The trailers for 10,000 B.C. says "...Journey back to a time of darkness, Journey to a world lost in time" and boy oh boy, do you journey. From the opening of the film you are swept up into a stone age village in the lofty peaks of the Himalayas, next a jungle filled with prehistoric creatures, then it is an African desert plain complete with a saber-tooth tiger, all before coming to the banks of the Nile to witness the building of the Great Pyramid. All this and more is delivered to you in the diverse locations covered in 10,000 B.C. a film about the beginning of time and civilization.
The film opens with narration from Omar Sharif and the story begins in a tiny mountain top village of mammoth hunters which is ravaged by "four-legged demons" (Hun-style soldiers on horses) who capture and kill most of the villagers, save for a handful. Among that handful is a man, D'leh (played by Steven Strait), whose lover, Evolet (played by Camilla Belle) was among the many dragged off as slaves. D'leh and two other warriors waste no time in setting off in hot pursuit of demon raiders. So the journey starts as they trek across every possible extreme landscape up until they find their villagers have been put to work as slaves to build the Great Pyramid. As the three warriors plan a way to free them they are joined by thousands of other African tribe warriors who have also lost loved ones to the slave-seeking raiders, and the final climax is one spectacular epic battle atop the pyramids including more mammoths (they apparently helped the Egyptians pull the massive stones to build the pyramids, debunking the long held theory that aliens did!).
10,000 B.C. is complete eye-candy with its' extravagant CGI, vast sets, detailed costumes, and sweeping cinematography. The acting is average, nothing amazing, but nothing bad. The script is very basic but it works because you would not expect our prehistoric ancestors to break out in eloquent or snappy dialogue.
Overall I was highly entertained and satisfied with outcome. Despite the film having less historical accuracy than even the recent atrocious flop, The Other Boleyn Girl, it still manages to be a good film that holds your eyes with its' magnificent visuals as well as your interest with its' characters that have just enough emotion and heart to be able to invest and connect with them (even if just slightly). 10,000 B.C. is pure exhilarating entertainment, and does what a film should--lets you escape back to a time of darkness, to a world lost in time!