Rating: 
Summary: No, it wasn't faithful to Verne...
Review: However, what movie versions of literature usually are? Instead of criticizing the liberties taken, let's just look at the points of merit of the film: great special effects by way of the stop-motion master Ray Harryhausen, a stirring score by legendary Bernard Herrmann, superb scenery, a tale of survival, and lots of action. Of course the acting is a little wooden but there are decent performances from Herbert Lom as "Captain Nemo", Joan Greenwood as "Lady Fairchild", and Gary Merrill (the former MR. Bette Davis) as "Mr. Spillet". The real highlight for this viewer upon the film's release was the inclusion of a pivotal character portrayed by a black man, Dan Jackson as "Neb". The character is in the novel but he is younger and a bit too "subservient," reflecting the times of the book's publication. In 1961 it was notable to see a black man in a fantasy film, portraying an "equal" to his fellow castaways. The DVD extras, including the documentary "The Harryhausen Chronicles", are adequate but the film holds its own as a wonderful excursion into the fanciful and makes for a fine family film.
Rating: 
Summary: solid family fun
Review: I've reviewed the VHS version of this movie, and the DVD doesn't add much, but the picture and sound are definitely clearer, and you get a short documentary about the making of the movie. You also get some other documentaries that seem to appear on all of the DVD's of Harryhausen movies, which would interest you more if this was the first such movie you had. It's a lot of fun, my kids especially like it, and they did a good job putting it on DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Captain Nemo returns!
Review: In the Civil War (I forget the year), union men escape from a Confederate camp via a balloon during a bad thunder storm. They crash-land on an island filled with giant animals, including a colony of bees! Captain Nemo makes his return in this movie. Great action/adventure flick!
Rating:
Summary: Exciting sci-fi
Review: Mysterious Island is a very exciting movie that is even better because of the graphics done by Harry Hausen. Five Union prisoners and one Confederate soldier in a hot air balloon are caught up in a huge storm, blown off course and crash land on an unknown island full of plenty of secrets. The castaways meet two women whose ship was sunk forcing them to take cover on the island. All the survivors must deal with a huge crab, enormous bees, an oversized bird, and plenty of other surprises. The creatures made by Harry Hausen are very good and really ahead of his time. Without computer graphics, he was able to make excellent creatures that still look very good. Michael Craig plays the heroic leader of the castaways and is pretty good in the role. The rest of the Union prisoners are also okay, but I didn't recognize any of them from other roles. The Confederate soldier I recognize from The Bridge on the River Kwai, but cannot remember his name. Herbert Lom appears late in the movie as Captain Nemo, the famous submarine commander who disappeared several years before the story takes place. The DVD is great with extras that show how Hausen created some of the creatures, a making of documentary, theatrical trailer and widescreen presentation. This is a very enjoyable movie that keeps you in your seat from beginning to end! Do not miss!
