 
10,000 B.C.
a.k.a. “10,000 av. J.-C.,” “10.000 a.C.,” “10000 A.C.,” “I. e. 10 000”
MPAA Rating:
 for sequences of intense action and violenceReviewed by: Thaisha Geiger Offensive
Moviemaking Quality:
 Primary Audience:
Adults, Teens
Genre:
Adventure, Drama
Length:
109 min.
Year of Release:
2008
USA Release:
March 7, 2008 (wide)
           Relevant Issues
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“The legend. The battle. The first hero.” With a high budget of 75 million dollars and opening at over 3, 000 theatres, “10,000 B.C.” is expected to become a box office hit. The movie has been advertised almost relentlessly. The theatrical trailers were quite effective in building the suspense. In the previews, the audience saw the amazing CGI effects of the saber-toothed tiger and the mammoths. The action also looked promising when the hero and his followers attacked the enemy. For those who swoon at love stories, the previews also hinted at an onscreen romance. While the movie does contain all of these ingredients, the end product is not a gourmet feast, but rather a bland, over-priced lunch buffet. After her tribe is massacred, a young, blue-eyed Evolet is taken into a village. The holy mother of the tribe looks into Evolet’s mind and sees a vision. During the last hunt, “four-legged demons” will come into the village and steal the people away. A hunter will emerge from the village and become the man who will bring his tribe back together again. Evolet will be the “hero’s woman.” After this, Evolet feels like an outsider since she is part of a prophecy yet to be fulfilled. After his father leaves the tribe for unknown reasons, D’Leh feels like an outsider, too. Sharing this in common, D’Leh and Evolet fall into a forbidden love. Several years pass and the final hunt of the mammoths finally arrives. Killing the mammoth himself, D’Leh is given the White Spear and also Evolet’s hand in marriage. Feeling he did not truly kill the mammoth in bravery, D’Leh returns the White Spear and loses his chance to marry Evolet. Not long after, the prophecy of the “four-legged demons” becomes fulfilled. Men on horses raid the village, killing many and kidnapping several. One of the captors notices Evolet’s beauty and takes her for himself. After the raid, D’Leh is determined to free his love and his people. He and a few remaining warriors band together and begin to follow the bandits. Along the way, D’Leh encounters attacks and meets new tribal people who band together to free all who have been enslaved. The plot of this movie offers absolutely nothing new. I saw it had plot lines that borrowed heavily from other epic movies and from the Holy Bible. The acting is a bit wooden at times, and the dialogue is completely flat and even a bit corny. Their accents would range from sounding Russian to speaking in plain English. During the holy mother’s vision, the audience can clearly see what the “four-legged demons” are. I found myself waiting in boredom for this vision to come to pass. Touching moments were rare in the movie. It’s difficult for the audience to connect with the characters. When one of them would die, the background music would rise, hoping to fuel the moment. There are a lot of “What were you thinking?” moments throughout the film. D’Leh frees a saber-tooth tiger and tells him “When I release you, do not eat me.” Another example is when the captives are taken away in riverboats. Instead of following the river, D’Leh and his men venture out in the middle of the desert where many die off. I am guessing the enormous budget went to developing the CGI effects. At times, the tribe’s land looked like it was a museum exhibit; there were also times it appeared the characters were walking in front of a television screen. Since the film takes place in a pre-historic era, I did not hear any foul language or any misuse of the Lord’s name. The romance between D’Leh and Evolet is clean. They never sleep together and their love appears to be without lust. I found this refreshing and biblically approved. There wasn’t any sex in the film as well. When Evolet is captured, one of the criminals takes special notice of her. At one point, he buys her from her owner. His intention is implied, however, it is never carried out. He only touches her face with his hands. The violence in the film is almost a constant. I do not recommend parents taking younger children to see this film. It gets loud at times and slightly bloody. Several people get stabbed and the camera would often show the bloody, exiting wounds. One man gets “sacrificed.” It shows him getting thrown off a roof. Several of the slaves also get whipped. There is also one kind of creature that would jump and eat the humans. There is never any blood shown, but one can see the animals over the humans. The fighting scenes are not overly gory; however, parents should still take caution. There is absolutely no mention of the Lord in the film or His Holy Word. The tribes have their own gods to which they pray. D’leh and Evolet’s tribe has their own holy mother who does chants and prays to the gods for prosperity. The false gods of this movie are