It only takes creativity and imagination to make a film like this work.The Valley Of Gwangi takes two childhood favorites and mix them together into one. Every child loves Dinosaurs and many love westerns so having a mix of the two actually works out.For a film in the 1960s it had some very good stop motion work with the Dinosaurs in the film every frame has been timed to make it work where the actors are actually in the same frame.The setting for the film does feel like a old time western but with Dinosaurs added to the mix how could you go wrong?The cast and crew does a good job with helping with the story along with some very good music in the film to help express the emotion during the film. It is a shame that this film is not given much respect for being creative at the time of it release The Valley of Gwangi is one of the few films that truly original in terms of story mixing dinosaurs with Cowboys. While it may not get much attention today as it did back in the day it is still a film that worth watching if you love Dinosaurs.I give The Valley of Gwangi an 7 out of 10

Ray Harryhausen has a unique place in the history of film and it's not the quality of his work. A lot of players are box office names, a few director/producers like Cecil B. DeMille, Alfred Hitchcock, Frank Capra, and Walt Disney most of all bring people in with having their names on a film. But Ray Harryhausen is the only one in his profession as a special effects man who brings folks to the theater. That's the best tribute of all for him.Late in the 19th century Gita Golan owner of a small wild west show is playing Mexico and she's got a unique attraction as she has found a small horse, an ancient eohippus which has come out of a valley said to be cursed and inhabited by fierce creatures called the Gwangi. An old flame who works for Buffalo Bill, James Franciscus and some of his wild west show cowboys show up to track down the little horse after some local gypsies under the direction of Freda Jackson set it free.But what they run into is an ancient tyrannosaurus which is called a Gwangi by the locals. It's like when Carl Dedham spotted King Kong, got to get this guy back to civilization and make a bundle off him.The plot is outrageous with some great overacting by Freda Jackson as the old gypsy crone and Laurence Naismith as a palaeontologist all in the spirit of fun. I love it when Franciscus and the cowboys discover that the reason their bullets are having no affect on the big guy is they're using blanks from the show. Does it deter them, it does not they set about to lariat T-Rex and play an interesting an deadly game of tag.When they do capture him and later destroy him, it's with a lot of luck and some natural forces in nature.Dopey plot, but that's part of the fun. And the work of Ray Harryhausen is the reason to see the film and in that you won't be disappointed.

Oddly engaging fantasy finds entrepreneur Franciscus returning to his old haunt, re-igniting his passion for former flame (Golan) and teaming up with a precocious (and loyal) youngster (Arden) and eccentric palaeontologist (Naismith) who has made a significant discovery of a fossilised footprint of an ancestor to the horse. When one of the tiny ponies is captured for Golan's circus-rodeo, Franciscus suspects there may be more dollars to be exploited if he can find other descendants. Their subsequent search leads to the discovery of a hidden valley where dinosaurs still exist, "Gwangi", the most feared of them all (a T-Rex) and potentially the most profitable, if he can be caught and circus trained. Predictably, "Gwangi" is not a performing monkey.Unusual western - sci-fi fusion for adults is a "King Kong" rendition of sorts, with capable performances and Ray Harryhausen's superb stop motion animation depicting some brutal encounters with a number of well known dinosaur species. I couldn't help but feel sympathy for Gwangi, the innocent T-Rex minding his own business, chewing up the odd pterodactyl, then abducted to be exploited by Richard Carlson's insatiable greed. An undignified treatment of an apex predator.Potentially too bloody for the kids (and given their exposure to CGI effects, probably too primitive as well), the film's climax in which Gwangi is revealed to the peanut gallery is vintage stuff - there's a savage fight to the death between Gwangi and a circus elephant, and even more spectacular, the tiny taco attempting to release the enraged Gwangi from his cage, consumed in a bone-crunching fury as horrified spectators dash for the exits. Harryhausen devotee, or just a casual monster movie goer, you won't want to miss "Valley of Gwangi".

Filmed in Spain, the movie's sort of like Spaghetti Western meets King Kong. In fact, the screenplay parallels much of Kong, with a hard-driving promoter (Carlson), a public exhibition (an arena), a lost world (the valley), and a landmark climax (a cathedral). Of course, this one doesn't manage the peculiar pathos of Kong, but still manages to entertain.Key to monster movies are special effects, and expert Ray Harryhausen has had plenty of practice. I just wish the editing had condensed a climax that goes on too long and fails to ratchet up the showdown suspense. Note too, how the rushing crowd scenes don't edit in effectively, even though the people appear genuinely panicked. In my little book, the movie fails to sharpen its elements because of generally loose editing (contrast with parallel scenes in Kong).Nonetheless, Franciscus is handsome, Golan is drop-dead beautiful, and the veteran Carlson picks up a payday. And if their acting fails to equal the force of the critters (again, contrast with Kong), they at least look great in Technicolor. There is one really poignant moment that unfortunately gets passed over too quickly. That's when Gwangi overpowers the circus elephant after a brief struggle. I'll bet not a single person was rooting for Gwangi as our modern beast takes on the Neanderthal in a battle to the death. There's nothing in Kong like it, and had this movie managed, the struggle could have injected real emotional impact. As things stand, however, the movie is mainly watchable for its Technicolor special effects.