The Valley of Gwangi

The Harryhausen effects are the only good things going for this otherwise mediocre King Kong ripoff.

Ray Harryhausen didn't *always* get a good script to go with his movies that were basically vehicles for his FX. This movie just doesn't work that well at all... and it's hurt worse by the fact that at this late date his work is starting to look kind of shopworn

Gila Golan gives a good performance reminiscent of a later Stephanie Powers. The Cowboys and Dinosaurs sub genre is probably unique to this film. In the end it became a King Kong clone with a TRex subbing for an ape and Old Mexico for urban America. The stop motion effects were fun and great for their time of course. But a strong opening declines to a cliched tedious ending.

Is my rating just reflecting how much I loved this movie as a kid and not if the flick is really any good? Sure but I don't care, AMC used to show this one for FearFeast back in the day when they were actually a classic movies channel. The T-Rex looks cool, yey for stop motion!

It takes time to get to the actual valley in Valley of Gwangi, but when we do it's non-stop dinosaur action. The premise alone should attract: it's Cowboys vs. Dinosaurs and the latter are from Harryhausen (oh, and also this weird mini-horse thingy). Oh sure, the plotting and the romance is so-so and it has the worst sound effect for an elephant that I've ever heard - but who cares? Seriously, people. The climax features a cowboy fighting a dinosaur inside a burning cathedral. Need I say more?

Em honra do centenário de Charles H. Schneer, o nome pode não ser muito conhecido, mas ele foi um dos grandes parceiros do Harryhausen na produção de seus filmes. Eu iria dizer que esse filme é pura diversão, mas o final é muito atroz, é uma espécie de Darwin queimando dentro de uma igreja, mas que não tira a grandiloquência do filme. E também parece uma realidade paralela com o cinema da Nova Hollywood acontecendo ao mesmo tempo com esse tipo de filme. Box Versátil Classicos Sci-f

Fun, but would've been better if the main characters died. Like many monster films.

C-

This is not the best of Ray Harryhausen, the effects are the worst of all the movies I've seen of his, even though it's still better than anything else of the same time period. The story is alright but the pacing and acting needed a lot of work. This isn't as thrilling and fun as it could've been but it was still worth seeing. The biggest complaint was the colors and color changes of the models and the sub par acting.

I like the build up to the valley but was disappointed there wasnt a plethora of oddities there instead of just a couple creatures. I imagined the film to be about cowboys exploring a "lost world" kind of plot so for it to be king kong made me groan. Ends on some damn good carnage!

For such an out-there premise, I found the actual action disappointingly torpid. Setting that aside, I loved the score and Harryhausen's effects, however cheesy and silly the latter look now. O'Connolly, Bast, and More did a surprisingly good job weaving together such disparate ideas. I just wish the film worked better on an emotional level.

I'm a sucker for Ray Harryhausen.

Cowboys vs. dinosaurs has to be one of the greatest high concept movie pitches ever conceived. Truth be told, this film is awfully slow, even dull in its early patches. But from the moment that enchanting little eohippus shows up, it's a winner.