10,000 BC is a 2008 American film from Warner Bros. Pictures set in the prehistoric era, directed by Roland Emmerich and starring Steven Strait and Camilla Belle. The world premiere of the movie was held on February 10, 2008 at Potsdamer Platz in Berlin.[1][2] General release was on March 7, 2008.[3] The film grossed $31,341,721 in DVD sales, bringing its total film gross to $300,414,491.[4]
Plot
A remote mountain range provides a home for a tribe of hunter-gatherers called the Yagahl, who survive by trapping and killing mammoths, which they call the "Mannak". Here, the young hunter D'Leh has found his heart's desire — the beautiful companion named Evolet, known for her unique blue eyes, whom the Yagahl had found as an orphaned girl, a wise woman of the tribe informs of a future prophecy the girl will bring to the tribe. When the mannak come, D'Leh and the others go out to hunt them. The hunters chase the mammoths and snare one of them in a net. D'Leh kills the mammoth when it falls onto a spear that got caught on a pile of rocks. Thus, D'Leh wins the "White Spear" which is given to the killer of the mammoth. He also wins Evolet in marriage, but feels he deserves neither, because he won by accident.
One day, D' Leh and several others are away when another band of mysterious horse-riding raiders called the "Four Legged Demons" attack the Yaghal camp, they enslave Evolet (along with many others). D'Leh, Tic'Tic and Ka'Ren (D'Leh's childhood rival) pursue the raiders to the end of their known world to save her. Baku, whose mother was killed by the Four-Legged Demons, is seen sneaking behind them and is soon accepted into the rescue mission. The band of rescuing warriors come in contact with terror birds in the jungle. In this encounter, Tic'Tic gets wounded and later recovers, but Baku and Ka'Ren are captured, with Evolet re-captured . Then, in the desert, they encounter gazelles, Lappet-faced Vultures, and a larger saber toothed cat, similar in appearance to a Smilodon, but larger and more tiger-like in appearance.
Along their journey they meet tribes of warriors, who have also had loved ones enslaved by the raiders. D'Leh and his mentor Tic'Tic befriend Nakudu, leader of the Naku tribe, whose son was taken and wife murdered. Then Nakudu tells D'Leh of their prophecy: that whoever talks to the "Spear-Tooth" (saber-tooth) will help free their people. D'Leh (while hunting for food), had earlier saved a saber-tooth from drowning in a trap which also resulted in D'Leh freeing himself. The saber-tooth then spared his life while escaping the trap, and he realizes the prophecy was about him. Nakudu explains that his loved ones were taken in the "Great Red Birds", or ships with large red sails, to the "Mountains of the Gods", from which no one has ever returned. Then they come together with other tribes, who agree to form a coalition and march in pursuit of the captors.
Through the desert tract, they find the ships with red sails holding Evolet and Baku, plus others. They can't follow the ships, so they talk to a desert tribe that advises them to follow the "Eye of the Snake", or perish in the sea of sand. They follow, and ultimately navigate using the moon and North star. At the end of the journey through a vast desert, they discover a relatively advanced civilization similar to ancient Egypt and ruled by an enigmatic figure known as "The Almighty", who is said to be the last survivor of his kind. The Almighty, who is regarded as a living god, possesses many thousands of slaves that he is using to build a huge pyramid complex in his honor and possibly for his burial.
D'Leh and his coalition sneak into the slave quarters, and ask an escaped servant of the Almighty who this Almighty is. D'Leh notices the former servant wears a bracelet that was worn by D'Leh's father. D'leh's father had left his tribe for food, and finding the Naku tribe, taught them his language, before being stolen by the raiders. D'Leh later finds that his father was not a coward, and that he was responsible for saving the servant's life. The servant informs D'Leh that his father's bones are buried in the desert. In a night attack, the guards of the slaves discover the camp of the coalition behind the middle pyramid. Tic'Tic fights three guards, and manages to kill two of them, but the last guard mortally wounds him before he dies.
