Rating: 
Summary: Jurassically pioneering adventure
Review: A non-horror movie of definite interest to horror collectors! Courtesy mainly of King Kong, Jaws and Jurassic Park, Harry Hoyt's ambitious 1925 film version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic novel, The Lost World, carries some heavyweight genre lineage. Wallace Beery plays the inimitable Professor Challenger who leads an expedition to a lost land roaming with dinosaurs. Few reviewers of Steven Spielberg's abysmal Jurassic Park sequel The Lost World appear to have had sufficient-enough genre grounding to recognise any connection to its 1925 namesake, let alone the remarkable and probably (given Spielberg's admirably consistent homage to cinematic antecedents) deliberate - similarity between Spielberg's awful final act (a T-Rex rampages through San Diego) and Hoyt's (a brontosaurus rampages through London). The creative genius responsible for design of the dinosaurs in Hoyt's Lost World, Willis 'O Brien, would go on to achieve genre immortality for his decidedly more sophisticated work in King Kong (1933), thus laying the ground for later horror-fantasy make-up and design legends like Ray Harryhausen (Jason and the Argonauts), Stan Winston (Jurassic Park), Rick Baker (An American Werewolf in London), Tom Savini (Friday the 13th; Dawn of the Dead), Dick Smith (The Exorcist) and H.R. Giger (Alien). Another one for your collection.
Rating: 
Summary: A big disappointment
Review: Combines terrible claymation animation with other poorly rendered special effects. Difficult to sit through. The dinosaurs won't convince anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Parts of the Lost World Still Lost
Review: First, I must admit that I do not yet own the restored version. I have heard that while it adds about 30 minutes of material, the scene where the Brontosaurus knocks people over with its tail is absent. However, I do not know this for sure. My version does not seem to be on Amazon.Com. It is from Alpha Video and only 63 minutes with a single musical soundtrack. The images are not too bad though, given the age of the film (1925). The new version certainly sounds quite appealing although the story works in the shorter format as well.Second, it would be unfair to judge the special effects by today's standards. The film was groundbreaking in its day and the stop-action manipulation of the dinosaurs is actually quite impressive. Those who can read lips will also be happily surprised by how the actors remain in character with conversation not recorded on the dialogue cards. An example is when they escape the plateau and are met by a government official. He sees the dinosaur in the mud and exclaims, "My God, what is that?" Kids might enjoy watching other scenes and trying to decipher their actual speech. My version ends rather abruptly with Professor Challenger on a bridge watching his dinosaur swim away. I cannot say how the restored version concludes. >Plot violence and munching dinosaurs.
>No nudity or sexual situations. These days it is hard enough to get young people watching black and white films, not to mention silent ones. However, those who are open to the experience will enjoy this movie. The hunter and the reporter love the same woman. When she picks the reporter, the hunter shows himself to be a noble character and accepts, albeit sadly, her decision. A modern film would, no doubt, have a fight scene and maybe show the one kill the other for the woman. Times have changed. Further, one modern version makes it clear that Challenger is an atheist and has no place in his life for organized religion. In this version, we are told that he is a minister. The woman in the story wants him to marry her and the reporter. Modern films would skip to the chase and allude to fornication. Yes, times do indeed change. Too bad.
Rating:
Summary: Parts of the Lost World Still Lost
Review: First, I must admit that I do not yet own the restored version. I have heard that while it adds about 30 minutes of material, the scene where the Brontosaurus knocks people over with its tail is absent. However, I do not know this for sure. My version does not seem to be on Amazon.Com. It is from Alpha Video and only 63 minutes with a single musical soundtrack. The images are not too bad though, given the age of the film (1925). The new version certainly sounds quite appealing although the story works in the shorter format as well. Second, it would be unfair to judge the special effects by today's standards. The film was groundbreaking in its day and the stop-action manipulation of the dinosaurs is actually quite impressive. Those who can read lips will also be happily surprised by how the actors remain in character with conversation not recorded on the dialogue cards. An example is when they escape the plateau and are met by a government official. He sees the dinosaur in the mud and exclaims, "My God, what is that?" Kids might enjoy watching other scenes and trying to decipher their actual speech. My version ends rather abruptly with Professor Challenger on a bridge watching his dinosaur swim away. I cannot say how the restored version concludes. >Plot violence and munching dinosaurs.