portrayed to be true and to answer prayers. The mother saw visions throughout the movie of D’Leh and Evolet’s journey. At one point, she was able to send strength to one of the ailing characters. Believers of Christ might find the portrayal of the false religion offensive. I found that the movie borrowed heavily from the Holy Bible. D’Leh was seen as a “messiah” for his people. The prophecy said that he would save his people and set them free. Throughout his journey, D’Leh fulfilled different prophecies, making the holy mother’s vision come true. Other tribes had their own prophecies about D’Leh, which made them believe and follow him. This reminds me of how Jesus Christ fulfilled several prophecies from the Old Testament. Many of these prophecies were written hundreds of years before Jesus was born. The prophecies Jesus fulfilled were so detailed that only the true Messiah could have fulfilled them. Throughout history, many people have arisen to declare themselves saviors of their people. These false leaders are now just dusty bones. However, the one true Savior, Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead and now gloriously sits with the Father in Heaven until His return. If you do not look too deeply into the plot or mind CGI creatures attacking humans, you might actually enjoy the film. I just ask that you do not expect this to be an epic film or another “Braveheart.” This film received several negative reviews. If you’re strapped for cash, like I am as a college student, then I recommend you wait for the movie to come out on DVD. Violence: Moderate / Profanity: None / Sex/Nudity: Minor See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.   Comments below:
Neutral
Neutral - I found it to be an average movie. Seemed to just never get moving. The computer generated graphics where on the most part good, but lacked realism in a few scenes. Was expecting a bit more action and lost interest when it didn't show, however the girls i was with (13/17/24) enjoyed it alot. A few scenes that showed blood and violent action (killing but not seen in view) but no nudity/sexual content or hit of it and no swearing (that i heard anyway). Spiritual aspect is quite prevalent in the movie. It's not of a biblical viewpoint, and reminded me of the 'mystic spirits' of the native American Indians or similar.
A good movie for 2 hours entertainment but not one I'll pay to see again. A love story sprinkled with action to get the guys in. Neutral - I am a lover of movies. Many people say I am too critical of them but it's necessary. Let me just tell you...I saw this movie opening day and it was awful. It only got 1 star from the critics. Normally I disagree with them but they were right in giving 1 star to this movie. A lot of it was fake or corny or just plain boring. If you're 13 or under it would be a great movie for you but if you love movies and are looking forward to this I suggest running away or waiting to see it not full priced. I won't even see this when it comes out on DVD. The mammoths, the tiger, and the bird from the preview were the best parts of the movie. No lie...just watch the preview and thats all you need. On a Biblical level i did not see any relation. There was not much blood or gore. Just some scratches and fake blood here and there. No bad words no nudity no gore nothing offensive at all. The 'Almighty' one is a ruler of a slave driven camp building fake pyramids and fake statues and thinks of himself as god. They all worship him except the warriors at the very end when they kill him. The throw a spear right into him and the 'Almighty' one falls down some stairs in a his 5 godly dresses. Thus to prove no man can be a god. However, I laughed the whole time and there was no blood in sight. It was only PG-13 because of fighting which I missed from laughing so much. I don't know how anyone could take this movie seriously. Stay FAR FAR away. You have been warned. Neutral - I saw this film and was very suprised it was so clean. It just seemed so average. The plot and the action was good, but the movie lacked authenticity. The cinematography was really bad. the acting didn't blow me away liked I thought it would. It felt like I was watching a show on the discovery channel. I was really disapointed because the trailer made it seem like it was going to be this mind blowing epic. I apriciate the effort, but at times it seemed laughable. Neutral - Walk, walk, walk, walk... That is what happens through half the movie. The people who made this movie did a wonderful job advertising it, i went in thinking it was gonna be an action packed film with sabertooths and battle scenes. No..They do alot of walking and talking about freeing the captured girl who the 'hunter' is in love with. If you are like me and wanted to see an action movie i wouldn't recomend this at all.. If you are trying to get pumped up about doing some power walking or something this movie is for you!! There is also alot of witchcraft in the movie as well. I would wait to see it on a friday night when it comes out to rent and you and your girlfriend/boyfriend want to see a sweet movie without much action.
