Journey to the primeval world

The four friends Petr, Jenda, Toník and Jirka find a fossilized trilobite. Since the youngest of the group, Jirka, lacks the understanding to classify the meaning of this find and has no idea of the past eras, the group decides to take a trip back in time. They row a boat through a cave onto a river that takes them more and more into the past. The four travel through different eras of time, during which they have many adventures until they finally reach the point in time when life outside the water has evolved.

Very imaginatively and with great tricks, director Karel Zeman sends his four heroes through a journey back in time in Journey to the Beginning of Time, in which the different eras are accurately depicted according to the knowledge of the time. This is educational on the one hand and entertaining on the other. The mixture of animated and real scenes works very well and delights with a variety of creatures that our heroes encounter. A very enjoyable film that knows how to entertain throughout, far from any gimmickry.

Original version adapted to the US market

In addition to the original version, there is an adapted US version of Journey to the Beginning of Time. The journey of the boys on the river, symbolic of time, probably seemed a bit too abstract for a US audience, that's why a new beginning and ending was shot by Fred Ladd. The introduction of Petr at the beginning was removed, instead you now see how the four boys go to the Natural History Museum in New York. After looking at the exhibition, they still want to learn more and go on a boat trip. This is the beginning of the journey. The US version ends with a volcanic eruption symbolizing the formation of the earth and shows how the boys find themselves back at the Natural History Museum. It seems like everything was just a dream, but the worn diary suggests that everything must have happened. During the film, all inserts of the diary were removed in the US version, as Czech text can be seen there. Additionally, scenes were shortened or recut in some places, presumably to make the film seem a bit more speedy/coherent for US audiences.

In addition to the editing, the dubbing and music differs from the original version. The names of the main characters have been changed to Doc, Ben, Tony and Jo-Jo. If the tone of the film in the original version is rather serious with matter-of-fact explanations, this was sometimes lightened up and simplified for the US version. In many places, dialogue has been put into the mouths of the boys where there is nothing in the original version. Additional dramatic music also makes the film seem a bit more engaging in the US version.

The UK Blu-ray by Second Run features both versions. A new HD scan was used for the original version. The US version was restored based on an SD source. The exclusive scenes of the US version are therefore only in SD quality. Basically, you should go for the original version.

Runtimes:

US version: 83:03 min.
Original version: 85:57 min.

[00:00:00][00:00:00]

The US version begins with a restoration note.

The US opening credits follow.

After that, you see four guys looking at New York. They walk to the Natural History Museum to see the exhibit on dinosaurs. One of the boys is taking notes in his journal.

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A diagram is used to illustrate the evolution of dinosaurs. The boys continue to walk through the exhibit.

At the end of their visit, the four return exhausted from the exhibition to the main hall. There, one of the boys notices a medicine man in a canoe.

Next, the boys are seen getting into a canoe and rowing off. One of the boys notices a cave that they want to explore.

The original version also begins with a restoration note.

The original credits follow.

Then you see Petr introducing the diary of their trip. He introduces himself and his friends who have experienced an incredible journey. The discovery of a fossilized trilobite made the four guys think about evolution. Since the stories of Jules Verne have come true, they decide to take a journey into the past. This journey begins in the cave where they found the trilobite.

Petr: "Our logbook. The diary of our journey. My best friends and I, we just had the best adventure ever! We went on a voyage of discovery - back into prehistory. Like other boys playing cowboys and Indians. There were four of us. That's me, Petr, holding the book. In the middle is Jirka, the youngest in our team. Beside him is Jenda. Tonik isn't here. He took the photo. But you can see his shadow. He was our photographer. Here, by the cave, where that cross is, that's where Jirka found this. That's what started it all. This is not any old stone. It is a fossilised trilobite. Jirka didn't know that trilobites had died out long ago, so he wanted to see a live one. He didn't know this was once a seabed covered by an ocean full of trilobites. It's only thanks to their fossils that we even know what they looked like. So he could imagine it better, we showed him on this chart how there were 500 million years between us and this trilobite. And if he wanted to see a real one, he'd have to go back into the past, right down these giant steps: past the Ice Age, through the Tertiary, down to the Mesozoic and all the way back to the Silurian seas and the trilobites! So he vould understand it better, we took him to the museum. He looked at more fossils, a lot rarer and a lot bigger. Tonik even took a picture of him with a mammoth. Jirka loved it, but was sad he would never see one alive. If there were only mammoths like that out in the woods! Dead bones and artists' impressions just aren't the same. What Jirka really wanted was to see them move! So when he read the Jules Verne book about people going to the center of the Earth and seeing 'antediluvian monsters', he thought we could do the same. And since almost everything in Jules Verne books came true, we decided to go. To sail upriver into that cave, our magic cave! That's where our journey began..."

