflict (and quite possibly a dramatic love triangle) is moot because Carlos becomes a Gwangi snack.

Rowdy and Bean - These guys both work for TJ's traveling wild west show and partake in the "Forbidden Valley" expedition. Rowdy briefly takes center stage after it's discovered that he forgot to load everyone's guns with live ammunition. (Fighting prehistoric monsters with a gun that is loaded with blanks is not advisable!) Way to endanger everyone's lives Rowdy, you moron!

Tia Zorina - A blind gypsy woman that is constantly babbling about the curse of Gwangi and other such nonsense. She becomes a victim of said curse when she's trampled to death by a panicked crowd.

Tia's Midget Henchman - This little guy is Tia's right hand mini-man up until he makes the mistake of getting too close to Gwangi's cage during the film's finale.

The Eohippus - "The Dawn Horse." This little prehistoric equine is the reason that everyone decides to venture into the "Forbidden Valley." This miniature horse escapes his captors, and returns to its desolate, dino-infested home in said valley of forbiddenness.

A Pteranodon, a Styracosaurus, and one very unlucky, Ornithomimus - Prehistoric Gwangi fodder.

A Circus Elephant - Gwangi mauls this peaceful performing pachyderm and further cements my belief that Ray Harryhausen hates elephants. (See 20 Million Miles to Earth (1959) for further proof.)

Gwangi - Now here is the real star of the film! Gwangi is a cranky, voracious, and aggressive ... Allosaurus? Or is he a T-Rex? (Heck I don't think Harryhausen, or the film makers knew for sure.) In any case, Gwangi is captured by Tuck, TJ, and the gang and taken to their Wild West Show for exhibition. Naturally Gwangi escapes and goes on a rampage until he is (inadvertently) immolated by "Lucky Tuck."

Sometimes an idea comes along that is so simplistic and yet so amazingly ingenious, such as pairing cowboys and dinosaurs in a feature film! This idea was originally conceived by the late Willis O'Brien, but the closest he ever came to having his dream project realized was The Beast of Hollow Mountain. Years after O'Brien's death, stop-motion wizard, Ray Harryhausen, would step up to the plate and bring O'Brien's vision to startling life in The Valley of Gwangi!

As the movie opens, we are briefly introduced to Carlos dos Orsos and Tia Zorina. They, along with several other gypsies, are out searching for Carlos' brother Miguel. They succeed in finding Miguel, but he dies seconds later after uttering one final word: "Gwangi." Oddly enough, Carlos doesn't seem too upset about his dead brother, and takes the rather lively sack that his sibling was carrying, despite objections and warnings from Tia. ("He who takes from Gwangi the evil one is cursed!") Carlos ignores the blind old witch and becomes the proud owner of the world's only living Eohippus. (Roll opening credits!) Afterwards, we meet Tuck Kirby, who bounces into an unnamed Mexican town to cut a deal with his old flame, TJ Breckinridge.

TJ is a gorgeous redhead and proud owner of the Breckinridge Wild West Show. She's none too happy to see Tuck and doesn't seem too keen on handing over Omar the Wonder Horse to Tuck's client, Buffalo Bill. TJ chases him off, allowing Tuck to pick up a few new friends in town, namely Lope and Professor Bromley. Lope is a street urchin that survives my shaking down tourists for pesos, and Bromley is an eccentric (and obsessive) paleontologist with radical theories involving the evolution of humanity. (He believes that a race of humanoids co-existed with dinosaurs over fifty-million years ago.) The following day, Tuck returns to hound TJ with his generous offer. As he tries to serenade his cranky ex-girlfriend, Lope wanders off and tries his hand at bullfighting.

Naturally things don't work out the way Lope planned, and he almost ends up on the wrong end of of a bull's horn. Tuck successfully rescues the adventurous orphan, but gets a minor wound in the process. However, his act of daring was well worth it because suddenly TJ is all over him! (So that's the secret to getting women to fawn over you! Where's the nearest bull corral?!) TJ also reveals her latest attraction to Tuck, namely "El Diablo," the world's tiniest horse. Yup, that would be the Eohippus that Carlos took from his dead brother, and speaking of Carlos, he is none to happy that TJ showed Tuck the mini-horse. Carlos refuses to tell Tuck (and Professor Bromley) where he got the tiny equine, so they both seek out Tia Zorina to see if they can get her to talk.