Meanwhile, the Almighty's priests discover Evolet wears scars on her hand patterned after the "Uru-Anna" or the "Mark of the Hunter", the brightest star in all heaven, which pertains to the constellation Orion's belt, and after which the pyramids are supposedly modeled. The priests believe it is part of a prophecy which states that whoever wears the mark of the Hunter is destined to kill the Almighty. D'Leh, taking the white spear, rouses the coalition with a great speech. With a plan mapped out, they spark a full-scale rebellion amongst the slaves. The first plan is to cause chaos among the mammoth herd, to cause them to stampede. With the Almighty's troops coming up the slope, Ka'Ren sacrifices himself to give D'Leh more time. The mammoths eventually stampede killing a large contigent of troops.
The Almighty offers Evolet to D'Leh in exchange for him abandoning his rebellion. The Almighty makes a deal with D'Leh, that if he should take his wife, his warriors can return, but the rest must be his slaves forever. D'Leh feigns the acceptance of the deal which allows him to come close enough to the Almighty to kill him. Once close enough, he throws a spear at the Almighty and kills him, proving him not to be a god. During the ensuing battle, Baku fails to strike the One-Eye man that killed his mother, but when he grabs Tudu the son of Nakudu, Nakudu successfully strikes him with a spear. The warlord raider, who had kidnapped Evolet initially, steals her again on horseback. Evolet, slung behind him, reaches into the quiver of arrows that is near her and stabs the warlord in the side. Both he and Evolet fall from the horse. D'Leh rushes towards her when he sees them fall, but the warlord succeeds in shooting her in the back with an arrow. D'Leh runs to have his revenge with the warlord, who tells D'Leh that if he cannot have her, then no one will. D'Leh then kills the warlord with the White Spear as a ship inside the main temple of the Almighty burns in the background. D'Leh returns to Evolet, and she dies in his arms.
The scene shifts to Old Mother - the wise woman of the Yagahl - as she breathes in deeply and then breathes out her last breath. The scene then returns to D'Leh cradling Evolet's body when she suddenly awakens, fully restored by the wise woman's sacrifice. They depart for home and bid farewell to the other tribes. Time passes and we see that the seeds that D'leh had received during his travels have begun to grow. As he stands, he greets his wife Evolet and they passionately kiss as the screen fades in the sun.
In an alternative ending, the scene then shifts forward many years into the future, showing the old Baku's retelling of the story by the camp fire. It ends with a child asking what had happened to the "Mountains of the Gods", and Baku remarks, "they were taken back by the sands. Lost to time, lost to man."
Cast
- Steven Strait as D'Leh (an anagram for "Held" which is the German, Dutch and Afrikaans word for "hero"), a mammoth hunter and the main protagonist.
- Camilla Belle as Evolet, D'Leh's love and the only survivor of a different tribe; one which was killed off by the "Four Legged Demons" (fierce warriors on horseback). While kidnapped, her hands were whipped, leaving a scar in the shape of the "hunter" - a foreshadowing of the one who will defeat the Almighty. She is unique in that she has blue eyes.
- Cliff Curtis as Tic'Tic, D'Leh's mentor.[5]
- Joel Virgel as Nakudu, leader of the Naku tribe.
- Afif Ben Badra as Warlord, leader of the "Four Legged Demons"
- Mo Zinal as Ka'Ren
- Nathanael Baring as Baku
- Mona Hammond as Old Mother, the Yagahl wise old woman.
- Marco Khan as One-Eye, Warlord's main henchman.
- Reece Ritchie as Moha
- Joel Fry as Lu'Kibu
- Kristian Beazley as D'Leh's father, who had lived with the Naku tribe and learned agriculture from them.
- Junior Oliphant as Tudu, Nakudu's son.
- Boubacar Badaine as Quina, leader of another tribe.
- Tim Barlow as the Almighty. The Almighty is a tall, blue eyed man who dresses in long white robes and a face-concealing veil. He is the last of three kings, and the last of the Atlanteans. He also fears the "Hunter", who is foretold to bring about his downfall.
