The Valley of Gwangi



Cowboys versus dinosaurs!

The Valley of Gwangi is a 1969 American film about cowboys fighting an Allosaur (not a Tyrannosaur, though it is often mistaken for one). The film is known for its Stop Motion Animation creature effects provided by Ray Harryhausen.

The idea had already been done years earlier in the movie "The Beast of Hollow Mountain" but "Gwangi" is the better known of the two. 'Gwangi' was originally conceived by Willis O'Brien, the man who did the special effects for the original King Kong movie.

Sometime near the turn of the century, a cowgirl named T.J. hosts a traveling rodeo show, currently parked near a desert town. Her former fiancé, cowboy "Tuck" Kirby, wants to buy her out, but T.J. has hopes that her latest discovery -a tiny horse- will boost attendance to the show. A British paleontologist named Bromley declares the creature to be an Eohippus, a prehistoric horse.

The horse came from an area known as "The Forbidden Valley". A gypsy woman claims that it should be returned or they will all suffer the wrath of a being she calls "Gwangi". Later Bromley helps a group of gypsies steal the horse, (he hopes to follow it to its home). Tuck, T. J. and several of their cowboy helpers set out to recover it, and follow them into the valley.

It turns out the valley is a Lost World that has a variety of prehistoric creatures including a Pteranodon that attacks them, but the cowboys kill it. They are then attacked by the titular Allosaur. Gwangi battles a styracosaur and wins. The cowboys try to capture the monster by lassoing it around the neck and pulling it down with several horses. However they only succeed when Gwangi knocks itself out while pursuing them.

The cowboys take it back to the town where it is to be put on display in T.J.'s show. However on the opening night one of the Gypsies sneaks in and begins to unlock Gwangi's cage in an effort to free it. He gets killed for his troubles, and Gwangi escapes, killing Bromley and a circus elephant in the process.

Eventually Gwangi, Tuck, T.J and a Mexican boy named Lope end up in a cathedral which catches on fire. They (the humans, that is) manage to escape and lock the door behind them, trapping Gwangi in the burning building which then crumbles around it. The movie ends as everyone watches Gwangi die.

Tropes in this film:

 * Buffalo Bill: Tuck supposedly worked on his show.
 * California Doubling/ Spexico: The movie was shot in Cuenca, Spain.
 * Covers Always Lie: See that poster up there? The one with the green dinosaur? Yeah, Gwangi is bright purple.
 * Kill It With Fire
 * Roma: As typical of the times, presented as superstitious, sinister, and Too Dumb to Live.
 * Rule of Cool: The whole point of the movie.
 * Allosaur versus Styracosaur!
 * Allosaur versus Elephant!
 * Redubbing: The actress playing T.J. had such a tick Israeli accent she had to be redubbed.
 * Shout-Out: Inverted; The scene where Gwangi suddenly appears from behind a hill and snatches a running dinosaur using his mouth was copied later in Jurassic Park.
 * Super-Persistent Predator: Gwangi kills other dinosaurs and an elephant but leaves them to go after humans. Maybe it really was evil...
 * Or this was based on something that happens with real-world predators, Gwangi saw the movement of prey animals constantly, all around him, so he kept attacking out of confusion and fear. "Didn't I kill you already?"
 * Stock Dinosaurs: Allosaurus, Ornithomimus, Styracosaurus and Pteranodon are all stock.
 * The Un-Reveal: The movie never explains how prehistoric creatures (from various eras separated by millions of years to boot) had survived in the valley.
 * Does anyone really care about finding that out?
 * Tyrannosaurus Rex: Though billed as an Allosaurus, Gwangi doesn't really look like one.
 * What Could Have Been: O'Brien's original idea for the film -to be titled The Valley Of The Mist- had Gwangi captured in the Grand Canyon, and killed by being pushed off a cliff with a truck.
 * You Fail Paleontology Forever: Even Harryhausen himself seemed confused as to what Gwangi was supposed to be.