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It's the fourth weekend of the month and so it's time for another Book-To-Movie review! In a Book-To- Movie, we review a work of prose fiction and its movie adaptation. Tonight, we are reviewing Edgar Rice Burroughs’ novel, "The Land that Time Forgot", and its 1974 movie adaptation. I’ll tell you now that the movie was good but the novel is more developed and believable in its characterization and conflict.
The Book
Burrough's novel is actually Book One of a trilogy. Published in 1918, it’s about shipwrecked survivors and a German crew whose U-boat they take over that get stranded on a lost continent in Antarctica. The British and one American, Bowen Tyler who is both the novel’s narrator and protagonist, and their German captives must ally in order to survive the dangers of the prehistoric continent of Caspak such as carnivorous dinosaurs and hostile ape men.
The characters in this novel are well-developed for it being pulp fiction and the central conflict has both smaller conflicts within and surrounding it. An example of these smaller conflicts is the heated one between Tyler and his beloved, Lys, that is a result of his suspecting her of playing a part in altering the U-boat’s course that leads the occupants to their marooned state. The conflicts themselves are also complex making the characters have to act more which helps develop the characterisation and make it more believable. The worldbuilding is well thought out and shows in elements such as Caspak’s geography being divided into regions of evolutionary stage.
The Movie
The 1974 film adaptation of "The Land That Time Forgot" was made by the British production company, Amicus. It’s faithful to the basic plot and major events of the original story. However, unlike with a short story when scenes and events have to be expanded on and added to in order to fit into a 90-minute or more movie, the opposite is so of the cinematic adaptation of a novel. With a novel's film adaptation, more often than not scenes and events must be condensed or certain ones left out entirely. The movie of Burroughs’ novel has had both done to it. Even so, the visual effects are stunning for their time with a few exceptions such as dinosaurs that don't move around much even as they’re attacking their prey.
The character development in “The Land” is shallow compared to that in the novel although there are some sympathetic characters, including the protagonist. Also, even though the interaction between the characters isn't as complex and convincing as in the book, it helps make them likeable to some extent. The conflict is limited to the most major confrontations of the novel. But the visualisations make up for what characterisation and conflict lack. The scenery of Caspak is convincing for the large part, with wide camera views of the landscapes and varying geography. The suspense and action of the book are maintained.
Both Book and movie of "The Land That Time Forgot" conclude open-endedly and so leave room for a sequel in which both get one. Hopefully I'll have a Book-To-Movie on those someday. Have you read Edgar Rice Burrough's "The Land That Time Forgot" or seen the 1974 movie adaptation? Have you seen any other movie adaptations of it? Please let me know if you have; I might want to watch them!
Until next time . . .
Revised 5/29/2022
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