- Omar Sharif as the Narrator / elderly Baku
Casting process
Emmerich opened casting sessions in late October 2005.[6] In February 2006, Camilla Belle and Steven Strait were announced to star in the film, with Strait as the mammoth hunter and Belle as his love.[7] Emmerich felt that casting well known actors would distract from the realistic feel of the prehistoric setting. "If like, Jake Gyllenhaal turned up in a movie like this, everybody would be, 'What's that?'", he explained. Unknown casting also helped keep the film's budget down.[8]
Production
Director Roland Emmerich and composer Harald Kloser originally penned a script for 10,000 BC. When the project received the greenlight from Columbia Pictures, screenwriter John Orloff began work on a new draft of the original script. Columbia Pictures, under Sony Pictures Entertainment, dropped the project due to a busy release calendar, and Warner Bros. picked up the project in Sony's vacancy.[9] The script went through a second revision with Matthew Sand and a final revision with Robert Rodat.[7] Emmerich rejected making the film in an ancient language (similar to The Passion of the Christ or Apocalypto), feeling it would not be as emotionally engaging.[10]
Production began in spring 2006 in South Africa and Namibia.[7] Location filming also took place in southern New Zealand[11] and Thailand. Before shooting began, the production had spent eighteen months on research and development for the computer generated imagery. Two companies recreated prehistoric animals. To cut time (it was taking sixteen hours to render a single frame) 50% of the CGI models' fur was removed, as "it turned out half the fur looked the same" to the director.[8]
Critical reception
The film received largely negative reviews from critics, stating that the movie is mainly visual and lacks a firm screenplay. Critics went on to say that the film is extremely inaccurate archaeologically. As of December 29, 2008, the review aggregator at Rotten Tomatoes has reported that 9% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 135 reviews.[12] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 34 out of 100, based on 29 reviews.[13]
Historical inaccuracies
Yahoo! movies featured 10,000 BC at the top of their list of "The 10 most historically inaccurate movies". Below is a list of noted historical and archaeological flaws:
- One of the main blunders of the film that was pointed out by Yahoo! movies was the depiction of the use of mammoths in the construction of Egyptian pyramids. Quoting the website's review, "Woolly mammoths were not, in fact, used to build pyramids. Heck, woolly mammoths weren't even found in the desert. They wouldn't need to be woolly if that were the case..."
- In the later portions of the film, D'Leh and his group come to Egypt in order to save the rest of their people, taken captive therein. These slaves were forced to work on building a pyramid, as well as a sphinx. However, neither of the two were being built in Egypt until about 2,500 BC.
- There is a scene in the film where a telescope and a map of western Africa and Europe is briefly shown.
- The Terror birds were indigenous to the Americas and had gone extinct 1.8 million years before.
- The earliest known use of sailing ships was around 3500 B.C.[14].
- The film shows humans riding horses which were not domesticated until around 3,500 BC.
- The use of swords and other bladed weapons are also anachronistic as the first swords date to the late 3rd millennium BC in the middle-east.
- There is no evidence that Cro-Magnon Man ever hunted mammoths with a net.
- The Naku tribe fed D'leh red peppers and gave him seed corn. Both of these were from the Americas.
- The Naku tribe gave the seeds corn to D'leh, however, at the end of the movie, he and his wife were shown to grow wheat.
- The Woolly Mammoth and the Smilodon are over-sized.
The magazine Archaeology had an article giving the movie a bad review due to the inaccuracies.