With Lope's help, the two Eohippus-hungry men find the gypsy camp where Tia is living and beg her to tell them where Carlos got his amazing find. She is more than happy to tell them that "El Diablo" hails from "The Forbidden Valley," but she refuses to tell them of the mysterious valley's location. Tuck realizes that Tia won't budge, so he and Lope go to leave, but Bromley proves to have a bit more luck in talking with Tia. He divulges the tiny horse's location to the insanely superstitious old woman as a gesture of good will, but he has other designs. Bromley suspects that the gypsies will try to steal the Eohippus, so he and Lope lie in wait the next night for their opportunity to follow the gypsies to the "Forbidden Valley."

What Bromley did not plan on was having a crowd (namely Tuck, TJ, Champ, Bean, Rowdy, and Carlos) show up the entrance to Forbidden Valley. Everyone begins bickering about who stole "El Diablo" (Carlos puts all the blame on Tuck in an attempt to vilify his competitor.) until the little horse is sighted. Then a madcap chase ensues as everyone tries to grab the Eohippus, but it ends in failure when the tiny creature charges through a small hole in the nearby mountainside. They soon realize that said hole is the entrance to the "Forbidden Valley" of local legend, so they immediately work together to widen the entrance. Once inside, they break into two groups to search for the lilliputian horse, and immediately begin encountering prehistoric fauna!

Carlos, TJ, Lope, and Bromley all have a dangerous encounter with a hungry Pteranodon, while Tuck and the remainder of the group have a run-in with Gwangi. (And Gwangi's onscreen debut is definitely a memorable one!) As Tuck, Champ, Bean, and Rowdy chase an ostrich-sized dinosaur (which is apparently an Ornithomimus according to this site. A big thanks to "Kooshmeister" from the Badmovies.Org Forums for pointing this out!), Gwangi suddenly bursts out from behind a rocky outcropping and seizes the smaller dinosaur in his jaws. (This exact scene would be copied years later in Stephen Spielberg's Jurassic Park (1993) in which the T-Rex "pulls a Gwangi" on an unlucky Gallimimus.) The aforementioned Pteranodon attempts to capture and carry off Lope, but for some reason it lands on the ground, allowing Carlos to pounce on it and wrestle with it.

I found this a to be a bit odd because I doubt that Lope was too heavy considering the fact that this particular flying lizard carried off a mule the previous night. And I doubt it would just drop him a few yards away and begin eating him on the ground as the Pteranodon proves to be extremely clumsy when it is not flying. Anyway, Carlos continues wrestling with the winged demon and manages to break its neck. As Bromley stares at the dead creature in awe, Tuck and the others ride up and tell everyone to get moving. The only member of the group that refuses to budge is Bromley who doesn't want to leave his newly discovered Pteranodon corpse behind. Amazingly, everyone rides off, leaving the old man to fend for himself against Gwangi.

Luck is on Bromley's side though because a) there's a nearby cave for him to hide in, b) the dead pterosaur is an appealing snack to a carnivorous beast like Gwangi, and c) a cranky Styracosaurus suddenly shows up to defend its home turf. Instead of battling the Styracosaurus, Gwangi decides that the Pteranodon would make an easier meal, picks up the dead creature, and stalks off. Meanwhile in another part of Forbidden Valley, Tuck and the gang have set up camp in a big, deep cave and soon a few things are discovered. First off, Rowdy forgot to put live bullets into everyone's guns, so it turns out that all of the cowboys were firing blanks at Gwangi and friends. (After learning this I would've summarily broken both of Rowdy's kneecaps and left him out in the open to be eaten by a dinosaur.)

Seeing as how their guns are useless, Tuck decides that fashioning some spears out of tree branches would be a good idea and offers the job to Rowdy. Rowdy tells Tuck that he doesn't take orders from "no horse thief" and gets a punch in the face. This leads to a moment of truth in which Tuck is cleared of all wrong-doing (thanks to Lope), making Carlos look like a complete jerk. As night draws near, Tuck and TJ make amends and actually decide to settle down, and start a ranch. Naturally the conversation drifts toward the topic of having children and Tuck seems pretty ready to give fatherhood a shot. (Personally, I would gladly make some babies with TJ. I'd get to brag that I "got it on" with a hot, wealthy redhead, and my lineage would continue on, allowing future generations of b-movie reviewers to be born.)

