What can you say about a film like this? The point of the film is to not take it too seriously or look for historical inaccuracies - which there are many. So let's start with the basic plot. There is a narrator that tells us about this tribe of prehistoric man that hunts Mammoths at the same time each year, but in recent years it's been getting later and later. We then learn of a girl from another tribe who has survived a vicious attack from a group of outsiders that wiped her tribe out. The girl, Evolet is taken to the "Old mother" and a prophecy is told of an impending battle where Evolet would prove to be important. We then jump forward a few years and Evolet (played later by Camilla Belle) is to be the prize of whoever brings down the mammoth in the hunt. We learn D'Leh (played by Steven Strait) wants to win, not because he also becomes the chief of the tribe - but to win Evolet as the pair had secretly been in love for years. Okay, that's the first very cheesy part of the story - and some would probably say it's cliched too. It get's worse though. The hunt goes ahead and D'Leh, by accident, kills the Mammoth and wins the "prize" - but feels guilty about it as he didn't demonstrate bravery so hands back the white staff (which symbolises leadership) and gives up Evolet. Shortly after they are attacked by the same outsiders (of which some look Arabic, and some look Indian, but dress like the Monguls) that wiped out Evolet's tribe and they take her prisoner. D'Leh swears to bring her back and travels over the mountains to bring her back.
As soon as they get over the mountains the snow is left behind for dense jungle, okay a little strange but maybe possible, and make their first attempt here at freeing Evolet. The plan fails and they run for their lives through what looks like Chineese bamboo, with the intention of trying to save her again later. Again they give chase, but D'Leh falls into a pit where there's a trapped Sabretooth cat. He free's it, and in one the of the cheesiest moments of the film the cat decides to leave him alone instead of eat him. Like we didn't see that one coming. They then continue their tracking across the desert to where they find what looks like a South African tribe. They don't entirely trust D'Leh and his hunters, until the sabretooth cat turns up again and after seeing D'Leh it leaves them alone. Okay, that is waaaay to cheesy for me - it seems he may have gained a pet sabretooth. The other tribe decide he must be the chosen one who free the slaves from this other ancient civilisation that D'Leh's clan were attacked by. Confusing isn't it. They then proceed with their new allies and they come to where their enemies are building 3 great pyramids and a Sphinx. This is one of the most complained about bits by film critics as the pyramids were almost certainly not there in 10,000 BC even though there is the possibility that the Sphinx was. No points for historical accuracy there then. Oh, and whilst we're talking about accuracy there was no vegetation along the nile, like there would have been 12,000 years ago.
As more of the story unfolds we then get to another point which is just as cliched as many other parts of the story. Evolet dies, and then miraculously comes back to life. Yes, I've spoilt the ending - but at least it means there's no point wasting a couple of hours of your life watching this film as you won't get that time back. I got the feeling towards the end that Roland Emerich might have been deliberately trying to make the film cheesy - but that's just my thoughts on it.
The extra features on the DVD are pretty poor, though buying it from Play.com means it comes with a special limited edition film cell. It's a bit small though. For those that are actually interested, the special features include two short documentaries (less than an hour combined) a couple of deleted scenes, a "Digital Copy" of the film on the second disc.
Rating: 1/5
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