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Mysterious Island (1961)
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 01, 2017 12:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
My point is that the scripting is average at best. Can you really say these movies would be as entertaining to you minus Ray's wonderful stop-motion? I know I can't.

You're absolutely right.

We agree on the fact that Harryhausen's work elevates these "B" movies to a much higher status than they would enjoy without the spectacular special effects.

I never really thought of this before, but I guess the primary reason these "B" movies work so well for me, despite their limitations, is because the FX sell the sci-fi concepts extremely well, even when the dialog and acting don't quite do the job.

For example, The Thing from Another World is a great movie that has virtually NO special effects, but the concept is presented so well by the writing and the acting that it doesn't even need flashy FX! We completely accept the premise that a dangerous alien has arrived on a spaceship which crashed . . . even though we rarely see him!

20 Million Miles to Earth is also about an alien that arrived on a spaceship which crashed . . . and we see this alien in countless spectacular scenes!

So, the premise is somewhat similar in both movies, but the presentation is very different in the two. And yet (for me) they both succeed.

You've stated very well your reasons for being impressed by some of Harryhausen films more than others. And I certainly can't dispute the fact that each person reacts to a movie's perceived strengths and weaknesses in their own manner, governed by their individual standards — not to mention their individual cinematic preferences.

Being a "sci-fi guy" at heart, I get more enthusiastic about creatures from Venus (as a concept) than I do about monsters from Arabian mythology.

Naturally, every film (sci-fi or otherwise) depends on suspension of disbelief. I suppose what I'm saying is that with Harryhausen's movies it's easy to "accept the existence" of the highly fictional parts of the story, because they aren't simply described, discussed, and reacted to by skilled actors who deliver well-written dialog in well-directed scenes.

In Harryhausen's films, the amazing concepts explode across the screen in a spectacular manner! Very Happy




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Last edited by Bud Brewster on Wed Feb 28, 2018 9:28 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 01, 2017 5:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

____________________________________

GETTING TO KNOW OUR FAVORITE MONSTERS!
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This is a movie that doesn't just present ONE giant monster, it presents FOUR! Shocked

Here are some interesting videos that pertain to the giant creatures we see in Mysterious Island.






Giant Coconut Crab — largest land crab in the world


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____________________ Queen Bee laying eggs


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_________ Teaching Ancient Nautilus New Tricks


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____________ Giant Chicken Brahma Roosters

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Tue Dec 19, 2023 12:47 pm; edited 5 times in total
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 22, 2018 6:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
I always considered MI one of the finest Ray Harryhausen films along with The Seventh Voyage Of Sinbad & Jason & The Argonauts.

When First Men in the Moon came out I was extremely disappoint in it. After thrilling to the Big Three you listed, that one left me cold. Sad
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


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Skullislander
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 24, 2018 1:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Perhaps it looked better in the widescreen format it was aimed at: TV screenings are sadly a no-no, and even some dvd versions omit some shots, like the cleaned-out skeleton mooncalf.
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orzel-w
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 24, 2018 3:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:
And I certainly can't dispute the fact that each person reacts to a movie's perceived strengths and weaknesses in their own manner, governed by their individual standards -- not to mention their individual cinematic preferences.

A friend of mine fancies himself a screenwriter, although I wouldn't endorse his writing skills myself, and I'm not acquainted with anything he's written for the screen. He sees a lot of movies in the theater, whereas I usually wait until they're available on DVD from Netflix. He'll recommend movies to me, which I then rent.

So far I can't say that much of anything he finds impressive appeals to me. I think he gets turned on by sound bites in the dialog. I'm usually looking to get something else out of the movie.

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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 07, 2019 1:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Well, I really wanted to find a video about this movie as good as the featurettes I posted for Mighty Joe Young and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, and I discovered The Harryhausen Chronicles in six parts on YouTube.

This section starts with a few scenes from Sinbad and then goes into a section about Mysterious Island.

Enjoy!
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___________The Harryhausen Chronicles 4/6


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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Bogmeister
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 02, 2019 11:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

____________
_____________

This is set during the American Civil War, so it's slightly Steampunk. In the story, 5 men — 3 Union soldiers (Michael Craig, Michael Callan, Dan Jackson), a newspaperman (Gary Merill) and a confederate soldier (Percy Herbert) they take along — escape from a prison camp in an observation balloon.

