I understand that Edward Bernds's "Valley of the Dragons" only keeps one character from Jules Verne's "Off on a Comet". Nevertheless, it's a very entertaining movie. The star is Cesare Danova, best known as the crooked mayor in "Animal House" ("If you mention extortion again, I'll have your legs broken."). In this movie, he plays a duelist who gets blasted - along with the other duelist - onto a world populated by cave people and dinosaurs.The movie had a number of obvious historical inaccuracies, such as humans and dinosaurs existing contemporaneously*, but who cares about accuracy in these movies? The point is to have fun, and it's impossible not to have fun with this movie, especially with the ultra-hot Deena. Of course, I did make a number of "Animal House" references whenever Danova was on screen. Fun movie.*I understand that Earth's oxygen levels were much higher when the dinosaurs existed. Such levels would overload a human. Conversely, the dinosaurs would suffocate in our oxygen levels.

A Frenchman (Cesare Danova) and an American (Sean McClory) are about to fight a duel in Algiers in the year 1881 when a passing comet sweeps them up. Apparently the comet does this every hundred thousand years or so and each time it picks up pieces of Earth, along with people and animals. So the two men find themselves hurtling through space on the comet, in a strange world with prehistoric people and creatures, including dinosaurs. Danova and McClory are both likable. They're joined by Danielle De Metz and former Playboy centerfold Joan Staley as the cavegirls these lucky dogs find themselves paired up with. Staley's underwater swimming scene is a highlight of the movie. Based on the Jules Verne story "Off on a Comet," the premise is outdated and ridiculous but that's part of what I like about it. I enjoy fanciful old science fiction stories from a time when people didn't think they had everything figured out. There was still a sense of wonder about discovery and exploration in the world that seems to be sadly missing today. Yeah, the special effects are hokey and it borrows liberally from other movies, including a good bit of stock footage. Still, I found it a fun, charming B movie. If you're a fan of sci-fi and fantasy movies from this period, I'm sure you'll find it appealing despite its faults.

This is another movie I'd been after for years and recently obtained a copy off ebay on the Colombia Classics label.2 men having a duel somehow end up on a comet when a storm breaks out. This comet contains a prehistoric jungle and strange creatures (more on them later). They also make friends with natives (cave men and women) and find love too. But they also have to fight off unfriendly, missing link creatures.Now to those prehistoric creatures, these are mostly lots of giant lizard stock footage from One Million BC. We also see Wolly Mammoths, Mastadons and a giant spider.I found this move enjoyable and great fun to watch.Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

I grew up in a tiny little town that had nothing going on except a run down movie theater. I recall somebody taking me to see this movie when I was a little kid. I'm guessing that Valley hit our screen around 63 or 64, a good two years after its release. Anyhow, I loved every second of it and still have vivid memories of the movie to this day. (I caught it one or two other times on TV during the seventies) It had a very dramatic opening scene: two duelist were suddenly swept away just before they were about to kill each other. Then they find themselves on a strange world filled with huge dinosaurs doing battle with each other. As if that wasn't enough they soon are under attack by savage primates. I'm guessing it sorta goes downhill after that but this film was a major event in my very ordinary little life back in the early sixties. I will always be grateful for that no matter how this holds up in comparison to today's stuff. It was pure cinema magic back then.