ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

[Krel]

[Gord Green]

[orzel-w]

Getting back on topic (do I dare?)... I found this comparative size chart for mostly Navy blimps and added in the Albatross.



It's a pretty small craft, but with more crew space than a comparably sized blimp.
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...or not...

WayneO
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[Bud Brewster]

[orzel-w]

A word of clarification...

[Pow]

I love the pictures of that fantastic & elegant looking airship that looks like it's something from a Jules Verne novel.

Anyone remember the Disney movie "Island At The Top Of The World?'' Not one of Disney's greatest films by any means. The visual FX range from awesome to artificial looking.

Still an entertaining movie & one of the fun aspects to it is the airship that is crucial to the plot.

[Krel]

I remember reading an article in an old Popular Science on Blimps. The name comes from it designation, Airship Type B-Limp. And they do have a ridged structure in both the nose and tail to hold the shape.

Back in the late 70s, early 80s, there was a company (not Goodyear) that flew it's Blimp to New Orleans for some event. A friend of my Dad's went out to the Lakefront Airport (with a wonderful Art Deco terminal) to watch it dock. Through some mishap, they ended up flying the Blimp into it's mooring tower, ripping it's envelope and gasbags for most of it's length. He said that it took a very short time for it to deflate.

David.

[Bogmeister]

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___________ Master of the world (1961) trailer


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Based on two Jules Verne novels, Robur the Conqueror and Master of the World, adapted by Richard Matheson. The plot is a virtual copy of Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (adapted into the 1954 film.

Four people (a government agent played by Charles Bronson with civilians Henry Hull, Mary Webster and David Frankham) become wary guests on board the fantastic airship The Albatross, commanded by Robur (Vincent Price).

Robur has decided to do away with the evils of the world by destroying all the weapons of mankind with his own weapon, his airship and its huge stockpile of drop missile bombs. The time is 1868.

_____________________ The Albatross, 2011


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Much of the drama stems from the conflict between Bronson's pragmatic agent and Frankham's archaic sense of honor. Frankham's character is the gentleman-type who would warn Robur ahead of time what his intentions are before foiling him, a tactic which Bronson finds to be stupid.

On top of that, there's more tension between the two later over the young woman (Webster).

The film is hampered by extensive use of stock footage from earlier films The Four Feathers (1939 Battle Scene of African Tribe), That Hamilton Woman (1941 Destruction Of The Royal Navy) and Henry V (1944 Overflight of The Thames & London). Some of this is not a good match — the Navy ships footage is in black & white.



Webster actually gives the better performance. The men are either too melodramatic or (in Bronson's case, a bit stiff).

Most familiar with this film believe that Bronson was miscast, as does writer Matheson. Many think that an AIP contract player such as Jack Nicholson or Dick Miller would have been better.

Bronson does seem anomalous here, but he still cuts a man-of-action figure, hot off his Magnificent Seven role. Hull hams it up shamelessly but is strangely entertaining. Frankham is unlikable. Price is Price. Since this is an AIP film, the FX are very cheap compared to the '54 Disney film.

BoG's Score: 5 out of 10


BoG
Galaxy Overlord Galactus

[Pow]

Smoke and Mirrors by Mark D. Wolf.

— is an adaptation of a Jules Verne novel by A.I.P — your first clue something might go wrong.

On the plus side, it features a very intriguing miniature airship, The Albatross, built by Project Unlimited. Overall, though, the film is threadbare and never has enough money for the visual effects.

Master of the World could not have been made without stock shot — and generally poor rear screen projection.

Sidebar: Mark's on the money here with his critique. We can only imagine what Walt Disney could have done with this, as he did so magnificently, with his 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

This movie would have been a classic instead of just another low budget movie from A.I.P.

[scotpens]

[Bud Brewster]