US: 8:57 min
OV: 5:06 min.


[00:12:21][00:08:30]

In the original version, the guys are pulling the boat across the ice for a longer time.

OV: 11 secs.


[00:13:30][01:09:50]

The US fades from Petr to the scene in the tent.

In the original version, you can see Petr writing in the diary about setting up camp in the ice.

US: 1 sec.
OV: 10 sec.


[00:18:05][00:14:33]

In the original version, the guys follow the path longer. The next shot fades back in.

OV: 11 sec.


[00:28:29][00:25:08]

Jirka looks to the water again in the original version and says that the rhinoceros is swimming to them.

OV: 8 sec.

[00:30:32][00:27:19]

Petr notes in the diary in the original version how far back in time the boys have traveled and what age will be next. Then it fades to the fog.

Petr: "Most of our journey into the past still lay ahead of us. Millions and millions of years before the time of mammoths lay the Tertiary, our next stop."

OV: 16 sec.


[00:33:31][00:30:33]

After the giraffes pass by, the original version shows the boys on the river for a longer time. The next scene fades back in.

OV: 4 secs.


[00:35:41][00:32:47]

The US version cuts to the snake on the tree.

In the original version, the camera pans from Petr to the snake.

US: 2 sec.
OV: 2 sec.


[00:35:47][00:32:52]

The original version now cuts to the snake on the tree here, then you see Petr slowly walking back.

OV: 6 secs.


[00:38:47][00:35:59]

After the boys leave on their boat, the original version shows a drawn map of the boys' itinerary. Petr explains that they take specific places as markers.

Petr: "We used them for the maps in our logbook. That's Thunder Mountain, because we got caught there in a dreadful storm."

OV: 11 sec.


[00:42:02][00:39:24]

The original version shows the flame in close-up, then you can see a page of the diary.

Petr: "... when he discovered the secret of fire! Since then, he's become the master of all creation."

OV: 9 sec.


[00:47:53][00:45:23]

After Petr has saved himself from the Phorusrhacos, he is seen looking it up in his book. He tells of the legends that arose when bone parts of such a bird were found.

Petr: "In the past whenever people found parts of these animals, like a talon, they figured it was from some flying demon. So we have all these legends about places with dragons and basilisks and how strong and powerful they are. We were about to enter just such a world of dragons. Not the legendary ones, the real ones, in the flesh."

OV: 42 sec.


[00:52:08][00:50:19]

Jenda asks Petr what kind of animal it is. He looks in the book and says it's a Styracosaurus.

Jenda: "What's that? What do you think it is?"
Petr: "A Styracosaurus!"

OV: 16 sec.


[00:53:20][00:51:48]

From the stegosaur in the original version, it fades to a diary entry.

Petr: "There were lots of weird creatures in the Mesozoic."

OV: 6 sec.


[00:54:20][00:52:53]

In the original version, the trachodon transitions to a diary entry. Petr flips to the next page, which lists the brontosaurus.

Petr: "I drew a picture of it another one for our log! But our biggest catch of all, the longest chapter in our log of the Mesozoic,..."

OV: 11 sec.


[00:55:14][00:53:59]

As the guys look at the brontosaurus, you can see notes in the diary again in the original version.

Petr: "...so the Brontosaurus had a second brain down by its backside! It was lucky it could move at all. Generally they preferred to stay in the water."

OV: 12 sec.


[00:57:04][00:56:01]

In the original version, the boys pull the boat onto the beach for a longer time. As they do so, they fade out.

OV: 2 secs.


