10,000 BC - Preview
Preview by Jack Foley
ROLAND Emmerich is no stranger to risk-taking blockbusters. Having impressed with Independence Day, he proved the sceptics wrong with global warming blockbuster The Day After Tomorrow – thereby proving that a big effects feature could carry a serious message.
It may actually have taken Al Gore to make people take proper notice, but The Day After Tomorrow proved a global success and catapulted its star, Jake Gyllenhaal, onto Hollywood’s A-list. Emmerich, meanwhile, has been cooking up his latest blockbuster, the prehistoric epic 10,000 BC.
And as the film prepares to take its theatrical bow in March, early footage suggests he has succeeded in coming up with another jaw-dropping spectacle. And while it may borrow from the Hollywood B-movie prototype (much like George Lucas and Steven Spielberg have done), and looks like a family-friendly version of Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto (to some extent), it’s sure to garner a lot of interest.
The film follows the fortunes of 21-year-old mammoth hunter D’Leh (Steven Strait) as he travels through unknown lands on a quest to rescue his people from extinction.
En route, D’Leh, leading an army, uncovers a lost civilization in pursuit of a warlord who kidnapped his love, Evolet (Camilla Belle). He also encounters saber-toothed cats, mammoths and other prehistoric creatures in the journey to save his tribe.
According to Emmerich, there’s plenty of historical accuracy to accompany the action and spectacle. At a pre-Christmas presentation of early footage in London, for instance, he maintained that the film’s mammoths and sabre tooths look like they really looked. And the locations and farming villages have also benefited from close attention to historical detail.
However, he did concede that while certain things are grounded in reality, the film itself is working from a more fantastical context and so history buffs ought not to get too dismayed at what they see unfolding on-screen.
The creatures themselves are another marvel of the digital effects industry and many of them took two years to complete. But Emmerich feels they will provide the film with its biggest draw and promises plenty of action involving them.
The film’s stars, meanwhile, are relatively unknown actors. Strait, for instance, has only previously appeared in the best left forgotten horror flick The Covenant, while Camilla Belle – although no stranger to a movie set – has mostly leant support to the likes of The Ballad of Jack & Rose, The Chumscrubber and Steven Seagal’s The Patriot. Eagle-eyed dinosaur fans may also recognise her from The Lost World: Jurassic Park, in which she played Cathy Bowman.
Screen veteran Omar Sharif and established character actor Cliff Curtis are on hand to provide dramatic support, though.
So, given Emmerich’s box office pedigree, don’t bet against 10,000 BC emerging as another success. At the very least, it promises to offer action, spectacle and some easy crowd-pleasing moments. Check out early photos or watch the trailer