ALL SCI-FI Forum Index ALL SCI-FI
The place to “find your people”.
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

The Mysterious Island (1929)

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    ALL SCI-FI Forum Index -> Sci-Fi Movies and Serials from 1900 to 1949
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17019
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Wed Apr 22, 2015 10:00 am    Post subject: The Mysterious Island (1929) Reply with quote



One of the earliest sci-fi films is also one of the most ambitious, requiring three years to film, employing three directors in the process — Benjamin Christiansen, Lucien Hubbard, and Maurice Tourneur. Impressive cast, too, including Lionel Barrymore and Montagu Love ("The Mark of Zorro", "The Adventures of Robin Hood").

The film was in production during Hollywood's transition from silent to sound films, so the producers elected to reshoot the opening scenes and use spoken dialogue, then employ music and limited sound effects to augment the on-screen written dialogue through the rest of the film.

The plot is a considerable departure from Verne's Novel about a group of Civil War soldiers whose balloon carries them to a strange island where Captain Nemo (now in his declining years) has taken refuge. In this film version, Captain Nemo is replaced by Count Dakkar (Barrymore), a brilliant scientist who lives on an island off the coast of a Baltic empire which teeters on the brink of revolution.

Barrymore employs hundreds of workers who labor to complete two super-submarines which he plans to use to prove his theory that a race of intelligent aquatic creatures has evolved on the ocean floor (shades of "The Abyss").

Barrymore shows co-star Montagu Love the skeleton of a strange, vaguely humanoid creature he has reconstructed from bone fragments retrieved from the sea. Unbeknowst to Barrymore, Love plans to steal the two submarines and use them to seize the throne of the nearby Baltic empire. His soldiers attack the island and capture one of the subs, but Barrymore escapes in the other, and the climax takes place on the ocean floor when both subs are captured by the undersea empire of aquatic creatures. The humans must also battle a giant octopus and an undersea dinosaur (a lizard with skillfully added fins, spikes, etc).

Some of the special effects scenes involving submarine miniatures are not overly impressive, but most of the special effects are extremely praiseworthy. The plot is action-packed, and there are some disturbing scenes in which Barrymore is tortured by the soldiers to make him reveal the secrets of the submarines.

The sets and props are remarkably well designed, including the armored high-pressure suits the men use to walk among the aquatic beings on the ocean floor. The science in this science fiction film maintains an admirable degree of accuracy, making the film highly enjoyable to watch, even after seventy-plus years.

Don't miss it.

_________________
____________
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 Thu Oct 06, 2022 4:13 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17019
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Wed Jan 01, 2020 6:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

I watched this movie at a friend's house many years ago, and I was amazed by it!

And now we an all watch it at the link below. Very Happy

Please do this so we can discuss this remarkable film on All Sci-Fi.

Bud

______________ The Mysterious Island (1929)


__________

_________________
____________
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 Feb 25, 2020 4:21 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17019
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Tue Feb 25, 2020 12:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

The fine video of this movie uses a wonderful print, and it includes both dramatic music and excellent sound effects.

To make the movie play at 24 fps, click on the "settings" icon (the "cog" in the lower right corner), then on "playback speed", and change the speed to 0.75.






That way the people will move around normally, not like hyperactive folks who should switch to decaf. Rolling Eyes

The music plays at the same pitch, but at a slightly slower tempo to match the actions on screen. It sounds great.

And this adjustment is especially effective in the scenes where the divers are supposed to be walking slowly underwater in their pressures suits . It makes a huge difference, guys.

It's a shame you can't download it and make this change. Oh well . . .

_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
scotpens
Starship Captain


Joined: 19 Sep 2014
Posts: 871
Location: The Left Coast

PostPosted: Tue Feb 25, 2020 1:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:

It's a shame you can't download it and make this change. Oh well . . .

"Can't download it"? I'm downloading it right now, using Freemake Video Downloader. As I mentioned in the Metropolis thread, most media players have a speed adjustment feature.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17019
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Tue Feb 25, 2020 4:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Interesting. Just for clarification, I was referring to playing a download on my TV through my Blu-ray player, not on my laptop.

As far as I know, my LG Blu-ray player doesn't have a way to alter the speed to 75% of normal. But then, I bought it in 2011, so maybe the newer ones do.

Do you have a way to download the movie and convert it to 75% normal speed at the same time? That would solve my problem. Very Happy

_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
scotpens
Starship Captain


Joined: 19 Sep 2014
Posts: 871
Location: The Left Coast

PostPosted: Wed Feb 26, 2020 1:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:

Do you have a way to download the movie and convert it to 75% normal speed at the same time? That would solve my problem. Very Happy

No, I just download the film and watch it on my computer monitor using SM Player or VLC Media Player, both of which have variable speed capability. I don't even own a TV.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17019
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Wed Feb 26, 2020 9:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

___________________________________________

Oh, right. That's what I suspected. I prefer using my TV and my vintage sound system for movies and shows. And my computer is just a laptop with an 18.4 inch display.


_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17019
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Sat Aug 05, 2023 10:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

This is an astounding item from IMDB! Shocked]
________________________________

Although the entire film has always been available in black and white prints, film historians long believed that no complete color print of the film had survived — until 2013 when experts from the George Eastman House in the US discovered that such a print had been preserved in the Czech National Archive.

Until this discovery, it was thought that the only surviving Technicolor fragment of the film was a ten-minute reel reposing in the UCLA Film and Television Archive.

________________________________

Amazing! The print of a color science fiction movie from 1929 which managed to survive! Very Happy

_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    ALL SCI-FI Forum Index -> Sci-Fi Movies and Serials from 1900 to 1949 All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group