Synopsis
Four schoolboys go on an awe-inspiring expedition back through time, where they behold landscapes and creatures that have long since vanished from the earth.
Journey to the Beginning of Time
1955 ‘Cesta do pravěku’ Directed by Karel Zeman
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Alternative Titles
Reise in die Urzeit, Journey To The Beginning Of Time, Ihmemaailman salaisuudet, Voyage dans les temps préhistoriques, Wyprawa w przeszlosc, Необычайное путешествие, A Journey To The Beginning Of Time
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I cannot imagine how precious Journey to the Beginning of Time must be to people who grew up with it.
Watching it for the first time today, decidedly in middle age, I was completely overwhelmed by its charm and sincerity. The fierce commitment of the movie and its characters to science, history, and research is so lovely, and it's utterly disarming. And the way the boys care for one another is terribly touching, by example offering another, almost incidental lesson to viewers that's just as important as those about learning about and understanding the world.
Others can speak more eloquently than I to the film's astonishing technical elements, all I can contribute is the fact that I was completely engaged…
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Karel Zeman is legend for a reason and the stop motion is impressive, but Journey to the Beginning of Time kinda feels like a theme park ride. The bulk of the drama is "Oh look at this. Look at that." And the premise of travelling backwards through geologic periods means the spectacle peaks near the middle and at the end we're just looking at salamanders and trilobites.
As an effects showcase and some afternoon entertainment while folding laundry, it's great. I just would have liked to see the characters interact with the prehistoric world a little more rather than merely observe it.
p.s. This film takes place the Butt-brainiverse. A very real thing that you can read more about in Stephen Gillespie's excellent review of Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (Great follow, that guy). "Journey" establishes that, like Godzilla, Brontosaurus had a Butt-brain. (Which is a phrase I feel compelled to sing to the tune of the TMNT theme song.)
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When I was a kid, I was completely obsessed with dinosaurs. I would spend most of my time reading books on them, learning just about everything I possibly could. Dinosaurs still fascinate me as an adult, but not to the same extent as when I was younger, however, watching this film evoked a childlike wonder that reinvigorated my childhood love of dinosaurs, as well as my love of life itself. This is yet another film that I just wish that I had known about as a kid, because it's just about everything I could have ever asked for in a film.
It blows my mind that this was made in 1955. The dinosaur effects mostly hold up to this day,…
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lot of fun, captures that feeling of nostalgic innocence/youth like no other and the way Zeman blends live-action sequences with stop-motion ones is pretty incredible even by today's standards. new restoration on Criterion Channel is beautiful.
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My first thought?
Jurassic Park is dead to me, this is the only dinosaur movie.
Which is obviously not true, Jurassic Park is great, but I still couldn’t help thinking it whilst being swept by this enthralling feat of imagination.
Equal parts fairytale/educational/old-school science fiction adventure—aka another one of Zeman’s love letters to Jules Verne and early sci-fi. Having grown up on H.G. Wells and Jules Verne, Zeman is definitely pushing all my buttons here. (I actually just re-read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and obviously couldn’t help but imagine it playing out like Life Aquatic.)
Zeman’s blend of location shooting, sets, and animation is just pure magic. I don’t know how else to say it. All his films are…
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"Like its child heroes, Zeman’s film is content to simply sit back and watch hundreds of millions of years of evolution pass by, giving out facts but never reaching for any extraneous peril or plotting. This educational focus unexpectedly ends up getting to the heart of why kids love dinosaurs even more efficiently than a Jurassic Park or a Valley of Gwangi; the story of the Earth, with its roll-call of different eras and teeming cast of weird creatures, is enough of a saga for children to enjoy. There is even an audience participation element to Zeman’s film as the children flick through their guidebook to look up all the animals they see: paleontologically-minded children will enjoy yelling 'Styracosaurus!' at the screen before the lead characters can. I know I did, and I’m 36."
Read more at The Geek Show.
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loved the history lesson layer to this cutesy narrative. the animal designs are incredibly charming and captivating.
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zdenek burian, paleoart & saurian cinema, the big bang: all the shit you (me) wanted but didnt get enough of in kong '33, every frame a 50s dino postcard of dream-memories shared like you were there, biting & rolling the word "ankylosaurus" around yr mouth. 5 stars!
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really wish i had seen this as a kid, because it would have become an essential part of my fierce dinosaur obsession. the combination of real-life animatronics, puppets and stop-motion gives all the creatures a homely storybook appearance, and the jules vernean-meets-documentary storyline with some kids travelling into the hollow earth to discover the eras of prehistory does a good job of placing this within a neutral scientific attitude that both teaches and entertains. as for myself, i've always had a more 'sturm und drang' fascination with prehistoric creatures as being semi-mythical monsters, antediluvian beasts that have more in common with lovecraftian gods and kaiju than the standard everyday natural world that we encounter; so, while seeing journey to the…
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Incredibly mature handling of material and artistic vision to make this film as beautiful as it was. Most stop motion films from the 40’s and 50’s are relegated to corny shame nowadays, but this one is done so seamlessly and incredibly well that it just comes off as endearing. The boys go on an adventure, not for fame or money, but for knowledge and understanding of this era of prehistoric history. The film is interesting because it works like a museum piece in a way with a lot of scientific facts that were known back in 1955 (but are probably updated now). The stop motion effects with all of the prehistoric creatures is very well done. It makes the film…
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Journey to the Beginning of Time is a magical and fun cinematic experience. The production for the film is fascinating and incredibly impressive for the time. I was pleasantly surprised by how educational the film was, too. It's a children's movie, and the premise is as simple as some children rowing through different eras. Still, it does not disappoint when it comes to capturing childlike curiosity and wonderment.
Life has been a bit rough for me lately, so watching a short, light-hearted film was needed. It made me reminisce on the times where I didn't have any responsibilities, and the world was my oyster. As an only child, I didn't always have people to explore with, but that never stopped…
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1st Karel Zeman
Ah, what a thoroughly charming and unique little film. I got very strong Animal Crossing vibes from this. It is beautifully made, with exquisite detail paid to every aspect of the screen and with a colour palette that emphasises the soothingly playful. It has an ambling narrative, one based on a small and not especially traumatic journey. And, most importantly, it has a fascination and appreciation for extinct animals. The boys at the centre of this film take a boat down a mythical river which gradually takes them further and further back in time, until they reach a time where only trilobites and seaweed existed. Along the way, they encounter a number of fascinating animals, from mammoths…