10,000 BC

10,000 BC

Of late, there have been very few examples of historical fiction in the film industry that go beyond just 200 years. Not very much history is explored in films, especially not in the action genre. However, this could be about to change. Director Roland Emmerich, the director who brought us the films “Godzilla”, “The Patriot”, “The Day After Tomorrow”, “Stargate”, “Universal Soldier”, and “Independence Day”, brings us a vision a life in prehistoric times with the new prehistoric action film “10,000 B.C.” The film will star Steven Strait, perhaps best known for playing Warren Peace in the Disney superhero film “Sky High”, as D’Leh, which is the German word Held, which means “hero”, backwards. The film will also star Camilla Belle as Evolet, D’Leh’s love interest.

According to the film’s official synopsis: 21-year-old mammoth hunter D'Leh (Steven Strait), a member of a hunter-gatherer tribe living in 10,000 B.C. (at the end of the late Upper Paleolithic period), travels through unknown lands on a quest to rescue his people from extinction.[1] Leading an army, D'Leh uncovers a lost civilization while in pursuit of a warlord who kidnapped his love, Evolet (Camilla Belle). D'Leh and his army encounter saber-toothed cats, mammoths and other prehistoric creatures in the journey to save his tribe.

Roland Emmerich’s decision to cast lesser known actors and actresses in the film has greatly helped to keep the budget of the film reasonable. The decision was made in order to help keep the audience focused on the story instead of the actors. He stated that he felt the audience would look at the actors and then if something important would happen, they would focus back on the story saying “What’s that?”. This could be a very wise move on his part due to the fact that not too many successful films have been produced in the genre that Emmerich’s film is. There have been very few attempts at making prehistoric action films, especially one of this scale. The film is expected to have large, climactic battles evoking (unintentionally, it should be noted) some of the imagery of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, and some of the previews have even helped reignite interest in the genre, reaffirming to many that there is still some wonder left in the world, even if it only comes from our past. 10,000 BC is expected to roar into theatres March 7.