>No nudity or sexual situations. These days it is hard enough to get young people watching black and white films, not to mention silent ones. However, those who are open to the experience will enjoy this movie. The hunter and the reporter love the same woman. When she picks the reporter, the hunter shows himself to be a noble character and accepts, albeit sadly, her decision. A modern film would, no doubt, have a fight scene and maybe show the one kill the other for the woman. Times have changed. Further, one modern version makes it clear that Challenger is an atheist and has no place in his life for organized religion. In this version, we are told that he is a minister. The woman in the story wants him to marry her and the reporter. Modern films would skip to the chase and allude to fornication. Yes, times do indeed change. Too bad.
Rating: 
Summary: The good DVD.
Review: I don't know how many different DVDs of this movie have been put in to print (hard to imagine more than one), but clearly mine must be different than the one reviewed by others here as it is approximately an hour and a half long (not the short version), includes a commentary track and two soundtracks (the classic one and the one you don't want), a souvenir booklet and 13 minutes of animation outakes. While I wouldn't say this DVD is exactly 'loaded', obviously it is far superior to the one reviewed by others. As to the film--absolutely excellent, and perhaps the best dinosaur movie of all time. I've wanted to watch this movie since I first heard of it but felt it would probably only be of interest as a historical piece. Much like Nosferatu however, The Lost World really transcends the time during which it was filmed (and when it doesn't, it provides some pretty entertaining laughs), and in a few cases even outdoes Kong. An absolutely most own DVD for the giant monster fans.
Rating: 
Summary: They still need to clean and restore this movie.
Review: I just finished watching Image's restored edition of the 1925 Lost World, prepared for DVD issue, but thankfully also released on very high quality VHS tape for luddites like me. This is one case where the VHS tape was not just an afterthought--the quality of the tape is exceptional, and mine had absolutely NO tracking problems, tape glitches, or audio dropouts whatsoever--something that has become all too rare these days. This version restores many lost scenes and many lost parts of scenes, restoring much character development, as well as some truly-impressive dinosaur footage. Compared to previous abridged versions, this one runs over half an hour longer, thanks to footage from *eight* prints, especially a Czech print found in the 90's from which most of the lost scenes come from. Anyway, I'm absolutely stunned by the quality of the film. It's never looked better, and for the very first time, it no longer seems like merely an important FX historical curiosity, but is now a fully satisfying adventure/fantasy film. The pacing no longer feels rushed, and Willis O'Brien's groudbreaking stop-motion and matte FX work is still simply amazing today. There's a restored dinosaur stampede and aftermath that features far more fully-articulated dinosaurs than anything in Jurassic Park. I am a fan of dinosaur films generally, and I can honestly say that in its restored form, the 1925 Lost World is simply the best dinosaur film I have ever seen. The image looks fantastic for such an old film too, and the color-tinting is very intelligently used--blue for night, brown/sepia for indoor, green for jungle--but it never comes across as intrusive. The new percussion-heavy modern musical score (by the Alloy Orchestra) commissioned for this version may be a bit untraditional, but it fits the film perfectly. The 12 min. of animation outtakes following the film were fascinating too, and helped to underscore how much detail and care went into the FX work on the film--there are some cool moments in the outtakes where freeze-frames actually show the animators at work in the frame. Anyway, fantastic film, stunning restoration. You've never seen the 1925 Lost World like this until you've seen Image's restored edition--and this is one restoration you can safely buy on either DVD or VHS. A+
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic job by Image makes The Lost World fully satisfying
