ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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Imagine how surprised I was today when I discover this 1951 serial on YouTube, a version of Jules Verne's novel which includes several of the main characters later used in the 1961 Harryhausen movie, as well as many plot elements used in the movie as well.

But this Columbia serial pumped it's own brand of science fiction elements into the story! Here's how Wikipedia describes it.
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Mysterious Island is a 1951 American 15-chapter movie serial from Columbia Pictures, the studio's 46th, that stars Richard Crane (Rocky Jones, Space Ranger), Marshall Reed, Karen Randle, and Ralph Hodges.

It is an adaptation of Jules Verne's 1874 novel, The Mysterious Island (L'Île mystérieuse). As in the original story, which was Verne's follow-up to Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, this serial is set in 1865.

However, Columbia's screenwriters added alien Mercurians as an additional set of villains. The serial has been labeled a space opera version of Verne's novel.
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The serial includes an attractive alien woman from Mercury who possesses advanced weapons and a squad of alien subordinates. It also includes a pirate captain and his crew, a tribe of volcano-worshiping savages, and a mystery man who turns out to be . . . Captain Nemo!

This is one wild-and-woolly serial guys — and I'd never even heard of it until today!

The picture quality of the YouTube video is fairly good, and the production standards are admirable! It doesn't really look like a serial — it looks more like a well-done B movie!

____________ Mysterious Island - Chapters 1-7


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___________ Mysterious Island - Chapters 8-13


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_________ Mysterious Island - Chapters 14 & 15


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

[tmlindsey]

Just found this one on Tubi and will be checking it out ASAP. It looks pretty batty (and I don't mean Roy)!
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"Have you never wondered what it would be like to walk between the ticks and tocks of Time?"

[tmlindsey]

Finished this one off last night. Yikes.

The spaceship landing effect is terrible and the full-size mock-up doesn't match the miniature at all and the shots of the island sinking looks like it was done in tub in the backyard. Woof.

I get that serial episodes generally have action that does nothing to advance the plot until the last few episodes, but Jeez.

This stinker has:

Castaways
a Wildman
Capt. Nemo (who is barely in it at all)
Pirates
Volcano People
Rumbling volcano
and Aliens from Mercury

and it STILL manages to be dull as dishwater. The acting is pretty terrible from some of the castaways and the writers & director didn't appear to know what to have the only black character do. In some action scenes he's literally just standing in the background watching his friends get shot at or get the snot beat out of them

Maybe this one was better off being "forgotten".
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"Have you never wondered what it would be like to walk between the ticks and tocks of Time?"