Influences of other works
Glenn Whipp of the Los Angeles Daily News draws numerous comparisons between 10,000 BC and other films in the prehistoric and historic film genre, especially One Million Years B.C.[15] and Apocalypto[16][17] A. O. Scott of The New York Times compared it to John Ford's film The Searchers and also the animated film Ice Age.[18]
At the 2008 Wondercon, Emmerich mentioned the fiction of Robert E. Howard as a primary influence for the film's setting, as well as his love for Quest for Fire and the book Fingerprints of the Gods.[19]
DVD release
The DVD of the film was released on June 24, 2008 in single disc editions of DVD and Blu-ray Disc in the United States. Best Buy will release a 2-disc limited edition along with the DVD and Blu-ray Disc releases. It was released on 21 July, 2008 in the United Kingdom.[20] The film grossed $31,341,721 in DVD sales, bringing its total film gross to $300,414,491.[21]
Box office performance
In its opening weekend, the film grossed $35.8 million in 3,410 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking #1 at the box office, and grossing over $22 million more than the film in second place, College Road Trip.[22][23] As of April 29, 2008, it has grossed approximately $268.6 million worldwide — $94.6 million in the United States and Canada and $174 million in other territories[24] — including $17.2 million in Mexico, $12.9 million in Spain, $11.4 million in the United Kingdom, and $10.8 million in China. This also makes it the first film of 2008 to surpass the $200 million mark.[25]
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Worst film of the 2008, hands-down
Let me a tell a true horror story. My friend and I had went to a real
Irish man from United States - 17 June 2009decadent theater near his house, we were bored and thought "O.K, this
film looks good." The next we know we are dying in our seat from start
to finish, it was 109 minutes too long. Now, I'm not saying "dying" as
in laughing hysterically, but "dying" as in actually dying. My brain
cells were being disintegrated and my heart rate went down very low. It
also is excruciating to watch. I came out of the theater 10,000 times
dumber with a frown on my face and a lighter wallet. The only pro of
the movie was the visual effects, which I had to admit were at least
decent. I should have listened to my other friend, who said it was
awful, but I figured "how bad could it be?" This was incorrect thinking
on my part. There was a brief moment of intelligence in the film, that
was completely erased a couple minutes later. I only sat through the
whole thing because I knew that if I could sit through "Hostel II" and
the remake of "Halloween," I could survive this. Still, the one thing I
don't understand is how Mr. Emmerich could screw up so bad. "The Day
After Tomorrow" and especially "Independence Day" were fantastic and
then he comes up with "10,000 BC," in which my two thoughts throughout
the film were "Where did you go wrong, Roland?!" and "I want to punch
Mr. Emmerich in the head for helping create this disaster." My warning
to all is this "STAY AWAY" and spend money on something worthwhile. Buy
your wife a ring with that money saved up and forget you even thought
about putting yourself through physical torture.
A Missed Opportunity
This film is set roughly around the first century, before there were
Derek Carpet from United Kingdom - 9 June 2009dinosaurs, and when Mammoths ruled the earth. (No Doug McClure) It
would have been more pleasing to mine eye had they filmed it in the 2nd
century when there were plenty of dinosaurs, imagine the exciting
scenes of running away from a Ginormous Rex, swinging through trees to
avoid flyingsaurs, and all the thunder lizards stomping around the
pyramids near the end of the movie. Cool! Anyway, enough of what good
have been- the film makers have their own ideas I suppose.In a village up in the mountains somewhere live a herd of cavemen and
cavewomenmen. They have a tough but enjoyable existence, hunting fish,
bears, and of course Wooly Mummies. The time has come however to select
a new leader for the tribe- a group of the hardiest teen males have to
fight it out in a series of tasks to prove that they are the best in
each area- strength, speed, courage, wisdom, and heart. We are
introduced to our hero- Tuk Tuk. He is the main candidate for
President, but his main rival Tik Tak is just as good, and has a more
minty taste. Through into the mix a beautiful girl both men love, and
an old sight seeing hag who says scary things about the future like
'oooh, One with blue eyes shall be the ruin of us' and 'ooh, beware
going across the mountains to the forbidden land' and 'oooh, tomorrow
there will be a strong south easterly wind'. The games begin, and Tuk
Tuk and Tik Tak (under the guidance of another old warrior, Trevor)
excel in each event. It comes to the 'Catch a Mammoth' event, where the
one who catches a mammoth proves himself to be the best. Tik Tik is a
bit of a scumbag and tries to cheat, and in the process almost wipes
out the village and kill everyone. Suffice to say, our hero saves the
day, forgives Mip Mip, and gets the girl. When a travelling group of
marauders steal the girl (I believe her name was also Tuk Tuk leading
to some confusion), Tik, Tak, Trev and the gang set out on a deadly
quest, encounters tigers, freaks, and other assorted terrors.Now this is hardly an original film- in fact it steals many ideas from
Saving Private Ryan (the group putting themselves in danger to save
someone), and other films such was 1,000,000 BC and 1,000,000,000,000
AD have done it better. I loved those films growing up. My brother Andy
and myself used to play 'Dinosaur!' and 'The People That Time Forgot',
re-enacting our favourite scenes. I was always Doug McClure, while Andy
played an assortment of goodies, baddies, and beasties. We would put
all the cushions from the sofas onto the floor, and jump from one to
the next, pretending the floor was lava. 'You fell in, you're out of
the game!' I would shout. 'No I didn't!' Andy would reply. 'You did!