[01:02:10][01:01:09]

The original version cuts to Jirka as the boys examine the dead Stegosaurus. He says that everyone would be jealous if he brought this one home.

Jirka: "You know, like Androcles helping the wounded lion and the lion followed him. Everyone would be so jealous if I brought him home."

OV: 8 sec.

[01:06:37][01:05:44]

As the boys ride through the fog, Petr opens his journal again. After that, the boys are seen paddling through a jungle landscape. Jirka and Petr get to talking about the strange plant life.

Petr: "According to the plan this should be the Carboniferous, a world of endless swamps and ponds. It was kind of depressing and ominous. There wasn't a single sound. It was like nature had been cursed."
Jirka: "Petr, come here! See, I think I know those trees!"
Petr: "Which ones?"
Jirka: "There on the shore. The ones by the water. See? They're horsetails, right?"
Petr: "Down there by the water, those are horsetails, but see those next to them? They're giant moss plants, Lycopodia. One day, instead of these weird trees, ..."

OV: 1:29 min


[01:11:28][01:12:03]

After Jirka sees the water snake, he continues walking through the swamp.

The US has a jump cut here, but it's not noticeable.

OV: 3 secs.


[01:13:55][01:14:33]

After the guys call for Jirka, the original version shows him following their whistles. After that, the guys say that they want to teach him a lesson this time.

Toník: "Guys, this time we mustn't let him get away with it. He needs teaching a lesson!"
Jenda: "He's certainly earned it."

OV: 27 secs.


[01:17:17][01:18:22]

In the original version, Petr enters in the logbook that they are now about to reach the Silurian.

Petr: "With our logbook back, it waws like hope had returned - we nearly didn't finish it. We crossed the maze of the carboniferous swamp and there was just one last part of our journey left. We stood on the shores of Siluria.

OV: 18 sec.


[01:19:17][01:20:40]

When the guys are standing by the ocean near the end, the US version shows a volcanic eruption. After that, Doc quotes the creation story.

In the end, the boys find themselves in the museum. Doc says that they were hypnotized by the image of the medicine man. He wonders if it's all just a dream, but when he sees the worn diary lying next to him, he realizes that this must have all actually happened.

The following is a final note on Dr. Edwin H. Colbert of the Museum of Natural History, who assisted in the production.

In the original version, the boys continue to be seen on the beach instead. Petr points to the seaweeds that wash up on the beach and live on. The first plants grow from them. The boys search the beach and Jirka finds a trilobite, which he holds next to his fossilized specimen. Jirka finally understands and the expedition of the boys is over.

Petr: "So what do you think? Like it?"
Toník: "I like it a lot."
Jirka: "Is this water salty?"
Petr: "What?"
Jirka: "Is this water salty?"
Petr: "Try it and see. Well? Is it the sea?"
Jirka: "Too bad it's all so barren, so lifeless."
Petr: "Look, over there! Do you see that seaweed? That's alive. For now, it lives only in water, but when there are storms some of it will get thrown ashore. Most will die, but some will survive. Over time it'll get used to the air and the first plants will grow."
Jirka: "And one of them will turn into great forests!"
Toník: "Millions of years later!"
Jenda: "Guys! I found something."
Petr: "More life! Crustaceans. There must be plenty more in the sea. That's where these come from."
Tonik: "Let's look for more!"
Jirka: "Guys, look what I got. Do you see that?"
Petr: "Jirka, you know that this is?"
Jirka: "No."
Petr: "A Trilobite!"
Jenda: "Really?"
Tonik: "That is trilobite number two. You fond the one before, remember?"
Jirka: "Yeah, let me see, what did I do with it? Here it is!"
Petr: "So Jirka now had two trilobites in his hands. Lying there side by side and yet so very far away from each other. Between them lay 500 million years! That stone was a piece of the history of our Earth. Jirka finally understood, and that was it, we'd reached the goal of our expedition, to show him the primeval world. Neither he nor we will ever forget what we have seen: life, always changing, growing, unstoppable, like the waves on the seashore! And so it will go on, never ending, forever and ever..."

At the end follows a redesigned credits from the restoration.

US: 3:45 min.