But there is no cursing or sex AT ALL..that was my reason to put this under neutral. Because it is a clean movie... except for all the witch doctor stuff Neutral - I went to see this movie with a good friend who supports the young-earth-only-thousands-of-years-old-God-created-it point of view. He is well educated and is teaching a group of teens from the Bible ways to defend your faith and that creation makes more scientific sense than evolution. We went together to see this film thinking that we'd have a lot of Biblical refuting to do. We left dissapointed, but in a good way. The movie actually shows some possible ideas for how tribes back in post-flood days could've been like. And the towers and pyramids show how a Babel-like people could have built their structures. Now, I'm not so well educated, but I love a good movie. From a filmmaking standpoint the movie was just OK. I found it to move slowly at times and felt like I could fall asleep. On the contrary, the story had some depth and the special effects were really good. On most movie review sites I found this one to get a C+, which I believe is acceptable. My recommendation: if you feel like you have to, spend a few bucks at the theatres, but if not, watch the trailer on Youtube, and you've pretty much seen the entire movie. Positive
Positive - Like most I was excited to see this movie as a action packed story of old. I was actually more surprised and pleased after I watched the movie because it was so much more.
The story was good but the morals were better. I have an 8 year old son that is learning life lessons in telling the truth and giving respect to his elders.
Without going too deep in the movie it showed that telling the truth, working together as a team, and respect for your elders are traits of a good leader and person. It also has a touch of a love story showing that nothing is forever and you should hold on to your beliefs. Positive - Our entire family went to the first showing on opening day. With two of our children in the Graphic Arts and one a Photographer (all in college) the visuals in the trailer were one of the first things to draw us to see the film.
We had followed the lead actorâs career marginally since the Disney Movie 'Sky High' and were happy to see him in a more 'family friendly' role again.
While the debate of 'old earth' vs. 'new earth' may keep some from going to this film or the hint that these were 'cave men' made by the title may seem offensive to some - these topics had absolutely no baring on the plot whatsoever. The fact that the title holds BC rather than BCE is actually interesting to note.
No nude or overtly inappropriate scenes. To my memory there was little to no 'language'. Mostly there was CG action and tension. That is what we went for! There is a type of 'witch doctor' woman and the 'seeing' of prophecy, but as with many fairy tales, that is part of the story.
While a bit too tense for younger children, teens to adults could handle the chase scenes and hand to hand 'war' combat. We did enjoy this film and will likely watch it again on DVD when released.
Blessings in the Risen Messiah! Positive - When my wife and I went to see this last night I was going with a critical eye with regard to the 'Hollywood' perspective as to what was taking place 10000 years before our Savior was born. I didnt know exactly what to expect but was surprised in both a positive and negative way.
Negatives: Overall this movie was not the best plot, nor the best acting and certainly wasn't due all the hype it has been afforded. It was something that an 8-15 year old boy would really enjoy for entertainment without having to analize the reality and plot lines. It certainly wasnt a Discovery channel special either, except for the computer generated prehistoric animals. Otherwise it was essentially a modern 'boy gets girl, mongrels steal girl, boy goes after girl' quest type movie that happened to be set in 10000 BC. It was remarkably similar to the Apocalypto story line with more shallow character development. The interaction between characters was predictable to say the least and in the attempt to capture the primative language used for effect it seemed very robotic and unnatural.
Positives: The idea of truth being something that must be held up even when it is easier and more adventageous to the individual to lie is at the front of the 'moral of the story'. The lead character must make a decision to sacrifice title and even his true love in order to uphold the truth. This was a refreshing change from the typical Hollywood tripe which seems to put ones individual needs and wants before everything, including others and the truth. This movie, while not Christian at essence, should be commended for calling that principle into the light, especially for the younger viewers who are constantly bombarded by media which tells them that truth is a relative principle. I also would not hesitate to recommend this movie to my younger nephews, even the 9 year old. It has no vulgarity, no nudity, no swearing and it was surprizingly light on the secular side of telling the history of man. They do tend to worship 'the fathers' or past elders of their tribe, but that is to be expected in almost any movie that is not outwardly trying to convey a Christian message. The PG-13 rating is probably for some of the violence which is incredibly tame compared to what the directors could have made it. The worst it gets is a few bloodless sword stabs and some bow and arrow shots. The cinematography is excellent with some beautiful scenes of God's glorious creation, and some computer generated scenes that looked very good and did an excellent job portraying the grand scale of some architectural projects which I will not spoil for you.
Overall I would recommend this movie to parents of boys 9-15 as an entertaining movie, but as always I would also recommend discussing the biblical principles of truth and sacrifice with them after the movie in order to make sure that the sublties of this message isnt lost on the action sequences. Positive - This movie was amazing. It was a hundred times better then i thought it would be. No language, no blood, no sexual content, just violence. This movie earned a five star in my book. I highly recommend it. Positive - I accompanied my 14 year old daughter to this reasonably enjoyable movie. Obviously, an epic-styled movie like this deserves to be seen on the big screen. I did not take my younger daughter, age 12, though the content was at worst, less violent than what children watch on regular television viewing these days.