But their conversation is soon interrupted by a loud crash and a scream. Everyone quickly investigates and finds Professor Bromley in the bottom of a trap that Tuck had constructed earlier. They all have a good laugh at Bromley's expense and turn in for the night. The following morning, preparations are made for escaping the Forbidden Valley. Before they ride off, Tuck decides to fill up some water skins at a nearby stream. As he dips the skins into the water, he fails to notice a certain carnivorous dinosaur off in the distance. Within seconds, Gwangi makes its presence known and chases Tuck back to camp. Thanks to the efforts of his friends, Tuck manages to survive Gwangi's assault and soon he and the rest of the cowboys are casting ropes around Gwangi in an attempt to subdue the massive predator.

The cowboys seem to have the upper-hand at first, but Gwangi manages to chew off the ropes, just in time to have a battle with a certain cranky ceratopsian. That pesky Styracosaurus arrives on the scene (after making an acquaintance with man's greatest weapon: fire!) and engages in a battle to the death with Gwangi. Both creatures inflict wounds on each other, but Gwangi ultimately wins the fight. And I must point out that it was not a fair fight because Carlos arms himself with a spear, hops on a horse, and rides to Gwangi's aid. Yup, that's right folks, Carlos stabs the poor Styracosaurus, allowing Gwangi to win the battle. Unfortunately for Carlos, hindsight is twenty-twenty, and he soon becomes a victim of the very creature he helped out. (For future reference, human beings may pick sides, but giant predatory monsters don't.)

However, Carlos did not die in vain; in fact his death allows everyone else to escape the Forbidden Valley. Moments after the film's protagonists gallop through the entrance, Gwangi comes charging forward, almost oblivious to the fact that he is too large to get through. Unperturbed, the highly aggressive Allosaurus-Rex continuously attempts to squeeze through the opening, eventually resulting in a small rockslide. Said rockslide knocks Gwangi unconscious, allowing Tuck to secure the mighty beast's mouth with some rope. Thinking their luck has changed the best for the best, Tuck, TJ, Champ, Bromley, and the others bring Gwangi back to the wild west show in a rather flimsy wooden cage. (I'm still scratching my head as to why Gwangi never managed to just tear himself free of said cage, but I guess he was just biding his time for the right moment to go on a rampage.)

Opening day of Gwangi's unveiling arrives quickly and several parties involved are extremely upset over the situation: Bromley is pissed that Gwangi is being put on display for monetary gain instead of being donated to the scientific community, Tuck is pissed off at TJ because now she wants to travel the world with her new attraction, rather than settle down with him like they had previously discussed while trapped in Forbidden Valley, and Tia Zorina is mucho pissed that Gwangi was brought to town. Bromley storms off to lick his wounds, TJ and Tuck reconcile their differences (once again, TJ has a complete change in mood and attitude, which makes me wonder if she's bipolar), and Tia makes the "curse of Gwangi" come true by sending her midget henchman to release the hungry dinosaur from his cage.

After chewing up Tia's midget, Gwangi realizes that his cage is no longer locked, and breaks free (crushing Bromley in the process). Seconds after Gwangi is free of his prison, an angry circus elephant charges at him (I guess the elephant didn't want to share the stage with the newcomer?) and a battle ensues between the two large animals. Though the elephant fights bravely, it is no match for the fatal fighting expertise of Gwangi. Gwangi makes short work of his tusked opponent, then leaves the arena and begins "taking in some local flavor." Eventually, Gwangi's rampage brings him to an old church that separates the town. Gwangi ventures within the ancient structure and begins hunting for his next meal, which just so happens to be TJ and Lope.

Tuck is also inside the antiquated building and locks all the doors in order to keep Gwangi trapped until someone arrives with the appropriate firepower to take the ravenous dinosaur down. Once all the doors are secured, Tuck concentrates his efforts on rescuing TJ and Lope. He distracts Gwangi long enough for his two friends to head for an exit, then tosses an old oil lamp at Gwangi to cover his own escape. This spur of the moment action causes the entire building to go up in flames with Gwangi in it. As the wailing prehistoric monster burns to death within the crumbling church, everyone on the outside stares somberly at the collapsing structure.

