10,000 A.D.: The Legend of Black Pearl

Shot on high-def video, Black Pearl offers frequent fist-fights and ponderings that are photographed against exotic scenery, but the film turns on a mumbo-jumbo plotline involving prophesies, saviors, magic stones and young muscular men in dreadlocks and loin cloths. Apparently World War V sent civilization back to the Stone Age, when warring tribes Hurons and Plaebians must learn to reconcile before a powerful menace destroys them both. A voiceover provides metaphysical updates, which is handy as a good deal of dialog is spoken in something reminiscent of Maori (before suddenly kicking into English). Rarely dull for those who are willfully transported, Black Pearl will require patience by the rest.

Shelf Talk: Post-apocalyptic survival stories such as Mad Max and Waterworld generate a lingering fascination for specific (and often nihilistic) viewers. For others, Black Pearl can best be compared to TV’s Lost, in which hand-to-hand confrontations blow up over theoretical threats. The film’s lack of star power won’t help move units, and don’t expect much studio support besides the excellent box art, which depicts the loin-clothed leads. In fact, the cover vaguely echoes Black Pearl’s epoch-opposite, last year’s 10,000 B.C., which grossed $95 million in box-office bones.