They travel over the sea in rough weather and barely make it to the island of the title, which has a volcano in its center. Though they note how some of the plant life has apparently grown out of control, nothing really alarms them until they have a confrontation with a giant crab (the crab ends up as their first good meal).

Then, in one of those strange movie coincidences, two women (Joan Greenwood, Beth Rogan) are washed ashore, survivors of a shipwreck. They all set up shop in a cave up the side of a cliff, which they dub "The Granite House."

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The film ends up as a sequel to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (54) and as a variation on Robinson Crusoe and The Swiss Family Robinson — these survivors are trapped on the island but make the best of it, setting up their own private conclave.

Pretty soon, it is evident that there is an unknown/unseen presence on the island which, for example, sends them a chest full of goodies. This turns out to be the famous Captain Nemo (Herbert Lom). Most of the group know of him, since he was made famous as the submarine commander who destroyed warships 8 years previously.

This film, however, is more famous for the Ray Harryhausen FX, which also include giant bees and birds. The climax is the expected spectacular volcanic eruption.


BoG's Score: 7 out of 10

Mysterious Trivia: there have been at least 10 film versions of this Jules Verne tale, from the silent era through a TV movie of the past decade. Harryhausen's next was the famous Jason and the Argonauts (63); actor Herbert also appeared in Harryhausen's One Million Years BC

__________________ Mysterious Island clips

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BoG
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 15, 2019 12:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
. . . The Seventh Voyage Of Sinbad & Jason & The Argonauts. . . were examples of where the scripting & F/X worked together wonderfully as a team instead of the script merely serving as an excuse for the animation.

I'd have to add all of Ray's b&w movies from the 1950s to that list. Maybe it's because of my preference for science fiction over fantasy, story wise. I disagree with the comments I've read in reviews and on message board posts that Earth vs the Flying Saucers has weak plot, and I think both 20 Million Miles to Earth and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms have fine stories which greatly enhanced by Harryhausen's work.

Actually, I've heard friends of mine over the years state that they felt the movies you named were the ones that just served as frameworks for the animation scenes. Shocked

But I'll admit that I can't be objective about Ray's movies because I've loved them so much, and for so long.
Very Happy
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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The Spike
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 15, 2019 12:57 pm    Post subject: I watch it every year. Reply with quote

What I did was in the name of peace. Your war, like all wars, glories in devastation and death.

Mysterious Island is a loose adaptation of Jules Verne's novel of the same name. It's out of Columbia Pictures and was filmed at Shepperton Studios in England with exteriors on the coast of Spain. Directed by Cy Endfield, with Ray Harryhausen working his stop motion genius for the creatures, it stars Michael Craig, Joan Greenwood, Michael Callan, Gary Merrill, Herbert Lom, Beth Rogan, Percy Herbert & Dan Jackson. Bernard Herrmann provides the score.

The plot sees three Union soldiers escaping in a gas balloon from a Confederate prison camp during the American Civil War. Also caught up in the escape is a Confederate rebel and a newspaperman. As they battle the elements they are forced to crash land on some island they think is in the Pacific. Here they encounter giant animals that threaten their survival. Soon two ladies are shipwrecked onto the island too, but the strange animals are not the only thing to worry about, the island volcano is close to eruption and they appear to not be the only humans on the island?

Though something of a lesser light in the pantheon of fantasy adventure films, Mysterious Island, in spite of its flaws, is rather good fun. Dramatically it's OK, with the creatures particularly memorable, but those in search of a science story befitting Jules Verne are in for a let down (though some small science interest does come in the last quarter). This is an out and out desert island survival movie with some Harryhausen kickers. There's a nice group dynamic as soldiers from opposing sides are forced to come together to survive. While the arrival of "posh stock" ladies throws up a class distinction issue, that is nice, if not fully exploited.

