Mooney Does Movies: "10,000 BC"

From the director Roland Emmerich, who gave us The Day After Tomorrow and Independence Day, we get 10,000 BC. It stars Steven Strait (Who?) And Camilla Belle (Ditto.), neither of whom I’ve ever heard of. Or, if I have, I don’t remember. But you know, that’s okay with me. If I’m going to sink into a drop-all-reality type of movie, I don’t want it to be cluttered with actors I already associate with other roles (case in point, Tom Cruise in War of the Worlds).

Strait is D’Leh, a very good-looking young man who helps his tribe hunt mammoths. Belle plays Evolet, equally beautiful, and with startlingly blue eyes, who promises herself to D’Leh should he become the tribe’s new leader.

One night the village is besieged by slave traders. Many villagers are slaughtered, and many more (Evolet) are taken away. There are a few hunters (D’Leh) who manage to survive, and follow the traders over ice mountains, rain forest valleys, and finally over deserts until they reach Egypt.

I was all prepared to dislike this movie. I had checked the IMDB for info and read many of the critics’ remarks, most of whom panned it. But I couldn’t. I thoroughly enjoyed this bit of fantasy—and that’s what this is. Fantasy. I don’t care about "historical inaccuracies". What I care about is having 1 hour and 49 minutes of pure escapism, a romance that would warm this romance writer’s heart, and an HEA. And this movie does just that. It’s gorgeously shot, and the computer-generated images keep getting more realistic. And, trust me, Strait is a hunk worth drooling over.

This movie is definitely going on my guilty pleasures list.


I rate it a 3-quarter moon.

Movies of the same ilk: Conan, the Barbarian; Beastmaster; The Scorpion King