10,000 B.C.

"Claim the white spear"

As the Yagahl tribe waited for the return of the mammoths to their valley, the wise woman of the village, Old Mother (Hammond), prophesised that this would be the last hunt for her people and a warrior would emerge to lead them. She also saw that four legged demons would come land after the last hunt and take their people to another land. When the great beast returned, the riders soon followed taking many of the woman and men to their far off lands to the south. One of those taken is Evolet (Belle), the love of D'Leh (Strait) who will stop at nothing to get her back but mountains, jungles, terror birds and sabre-toothed tigers lie in his way.

Director Roland Emmerich loves destroying things but can he blow things up by transporting you back over 12,000 years?

After destroying most of the modern world in 'Independence Day', 'Godzilla' and 'The Day After Tomorrow', director Roland Emmerich has now decided to take us back to prehistoric time to, well, basically destroy the ancient world. Transporting you back twelve thousand years, when Europe was coming out of an ice age, Stone Age man was hunting mammoths and the ancient Egyptians were constructing the great pyramids, can the '10,000 B.C.' provide the right setting for an action adventure? The answer is not really.

Seeing mammoths, sabre-tooth tigers and terror birds would have been a jaw dropping sight ten years ago but with nature documentaries like 'Walking with Beasts' and action adventure series like 'Primeval' showing you the same animals on television, this is nothing new. So you would think that Roland Emmerich and his writing partner Harald Kloser would provide us with a story that would keep you enthralled but you would be wrong.

The story is extremely basic. We have prehistoric, stone age man, looking like they are living in the Alps, when their village elder has a premonition that a blue eyed girl will come to the village and a warrior will rise after the last of the mammoth come to the valley who will save them from the four legged demons. These demons are horse riders from the south who kidnap people to work for their master building the pyramids. You might think this sounds familiar and you would be right, as Mel Gibson's 'Apocalypto' did virtually the same thing but much better. Even when Emmerich revisits ancient Egypt and tries to reinvigorate some of his 'Stargate' mythos by saying the god-like leader comes from the stars or Atlantis, he still doesn't make the movie any more original.

Unlike all of his previous films, Roland Emmerich has decided to stay away from big Hollywood stars and go for up and coming talent for his main characters. Steven Strait came to prominence in 'Undiscovered' and 'The Covenant' but this is chance to make a name for himself as an action star and he does a decent job as the reluctant warrior of the Yagahl, D'Leh. 'When a Stranger Calls' star Camilla Belle has nothing to do other than flutter her contact lensed blue eyes. The only other recognisable cast member is Cliff Curtis, playing a laughably named warrior called Tic'Tic and the rest of the cast is filled with unknowns or actors that you might have spotted in other, smaller movies.

'10,000 B.C.' is nothing you haven't seen before and done much better. While Emmerich and his creative team do an excellent job of recreating ancient Egypt, this however doesn't make a movie and the lack of originality or any real passion makes this movie one that doesn't make you want to travel back in time.

Not Available

The Day After Tomorrow

Stargate

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2008