There's the usual clichés of course, and as much as I enjoyed it as a red blooded man, did they really need to make Beth Rogan's newly made island dress the shortest in the land? And true enough, some of the matte paintings and effects have aged better in our childhood memories than actually on the print of the film. It's nicely photographed by Wilkie Cooper in Eastman Color using the Super-Dynamation process, but the film also suffers in parts for the restoration. For the prints that exist on DVD now are beset by spotting, fading and scratches. While of course the resolution now shows the flaws of the source material that were once never evident.

Still this is a must have film for fantasy adventure enthusiasts.Yes, as with many Harryhausen based movies, the action sequences involving his creations light up an episodic picture. But with giant animals intent on eating our survivors, a Vernian turn of events in the last quarter, Herrmann's brilliant bombastic score and Rogan's dress! Who cares about routine narrative eh? 7/10

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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 15, 2019 2:10 pm    Post subject: Re: I watch it every year. Reply with quote

The Spike wrote:
It's nicely photographed by Wilkie Cooper in Eastman Color using the Super-Dynamation process, but the film also suffers in parts for the restoration. For the prints that exist on DVD now are beset by spotting, fading and scratches. While of course the resolution now shows the flaws of the source material that were once never evident

What prevents me from enjoying my DVD is the frizzling film grain in some scenes (especially the bright blue sky) — and even worse, a kind of rhythmic strobing of the brightness!

Ironically, when TCM showed this movie back on June 4, 2017 the picture quality was excellent! For that reason, I've kept that airing on my DVR since then, and I've watched a few times. Very Happy

I don't know why the TCM airing looks so much better than my DVD, and I'm afraid to order the $80 Blu-ray because it might just be a sharper image with all the same damn flaws!

And besides . . . it's $80 freakin' bucks!
Shocked
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johnnybear
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 19, 2019 7:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've always enjoyed this film myself and it's a shame that Beth Rogan wasn't better known afterwards!
JB
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 19, 2019 1:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Beth has 19 credits on IMDB, and her next-to-last role was Mysterious Island. Her last was Salt and Pepper (1968), a comedy spy-spoof with Peter Lawford and Sammy Davis, Jr.

The intro for her Wikipedia article is worth reading.
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Jenifer Puckle (19 July 1931 – 25 November 2015), known professionally as Beth Rogan, was a British film actress and Rank Films starlet of the 1950s and 60s. She was married and divorced three times, said by friends to be charming but "dangerous to know",[1] and grew her own cannabis. Reputedly, she was the model for Diana Scott, the central character in John Schlesinger's film Darling (1965).
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In the Film Career section it says this.
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According to The Telegraph, Puckle specialised in "screaming or swooning"[1] and although not usually a leading lady, she appeared in at least 14 films between 1957 and 1968.
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By gum, Beth actually swoons and screams in Mysterious Island right before the bird puts its foot down and demands to have her for dinner.


__________________Attack of the killer cock!

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


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Pow
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 19, 2019 2:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Concepts dropped from "Mysterious Island" }

The island was to have been a type of Atlantis where temples would have been discovered throughout the jungle. It was to have been a mixture of great former civilizations including Egyptian, Greek, Minoan as well as others.

Not only visually would this have been fun but it would also give the active volcano as the reason for portions of the island being destroyed previously.

Tops of enormous statues that still remained above sea level would have been discovered by the castaways.

Captain Nemo's first appearance would have been having him operate a mechanical digging machine.

A forest of gigantic mushrooms, daffodils, and buttercups would have been seen.

The man-eating plant discussed earlier would have been seen devouring the Thomas Ayrton character.

Top, the dog who was to be part of the movie was gonna be eaten by the plant. Whew! Glad that idea was dropped. Might not have ever forgiven Ray over fido being eaten.

One scene would have had the island going through a series of earthquakes that created enormous fissures in the ground. Prehistoric monsters would have emerged from these fissures.

A giant prehistoric mole creature would come out of the wall of the volcano. The mole creature would then battled a huge snake with the two of 'em eventually crashing through the volcano and plunging into a lake of molten lava.

Thomas Ayrton was to have had green skin color due to his eating the giant mushrooms.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 19, 2019 2:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

I assume the title of that version would have been —

The Really, REALLY,
REALLY Mysterious Island! Shocked
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 19, 2019 7:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That version of the movie would have converted it from a Jules Verne story to an Edgar Rice Burroughs one in tone.
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