The Valley of Gwangi

I love dinosaurs. I love Harryhausen. So why had I never viewed this before? "Gwangi" just got past me somehow and that's too bad because I would have really enjoyed it as a youngster. I'm not much for Westerns and the characters here aren't exactly nuanced, but the stop-motion is plentiful and the way it's woven into the live action is nothing short of amazing. The dinosaur models are a little disappointing because they seem so plastic, or they lack detail and texture. But still, it so cool to study Harryhausen's animation of the puppets. James Franciscus, Gina Golan, even little Gustavo Rojo, they're all hustlers. Everyone is one-dimensional except for Professor Bromley, played by Lawrence Naismith. He was a fame hungry scientist who constantly put others in danger. I think he even misidentified a pteranodon. Ha! Some scientist. "Gwangi" is a really enjoyable stop-motion movie, though. Once it gets going, there's lots of action and dinosaur battlin'.