The movie is over at this point, but as usual, I just can't come to terms with any film that assures me that this is truly "THE END." Here's my take on what may have occurred after the end credits rolled:

The local community is outraged by the death and destruction caused by Gwangi and soon a lynch mob rounds up everyone but Tuck and TJ. Champ, Bean, and Rowdy are arrested, then brutally beaten, tortured, submitted to a mock trial, and finally shot by a firing squad for their crimes against the town. Their bodies are then taken to, and left within the confines of Forbidden Valley for the dinosaurs to snack on. In the meantime, Tuck, TJ, and Lope manage to narrowly escape with their lives and head back across the border into the good ole USA. Tuck is racked by guilt and blames himself for the Gwangi incident but pushes this all aside in hopes that a new life with TJ and Lope will eventually assuage his guilty conscience.

As the years pass, Tuck marries TJ, adopts Lope, and slowly builds up an addiction to alcohol. Eventually his alcoholism gets so bad that TJ takes Lope and leaves Tuck to wallow in his self misery. However an incredible turn of events pulls Tuck out of his rock-bottom lifestyle, helps him come to terms with his guilt, and makes him a hero. I speak of course of the sudden invasion of the South-Western U.S. by Mexican soldiers and bandidos that are mounted upon ferocious dinosaurs! When Tuck hears the news, he grabs his Winchester rifle and trusty lasso, then heads south to save America! Can Tuck stop the insane Mexican warlord, Jose-Rex?! Will Tuck atone for his past sins?! Find out all this and more in the (never-to-be-made) upcoming film, The Valley of Gwangi II: The Reckoning!

When you're done here, be sure to check out my other Dino-Western review for The Beast of Hollow Mountain (1956), the oft-forgotten predecessor to The Valley of Gwangi.

Film Review: The Valley of Gwangi first came to my attention late one night on a Monstervision marathon on TNT. Back then I wasn't really impressed with the film, but now, many years after my first viewing, I truly love and appreciate this wonderful dino-western! The main attraction in Gwangi is of course, Gwangi and all of his prehistoric co-stars. All of them were brought to life by Ray Harryhausen, who is simply legendary in his ability to pull off amazing effects sequences utilizing stop-motion animation (as well as other visual effects techniques). This particular film contains probably his best work to date, especially during the "roping of Gwangi." Harryhausen's attention to detail is astounding, and the interaction between man and dinosaur in this particular sequence is nearly seamless!

When Gwangi and his pals aren't hogging the stage, a great cast of humans keeps things moving along nicely. James Franciscus does a fine job as the charming and good-hearted Tuck Kirby. Tuck initially starts out as a greedy "love 'em then leave 'em" type of guy, but only because that's we're told in several expository bits of dialogue. Truthfully, I don't think that the character of Tuck Kirby had a bad bone in him, but I guess the writers and director wanted a bit of character development in their film. Tuck's love interest, namely TJ Breckinridge is played by the beautiful Gila Golan. TJ is a particularly iffy character throughout the film and constantly changes her mind concerning her feelings toward Tuck Kirby.

When TJ first sees Tuck, she gives him the cold shoulder, then she falls back in love with him after he saves Lope from getting gored by a bull. Then she hates him again when she believes that he stole "El Diablo," then talks to him about settling down soon after she finds out she was mistaken. I guess she's never heard of the phrase (or the song) "stand by your man?" Rounding out the remainder of the important characters are Lope (Curtis Arden) and Professor Bromley (Richard Naismith). Many creature features and monster flicks of this time period featured a child in a lead role who would mainly be around to be rescued, provide exposition, and/or show the softer side of a "tough-as-nails" character.