The old mother of the main protagonist tribe with her prophecies and conduit-like abilities to the spirit world, along with some of the violence, are perhaps what might designate the movie content as objectionable to some Christian movie goers but, I didn't find the 'witch-doctoress' parts overtly bothersome - more tiresome to watch and listen to than anything. Unfortunately Hollywood, only God can breathe life into an expired human, and fortunately for us, he has done this and the result was far more profound than a legend.
As for the violence that punctuated the movie at intervals, the gore-factor was under control. Obviously, spears hurled against human bodies inflict severe, if not fatal wounds.
The CG work was respectable and the landscape imagery, while disjointed geographically, had breathtaking moments here and there. The actors seemed like no-names to me, which gave some credibility to the 'land before time' flavor of this film.
Entertaining? Yes. Enjoyable? Sure - for the intended purpose. Enlightening? No. Predictability factor? High. Success and outcome? Good. My favorite moment? The Woolly Mammoth running with a net over it, looking suspiciously like the dread-locked hunters pursuing the beast! Or were the hunters looking suspiciously like the Woolly Mammoths? And hey, I wish I could get a job acting in a movie where I didn't have to bath or clean my nails for weeks.
Positive - I thought this movie was done really well. Although there is no reference to the God of Abraham, this movie was entertaining. I saw it with my husband on our date night and it was a good movie for us. My husband who is a youth pastor, and I had great conversation after this movie. I don't believe there has been any movie recently that has combined prehistoric imagry with that of Egyptian. What an idea that it was the mammoths that helped build pyramids, which we thought was very plausable.There are references to prophecies and we thought even though there were different cultures in the movie that the prophecies intertwined, as it does in real life. We talked about the pyramids themselves and how is it that they were not just built in Egypt. We discussed the tower of Babel and how God scattered everyone and because of the desire to be closer to God that those same people who were scattered still tried to build something to be closer to God. Now those are just some of the things that we talked about and I feel as Christians it gave us such great things to discuss. There are scary scenes and it's PG-13 and that's appropriate. There is no foul language. There were lots of shirtless men and boys but nothing gratuitous. Overall this movie is well worth seeing. Positive - This was an amazing movie. It looks like a movie for history buffs, but it's really a love story. I loved it. The only objection to the Bible would be the magic used in it. But it's important to be able to be strong enough in our beliefs that we can watch movies that conflict with them. Neutral - I thought that this was a good movie. It had a great fighting scene. I found nothing moraly offencive and nothing sexuall. I would recomend anyone to go see this. Positive - When I walked in to the theater, I expected a tree hugger (evolutionist) point of view, but I found many biblical references throughout the movie. For one, the main character was found stuck in a pit with a lion on a snowy day (actually, stuck with saber toothed tiger on rainy day, but close enough). Later, he ends up rescuing his people from a place resembling Egypt. There are many other references, but I don't want to spoil the whole movie. The action scenes were incredible, especially with mammoths running down hundreds of guys at a time. I say this is one of the best movies of the year! Positive - The movie was great!, it had good morals for the kids. Fight for what you believe in and don't give up! I loved the special effects of the wooly mammoth. They looked so real! I was all looking for them on the Discovery Channel. The love story was good, my friends and i cried at the end with the love story. We couldn't stop on our way home. I dont recommend to those who are easily scared because of the intense violence, i had to close my eyes on some parts. *SPOILER* Especially the part were the old lady was bleeding at the end and soon died. Other than that i really loved it! Positive - I thought that this movie was exellent, I came to the theatre expecting a pointless movie about nothing but I was pleasently surprised. This movie had every thing, action, romance(but not to much) and spirituality.there biblical meaning in this movie and was not offensive to christians at all. I also liked that there was no swearing I thought it was pretty clean for a 14A movie (though there was some violence). I would reccomend this movie to anyone, it was great. Positive - I read the review on this website and my husband and I decided to see it anyway. I was prepared to come away disapointed but was completely surprised at how much we really enjoyed this movie. I loved the fact that it was so clean! No swear words, no nudity, no sex. There is of course the violence but it was not gratuitous or gory. We did see a couple of teenagers walk out and ask for refunds but I am wondering if people are not so desensitized that a clean movie becomes boring to them? I enjoyed the plot, it was a litttle predictable, but there was such a wholesomeness to the relationship of the main characters that I found myself hoping for the predictable ending! I wish more movies were made this clean, I'd go to the movies more often! Negative
Neutral - I didn't see or hear anything for christian viewers to be bothered about. What bothered me is that this movie is boring and poorly executed. |
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