Your foot touched the lava, na na, you're dead!' I cried. 'Shut up,
leave me alone. I'm gonna tell mummy on you' Andy would moan. I would
then punch his arm till he cried, or we would both run straight across
the lava, putting our lives at risk to get to mummy first. 'Shut up the
pair of ye, or you'll both go to bed!' Mummy would say.Yes, they should have had Doug McClure in this movie. Just as the epic
battle scene (which was well filmed, but not very well directed) was
about to begin, he could have flown in in his plane and thrown a few
stiff rights and lefts about. But alas, this was not to happen. To be
fair the effects here were very good. I've never seen such a realistic
tiger, not even at the zoo, and there were lots of exciting moments. I
understand that I let myself be disappointed by expecting things from
films, just like I am disappointed by life. Michael Bay would go on to
direct bigger and better things, and a few members of the cast joined
ER and Desperate Housewives (I think I saw Trevor in The Bill once,
running away from Reg) but this is above all an entertaining, popcorn,
coke, and sticky floor kind of film.Best Scene: When all the mammoths are stampeding the mansion of the bad
guys, and they all get crushed under the big hairy feet. I bet the
stunt doubles were sore after that!
No more pyramids, please
There are lots of movies about the ancient cultures of the Egyptians,
sheenafilm from Hamburg, Germany - 6 June 2009Greeks, Babylonians and Romans, and quite a lot of silly flicks about
stone age people who hit each other over the head a lot while chewing
on a dinosaur steak. There is hardly anything about the years in
between, although that is the beginning of history as we know it.
"10,000 BC" makes an honorable attempt therefore to take us into an era
that's hardly been filmed before, and I wouldn't worry about the
scientific accuracy much, considering that "Xena" makes Hercules a
contemporary of Julius Caesar. In the cinema they spend megabucks on,
entertainment obviously comes first, and it does here in the shape of
great locations, unknown actors (no stars in rags, fortunately) and
well designed creatures of at least roughly the correct era (no
dinosaurs). The one disappointment for me, personally, was that the
director of the Stargate movie couldn't resist to show us a mysterious
civilization building pyramids again. If it had been only about the
tribesmen who fight back the slave hunters, it would have been much
more convincing (see Annaud's "Quest For Fire"). The way it is, "10,000
BC" lifts off a bit into space which is a pity for a movie that begins
quite fascinating with the mammoth hunt, struggle for survival,
discovery of the first farmers and so on.
great visual effects but the story is missing
10.000 Bc has a wonderful nature, and some kick ass special effects but
johan-rytters from Denmark - 5 June 2009the story, acting and screenplay is missing. i couldn't understand how
a fine sci fi and adventure director, Roland Emmerich. couldn't see
what were missing in hes film.Only see this movie for free or in television, i cant recommend you to
pay money for this. It would be like flushing your money out in the
toilet.i were really disappointed about the movie, because i actually expected
a lot more from him. 10.000 Bc is just for the younger fans or people
that wants brainless action like The mummy.I Will give it 4/10 because of the missing story, but there is still
one or two good fight sequence.
Different people different tastes
This is one example of what I think, don't stop of seeing a movie
You can like or not but you
Enjoy
rotsac from Portugal - 21 May 2009because other don''t like.4.9? Well in my opinion the movie worth's better than that. I really enjoyed the movie, 8/10 for me.In my opinion it has a original story that pass in years long ago. The
actors did a great job and is always good see when people do everything
for the ones they love.Well see it and make your own opinion
always gain more knowledge =DHave a good day
Pages: [99] 98 97 96 95 94 93 92 91 90 89 … 1 » Show All
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