However, I have to say that Lope is by far one of the least annoying kids I've ever seen in a monster flick! He is a bit greedy at times, but that's mainly because he's on his own and needs to make a living somehow (unlike that greedy little brat Pepe, from 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957). He also doesn't annoyingly whine about a lost loved one like Panchito in The Beast of Hollow Mountain (1956), and most importantly, he doesn't don a pair of short-shorts like the "Kenny's" that popped up in various Gamera and Godzilla films. (Lope, you're number one in my book!) Moving onto Bromley, he's pretty eccentric and very obsessive with his work and is also quite greedy. However, Bromley's avarice is purely academic, as he wants to get his paws on every prehistoric specimen he can, in order to increase his reputation as a paleontologist.

It's this very obsession that leads to everyone's adventures in Forbidden Valley and also leads Bromley to his own demise. His stubborn refusal to seek safety in order to study a dead Pteranodon was just a prelude to his ridiculously reckless act that got him killed during the film's climax. No man in his right mind would run toward an escaping dinosaur, correct? Well Bromley does for reasons unknown (it's not like he would've been able to reason with the angry dinosaur) and ends up getting crushed beneath a piece of Gwangi's cage. And speaking of poor Gwangi, I think he was treated rather unfairly in this film and I totally don't blame him from going wild during the film's finale.

Obviously Gwangi is meant to be the antagonist of the film, but I personally think he is the protagonist. Here's a creature, living in an isolated environment with a meager food supply (the Forbidden Valley doesn't seem to have many dinosaurian denizens for Gwangi to eat), that is suddenly attacked and kidnaped by covetous humans. And the fact that said humans are plentiful, edible, slow, and weak (in comparison to the mighty Gwangi) probably drove this poor dinosaur mad with bloodlust. (A point that Sci-Film scribe Gerry Carpenter attests to in his review of this film.) Coupled with a possible desire for retribution, Gwangi's actions seem justified in my eyes. Sadly Gwangi doesn't get to snack on any of his captors before being burnt to a crisp. (I would've cheered if Gwangi snapped up Rowdy and bit him in half!)

Along with a great cast, and Ray Harryhausen's special effects work, The Valley of Gwangi is further supplemented with a fantastic musical score by Jerome Moross. The main "adventure theme" that he composed (and conducted) is extremely appropriate and pretty darn catchy. (To tell you the truth, I played the opening credits over and over again, just to listen to it.) Well, to wrap things up here, The Valley of Gwangi is a superb fantasy film that balances two genres relatively well. The only thing that I found truly odd was how characters that clearly didn't trust or like each other would suddenly work together without any arguments or vicious exchanges. Heck, when Tuck punches Rowdy in the face for calling him a horse thief, there's no apologies made afterwards at all. It's just forgiven and forgotten and that is pretty darn weird in my book. (Then again, this is a fantasy film involving cowboys and dinosaurs, so I suppose I should suspend my disbelief.)

If you haven't seen this movie yet and you happen to be a self-proclaimed fan of Ray Harryhausen, then you best pick up a copy of Gwangi immediately unless you want to be called a fraud! But regardless of your taste in movies, people young and old need to see this movie, especially all of you youngsters with your fancy iPods, satellite TVs, and CGI special effects. The effects work of Ray Harryhausen may not look as smooth and life-like as the current computer generated offerings, but his monsters definitely have more personality than anything that has stomped or slithered on the big screen in the past decade. There truly is no school, like the old school.

---

So how radioactive is this delightful cinematic amalgam of dinosaurs and cowboys?

Geiger Counter Reading:

- FOUR AND A HALF 'RADS' -

WARNING: This film is VERY RADIOACTIVE! Dinosaurs, cowboys,
a rousing musical score, one hot redhead, and one gypsy midget make this film
a winner! All I have left to say is "Harryhausen Rules!"

---

DVD Review: The Warner Bros. DVD release of The Valley of Gwangi is a hit and miss affair. First off, the packaging is horrible! The DVD comes in a cardboard snapcase and features some pretty awful artwork. (Why Warner Bros. went with said artwork instead of using the art from the original theatrical poster is beyond my comprehension.) Despite the substandard packaging, the disc itself is very well done. The film is featured in its original widescreen aspect ration of 1.85:1 and the print looks very good. (Some reviewers have stated that the print was below their expectations, but I personally have no complaints.) The disc's only audio option is English Dolby Digital 1.0 Surround Sound and it is more than acceptable. (The audio came in clean and clear on my five-speaker stereo system.)

