When the woman that he loves and other people from his village are kidnapped by raiders, a young warrior in 10,000 BC heads after them, gathering up an army on the way.

CRITIQUE

10,000 BC is very much a mixed bag, a big period action film that is only sporadically entertaining; when it is good, it is pretty good, but there are a lot of draggy sequences in between the big action scenes.  Director Roland Emmerich (The Patriot, Independence Day) does a decent job of recreating one vision of life 12,000 years ago, but the characters and story are sketched in very broad strokes, and ultimately though this isn’t bad, it could have been a lot better.

The main character here is D’Leh (Steven Strait), a young tribesman still bitter about his father’s apparently-abandoning the village when D’Leh was young.  D’Leh falls in love with blue-eyed Evolet (Camilla Belle) who survived an attack on her village by violent horse-riding raiders; when these same raiders attack again, taking Evolet and other tribespeople prisoner, D’Leh and a few of his friends head after them, trying to rescue everyone.

And that’s about it for the basic plot here, a framework that rakes the characters through a variety of landscapes, from a snowy mountain to a lush jungle to a dry desert.  The tale is at its best when it settles into CGI-heavy action sequences, from a well-done confrontation with big, violent birdlike creatures in the jungle, to D’Leh’s run-in with a sabretooth tiger, to the climactic battle at a pyramid.

Unfortunately, interspersed with this are a lot of talky scenes, despite the fact that ultimately there isn’t a lot that is really interesting for them to talk about.  The whole movie is in English, which robs from the sense that we are actually in this time period, while since all the actors have the same scruffy dark-haired look, it is often impossible to tell the supporting characters apart.

Ultimately, in a sort of turn-off-your mind here there are things to enjoy, though this likely worked better visually on the big screen than it will on a TV.  The result is just sort of okay, a functional big budget action tale that has it’s satisfying moments on that level, but never really rises above its basic elements.

THE VIDEO

10,000 BC is presented in either widescreen or fullscreen, depending on which way you flip the DVD.  The color palate here is very washed-out; though this was likely a stylistic choice, it doesn’t necessary look that great on the small screen.

THE AUDIO

10,000 BC is presented in English, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Surround.  Dialogue, music and sound effects come through clear.  There are English, French and Spanish subtitles.

THE EXTRAS

There is a 3-minute Alternate Ending that really isn’t much different from the one they used, except this one has an onscreen narrator and a few new pieces.

There are 10 minutes of Deleted Scenes that aren’t all that memorable, though an extended bit with the sabre-tooth tiger with only the effects partly-done gives a glimpse at that process.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Not great, and there are things that would work better on a big screen, but there are enough thinks to like here to merit it a look if you are in the mood.