Leofwine_draca While I'm the first to admit that I love the majority of Ray Harryhausen's movies, I'll also say that THE VALLEY OF GWANGI left me cold. I'm not criticising the special effects work, which after all is the main reason to watch his movies; instead, I take issue with the script, which is slow and ponderous and rips off the far better (and earlier) Mexican movie, THE BEAST FROM HOLLOW MOUNTAIN. It takes an age before we get to see any of Harryhausen's creations here, and until then we're stuck with a bunch of rather uninteresting stock characters: the blond, square-jawed hero; the beautiful love interest; the precocious boy; the flustered scientist.It also hurts that a rather good cast is stuck with this stiff stereotypes. I've always liked James Franciscus, but he's given less here to work with than in any other film I've seen him in. Gila Golan is wooden and CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON's Richard Carlson is wasted as a supporting character. Laurence Naismith has a little fun as the irritable scientist, but again, it's a character we've seen a hundred times in these kinds of film – and the same goes for the witchy type character that Freda Jackson plays. The plot is a straight re-run of KING KONG, with the dinosaurs moved to a remote desert valley. There's some fun to be had with a cute miniature horse and a briefly-seen pterodactyl, but most of the action involves Gwangi – a tyrannosaur-type monster that reminds me of a plastic toy I had as a kid. Inevitably, this beast is captured, put on show and then escapes, and aside from a brief bout with an equally stop-motioned elephant, the finale just isn't very exciting, and his ultimate end a rather cruel one.I just feel like this is a film out of time. The late '60s were an era of change in cinema, and this would have worked far better as a black-and-white '50s outing. Stick with BEAST OF HOLLOW MOUNTAIN for the real deal.

dangkoen Boy, some of the plot holes are noticeable. But do we care if a film is enjoyable in such a goofy way? With great stop-motion from Ray Harryhausen, good performances from it's cast and the infamous, terrifying Gwangi practically at the helm, this is an ingredient for solid campy fun.The plot wasn't even original by the time this film was released, however it largely succeeds here because of the above mentioned factors. If you are a fan of Westerns, practical effects or creature films, it has all three categories. I am certain casual viewers will enjoy it as well! 10/10!

utgard14 Middling reworking of King Kong, based off of an idea from that film's special effects genius, Willis O'Brien. It's nothing great outside of the Ray Harryhausen special effects, which are good. Unfortunately you have to sit through over forty minutes of mind-numbing boredom to get to the best of that. There's a couple smaller bits of stop-motion earlier but all the dinosaur stuff doesn't start for awhile.James Franciscus is an obnoxious, smarmy leading man. Vivacious (and dubbed) Gila Golan makes for an unbelievable American cowgirl but she's nice to look at. The romance between these two is the movie's least redeeming feature; it's insufferable really. Richard Carlson is largely wasted in his role.Reading some of the reviews I feel like there are a group of people who just want to like this because of the premise. I'm sorry but I need more than a one line pitch (Cowboys vs Dinosaurs) to make me enjoy a movie. The movie has to actually, you know, be enjoyable. Which this one mostly isn't to me. A movie like this should be more fun than it is. The story is tired, the characters grating. The effects are its only saving grace, which is why I'm giving it a passable middle-ground rating.

AaronCapenBanner James Franciscus stars as an ambitious cowboy who discovers a valley containing a T-Rex(called Gwangi) that he(along with others) captures and sells to a circus, where it becomes a star attraction. Of course, it doesn't appreciate its captivity, eventually escaping and causing havoc before it meets its fiery fate... Ray Harryhausen's model F/X are quite good, but once again, the story is predictable and routine, with little character involvement. Nice to see veteran actor Richard Carlson turn up, but despite a good pair of performances from him and Franciscus, the film falls short, though is remembered for mixing the cowboy and monster genres.