While the disc is not overflowing with extras, it does have enough to keep Harryhausen fans sated. There's a short featurette (only eight minutes) called "Return to the Valley" in which Ray Harryhausen talks about his work on Gwangi, with most of the focus being on the "roping of Gwangi" sequence. It's an interesting little featurette, and should help wet your appetite before you watch the movie. Also included as a special feature is a gallery of movie trailers for the following films: The Valley of Gwangi, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, The Black Scorpion, and Clash of the Titans. Lastly, there is an Easter Egg on the disc that you can find by highlighting Gwangi's head in the Special Features menu. Once you hit Enter on your dvd remote, you'll be treated to a brief, (one-minute) anecdote from Ray Harryhausen.

All in all, this is a pretty decent disc that's worth picking up. However, be on the lookout for a possible re-release of Gwangi on DVD. Warner Bros. has officially done away with their cardboard snapcases and has been re-releasing a lot of their films in regular DVD jewel cases. They've already done this to multiple cult and sci-fi films (including The Omega Man, The Goonies, and The Matrix) so I wouldn't be shocked to see a "new" Valley of Gwangi DVD in the near future.

Tia Zorina: "No, no! Leave it! He who takes from Gwangi the evil one, is cursed."
Carlos: "Only by an old woman's tongue!"
(Reviewer's Note: Unfortunately, Tia was right on the money because Carlos becomes an entree for Gwangi an hour later in the film. You should have learned to respect your elders Carlos!)

Tuck: "Go ahead, break your neck if you want to. It makes no difference to me."
TJ: "Good!"
Tuck: "I'm just worried about that horse up there with ya. I wouldn't like to anything happen to him."
(Reviewer's Note: Tuck's snide remark nearly gets him killed because TJ gets mad and chucks her hairbrush at him. Yeesh, some women just can't take a joke.)

Tuck: "Lope tells me you're one of those, one of those... archaeologists."
Bromley: "Well, he's pretty near the mark. Actually I'm a paleontologist. We dig deeper."
(Reviewer's Note: Yikes! When Bromley says 'We dig deeper' he sounds pretty bitter. I guess it is a personal affront to refer to a paleontologist as an archaeologist?)

• Beginning - "He who takes from Gwangi the evil one, is cursed."
• 15:37 - Tuck is a total ladies man.
• 22:04 - Well, it's safe to say that Lope will never have a career as a bullfighter.
• 32:49 - Midget henchmen rule! I'm putting one on my Christmas list! (Hey, if a little girl can ask for a friggin' pony for Christmas, then why can't I ask for a midget?!)
• 33:00 - Whoa! That Eohippus is so small that it makes Zorina's dwarf seem huge in comparison! Hahaha!
• 46:50 - Pteranodon Attack!
• 48:14 - Carlos is a dino-wrestling champ!
• 49:29 - "It looks like a plucked ostrich!"
• 50:01 - Gwangi makes his onscreen debut.
• 51:44 - "Great Scott?!" I wonder if Bromley is a relative of Dr. Emmet Brown?
• 55:06 - I have the feeling that Rowdy hears the phrase, "shooting blanks," a lot.
• 59:00 - "We done caught ourselves a Bromley!"
• 64:10 to 66:55 - The famous "roping of Gwangi" sequence!
• 68:07 - Damn it Carlos! Why did you do that?! (Carlos helps Gwangi kill the Styracosaurus!)
• 69:33 - Gwangi's current thought: "Oh great! My food from 'Meals on Hooves' is here!" [CHOMP! Bye bye Carlos.]
• 81:15 - Well this answers the age old question of "who would win in a fight between a T-Rex and a gypsy midget."
• 83:06 - Gwangi battles an elephant.
• 92:40 - Random Thought: "I wonder if the locals will dig up the roasted remains of Gwangi and eat his charred flesh?"
• 94:27 - THE END. (Followed by the End Credits.)

Recommended Viewing:

• Naturally, I'd be remiss if I didn't recommend Gwangi's ancestor, the Beast of Hollow Mountain (1956). It's not nearly as good as Gwangi but it is worth a look and deserves some respect. Also check out Planet of the Dinosaurs (1978) which involves futuristic space travelers and their interactions with the denizens on a prehistoric planet.
  
