10,000 B.C. **

A spectacle in the old style,"10,000 B.C." draws on a long and preposterous tradition of Hollywood movie making. Like those old movies with "a cast of thousands," this epic pays no attention to history, archeology, astronomy or geography in its portrayal of a hero who overcomes impossible odds to save his people (and his woman). After the obligatory set up scenes on a snow-swept mountain where his people have inexplicably chosen to settle, and a smashing woolly mammoth hunt, our not-yet-hero D'Leh watches helplessly as his people are attacked, captured, and marched into slavery.

D'Leh pursues the captors, aquiring experience and allies along the way until he is ready to confront the evil forces that require so many slaves to build their monuments. In its portrayal of a simple, idyllic culture set upon by a bloodthirsty empire in need of captives, "10,000 B.C." bears more than a passing resemblance to "Apocalypto" (2006). Mel Gibson's film turned into an extended chase movie after showing us the foul and bloodthirsty life in the Mayan city, with its subtext of environmental degradation, unchecked appetites, and perversion.

Director/writer/producer Roland Emmerich ("Independence Day," "Godzilla," "The Day After Tomorrow") has another aim for "10,000 B.C." He wants to show the hero's arc, with all of the classic elements, from the missing father to the tests with beast and man to the fulfillment of legends and prophecies. And as in his previous movies, action, not character development, is his strong suit.

The climax comes at the pyramid-builder's site, where hordes of CGI mammoths and slaves are hard at work in service of a living "god" who, it's hinted, may have come from Atlantis. For me, these scenes, incredibly detailed and vast, are worth the price of admission. The mammoths and the sabre-tooth tiger are magnificent. Steven Strait as D'Leh, unrecognizable here in his dreadlocks as the star of "The Covenant", does finally prove his worth, and we have a suitably preposterous ending for this cobbled-together pastiche.

Rated PG-13. 109 minutes. Roland Emmerich - writer, director, producer. Harald Kloser - writer, composer. Mark Gordon and Michael Wimer, producers. Ueli Steiger - cinematographer. Thomas Wander - composer. Jean-Vincent Puzos - production designer. Alexander Berner - editor. Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Principal actors: Steven Strait, Cliff Curtis, Camilla Belle, Tim Barlow, Marco Khan, Reece Ritchie, Mo Zinal, Omar Sharif.