Review: I just finished watching Image's restored edition of the 1925 Lost World, prepared for DVD issue, but thankfully also released on very high quality VHS tape for luddites like me. This is one case where the VHS tape was not just an afterthought--the quality of the tape is exceptional, and mine had absolutely NO tracking problems, tape glitches, or audio dropouts whatsoever--something that has become all too rare these days. This version restores many lost scenes and many lost parts of scenes, restoring much character development, as well as some truly-impressive dinosaur footage. Compared to previous abridged versions, this one runs over half an hour longer, thanks to footage from *eight* prints, especially a Czech print found in the 90's from which most of the lost scenes come from. Anyway, I'm absolutely stunned by the quality of the film. It's never looked better, and for the very first time, it no longer seems like merely an important FX historical curiosity, but is now a fully satisfying adventure/fantasy film. The pacing no longer feels rushed, and Willis O'Brien's groudbreaking stop-motion and matte FX work is still simply amazing today. There's a restored dinosaur stampede and aftermath that features far more fully-articulated dinosaurs than anything in Jurassic Park. I am a fan of dinosaur films generally, and I can honestly say that in its restored form, the 1925 Lost World is simply the best dinosaur film I have ever seen. The image looks fantastic for such an old film too, and the color-tinting is very intelligently used--blue for night, brown/sepia for indoor, green for jungle--but it never comes across as intrusive. The new percussion-heavy modern musical score (by the Alloy Orchestra) commissioned for this version may be a bit untraditional, but it fits the film perfectly. The 12 min. of animation outtakes following the film were fascinating too, and helped to underscore how much detail and care went into the FX work on the film--there are some cool moments in the outtakes where freeze-frames actually show the animators at work in the frame. Anyway, fantastic film, stunning restoration. You've never seen the 1925 Lost World like this until you've seen Image's restored edition--and this is one restoration you can safely buy on either DVD or VHS. A+
Rating:
Summary: The Ultimate Vacation Spot!
Review: I love monster movies! I love dinosaurs running rampant! THE LOST WORLD is a very early (1925) example of both. Professor Challenger (Wallace Beery) puts together an expedition party to return with him to the amazon jungles, in order to prove his claims of living dinosaurs. Once there, we are treated to some ultra-cool dino-battles and high adventure! First, we see a pterodactyl flying around. Then, we get to watch an allosaurus fight triceratops! Our human heroes become a sideline to the spectacle before us. Willis O'Brien handled the stop-motion with care and detail (the dinos "breathe" and check out the stringy saliva / gore in the allosaurus' gaping maw). Soon, a brontosaurus thunders along, eating plants and minding it's own business, when -BAM!- Another unprovoked allosaurus attack! During it's fight for survival, brontosaurus falls over a cliff, landing in a mud-pool, stuck but still alive. Challenger and company decide to cage the beast and take it back to London. Upon their return, the mega-ton monster gets loose, running amuck through city streets, becoming the world's most dangerous vegetarian. Chaos ensues, with many classic moments of dino-destruction and fun. I highly recommend this movie to all film-freaks, and dinosaur / creature addicts like me...
Rating: 
Summary: Original standard-8 version in the vaults!
Review: I was unaware that The Lost World (1925) had been subject to so much trimming. Stored in my attic somewhere I have what must be a pretty complete print of the film, since it consists of 5 or 6 reels, running time as far as I recall was indeed 80 or 90 mins. And at least some of the 'missing scenes' mentioned by people are definitely included in the print I have (case in point - the head through the window scene is definitely in there). Wow. Must get the Image DVD and run them side by side, something new might turn up. Have to oil the projector up!! I'm not sure when my the print I have same out, but the packaging is very old, and 8mm goes back to the turn of the '30s, which is only shortly after the original revisited the splicing room. Will share my findings.
Rating:
Summary: "Watch Out!" " It's a 12 ft. tall Allosaurus!"
Review: If you are a long time "King Kong" fan, why haven't you bought this movie yet? This could be called the prequal to "King Kong". It is silent, but it makes up in awsome effects and giant dinosaurs during the entire movie. The storyline is pretty much the same as Kong also. Willis O'Brein does the effects for this film also. This is one of the only movies to show dinosaurs realisticly from what was known in 1925. The Allosauruses and Tyrannosauruses in the film all stan up strait and drag their tails kind of like Godzilla. Thats what they thought they looked like back then. Willis tried his hardest to portray the dinosaurs as realisticly as possible. I guess they thought they growled and had glowing eyes too. One thing Willis, Brontosauruses don't bite Allosauruses necks, and don't chase after people on to step on them on perpous. Now there is a copy of the film almost 20 minutes longer than these copies, which I am trying to find someplace.
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