Rating:
Summary: Rip roaring adventure
Review: Mysterious Island was always a favorite Harryhausen film of mine as a kid. The screenplay and direction (like those for The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad and Jason and The Argonauts)is top notch. Director Cy Endfield has a solid cast and the pacing along with Bernard Herrmann's classic score creates an eerie and, well, mysterious feeling for most of the movie. The stand out in the cast is, of course, the marvelous and under rated Herbert Lom as Captain Nemo. If you haven't seen the film, I'd rather not spoil the third act of the film for you so won't go into too much detail. The Civil War is tearing America apart. A small group of Union soldiers and a reporter escape a military prison during the seige of Richmond, Virginia. They also have a There's a scouting balloon just outside the prison walls. As the attack rages, the prisoners escape in the balloon. They are washed up ashore on an uncharted island with a brewing volcano. It's not ordinary island (no surprise)though as they discover a giant crab and later, giant bees, chickens and other creatures. They're joined in their Robinson Crusoe adventure by a couple of women who are later washed ashore from a shipwreck. They soon discover the origin of the giant beasts and some nasty news about the volcano as well. The cast gives a good performance. Gary Merrill (best known for All About Eve and former husband of Betty Davis) and Michael Callan are the most recognizable faces. Callan was a regular in a number of movies and television shows as a supporting actor. Joan Greenwood also gives a convincing performance as well. Still, the stand out here is the brooding performance as Herbert Lom. Lom always managed to raise the bar in any film he appeared in. The screenplay (for those that are interested)isn't all that faithful to Verne's novel. The basic premise is drawn from his novel. The transfer is pretty good although not stellar. Given the use of traveling mattes, matte paintings and other optical effects the image is occasionally grainy and indistinct. There's quite a bit of compression artifacts due to the grainy stock that was used to shoot the film and the multiple exposures for optical effects. Still, over all, the print looks pretty good. There's also some analog artifacts as well but these are mostly in the war sequence at the beginning which were clearly drawn from stock footage in the Columbia library (much as Jason used stock footage for the attack at the beginning and Sinbad for the longshot of the ship passing in the fog. In the latter film its pretty clear as the crew can be seen wearing 18 century sailor garb if one looks carefully). As it has been noted in previous reviews the soundtrack is in mono and sounds a bit flat. My guess is that, perhaps, Columbia used a different master for the video version of Mysterious Island or just compressed the heck out of it and boosted the bass to make it sound acceptable for video. The sound is quite good but Herrmann's score is in mono here. It would be nice if Columbia could go back to the original orchestral masters to remix and master this but I'm not sure if the original elements are event available. The extras are quite nice. The Making of Mysterious Island is quite informative as is the vintage "This is Dynamation" featurette included. The photo gallery and theatrical trailers are an improvement over previously issued Harryhausen DVDs. While this isn't quite up to the quality of, say, the Criterion Jason and The Argonauts laserdisc released a decade ago, it's an improvement over many of the vintage films being dumped onto the market for DVD. All told this is a pretty good (although not perfect) package from Columbia and a noble effort to release vintage films with extras on DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Harryhausen Classic
Review: One of the best films to feature Ray Harryhausen's "Dynamation" stop-motion photography, with a well-handled story with interesting characters bolstering the excellent photography and effects. The giant crab is a standout!
Rating:
Summary: great sci fi
Review: one of the better sci fi flicks in the early 60's and a must for all fans of jules verne. this movie has a great storey line and a great adventure tale to boot.
maybe a re make will make this a better movie, this is the kinda movies..kids should see on saturday afternoon.
Rating:
Summary: great sci fi
Review: one of the better sci fi flicks in the early 60's and a must for all fans of jules verne. this movie has a great storey line and a great adventure tale to boot.
maybe a re make will make this a better movie, this is the kinda movies..kids should see on saturday afternoon.
Rating:
Summary: Mysterious Island
Review: One of the last Ray Harryhousen films to be released on DVD. Unfortunately a very grainy print. and the mono soundtrack is fair at best. Bernard Hermann's score in stereo is breathtaking but you won't here it on this DVD. That's unfortunate. Fair job of remastering on this one! However,
The wide screen format is excellent. And the picture to this day is as entertaining as it was in 1961. Story and special effects are a treat!!! Fun and exciting to watch!
Rating:
Summary: A journey worth taking
Review: The Mysterious Island, released two years before one of Harryhausen's most celebrated works, Jason and the Argonauts, still stands well enough by itself. Granted, a battle with a giant crab kind of pales alongside a battle with a skeleton army, but hey-tastes differ. My favorite effects sequence was with the giant bees-I'm still in awe over the attention to detail that was shown to the bee's movement and to the hive. Other highs: the prison escape sequence in the beginning and the balloon ride, the undersea battle with the shellback squid or whatever it was called, the inside of the Nautillus, which reflected more of a swinging sixties theme than a nautical one, and of course, the gigantic prehistoric chicken--I mean, come on! What more can you ask for? The special features are nice, you will get some insight into the making of MI. The transfer was okay to me, but I don't niggle very often about those things. Turn the volume up, turn the lights off and you have all the cinematic experience you could ever hope for.
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