  
• Capturing a prehistoric creature or a monster, and then attempting to showcase it for a profit has always been a bad idea. This trend started with The Lost World (1925) which ended with a Brontosaurus' rampage through the streets of London. In 1933, 1976, and 2005 King Kong would react similarly when brought to New York. Gorgo (1961) and Gappa: The Triphibian Monster (1967) would slightly alter the "monster on the loose" formula. In these films, giant prehistoric monsters attack civilization in order to rescue their offspring from greedy businessmen. This scenario would show up again Stephen Spielberg's Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997).
  
  
• Ray Harryhausen is a highly respected and beloved special effects artist and has brought various prehistoric and mythological creatures to life on the silver screen during his illustrious career. Some of the most memorable "Harryhausen films" include: The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953), It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955), 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957), Jason and the Argonauts (1963), One Million Years B.C. (1966), and Clash of the Titans (1981).

Useless Trivia:

• Gwangi is a Native American word for lizard.
  
  
• Actor Gustavo Rojo (Carlos) was dubbed by Robert Rietty.
  
  
• The Valley of Gwangi was meant to be a follow-up to 1933's King Kong but never went into production until the late 60s. However, early black and white footage of "cowboys in Africa" was shot for the postponed project, and later used in 1949's Mighty Joe Young.
  
  
• The most famous moment of the film is when a group of cowboys rope Gwangi, and it still looks impressive after all these years. This wonderful effects sequence was achieved by having the actors hold onto ropes that were tied to a wooden pole that was attached to a jeep. Then special effects wizard, Ray Harryhausen, inserted a projection plate of Gwangi over the jeep and pole and used painted wires to match the cowboys' real ropes in the film.
  
  
• Over the course of the film, Gwangi's color inexplicably changes in various scenes. (Sometimes he's a bright greenish tint, and other times, he seems to be a purple hue.) Apparently, since there was so many animated sequences in the film, Ray Harryhausen didn't have time to do any proper color testing.
  
  
• The Valley of Gwangi was inspired by Willis O'Brien's story, "Valley of the Mists." Sadly, O'Brien would die seven years before Gwangi was released.
  
  
• According to the IMDB, various local TV stations have shown an edited version of The Valley of Gwangi, that does not include Gwangi's battle with the elephant. The sequence was removed because it allegedly depicts cruelty to animals. (WHAT?! A dinosaur chomping on a human being is ok, but a dinosaur munching on an elephant is too taboo?!)

"The Valley of Gwangi" Drinking Game:

• Ok folks, this movie is definitely worthy of watching when you're completely sober, but if you're getting some friends together for a b-movie night and you all decide to watch The Valley of Gwangi then here's a fun drinking game for you. While watching the movie, I lost track of how many times people fell off of their horses, but trust me, it happens a lot. So, the objective of the "Gwangi Drinking Game" is merely this: Take a shot every time someone falls, or gets knocked off of their mighty steed during the movie! The winner of the game will be the person who manages to not pass out from massive alcohol consumption!
  
  If that isn't challenging enough for you, then additional shots can be taken when Gwangi kills, maims, and/or eats something; when TJ has another mood swing or change of heart (one minute she hates Tuck, and the next she's totally in love with him); every time Tia Zorina appears and starts her doomsaying; every time someone says "Gwangi." I guarantee that you'll be good and drunk long before Gwangi gets flambéed at the end, but remember gang, drinking too much carries a few health risks (including alcohol poisoning, dehydration, vomiting, and waking up the following morning next to ugly and/or fat chicks) so please, drink responsibly and enjoy the movie!

---

LEAVE YOUR OWN COMMENTS ABOUT THIS MOVIE IN...

And feel free to e-mail me at vault_master[at]bmoviefilmvault[dot]com if you have any questions, personal recommendations, or information about the films reviewed here on the site! Don't be shy! Your feedback helps make The Vault better!

---

Review posted on May 21, 2007.
(Review last updated on January 9, 2008.)

B-MOVIE REVIEWS

CAPSULE REVIEWS

DISCUSSION FORUM

MAIN PAGE [FRAMES]

MAIN PAGE [NO FRAMES]