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Bud Brewster Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)
Joined: 14 Dec 2013 Posts: 17190 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2015 10:00 am Post subject: The Mysterious Island (1929) |
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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 |
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Bud Brewster Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)
Joined: 14 Dec 2013 Posts: 17190 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2020 6:55 pm Post subject: |
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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.
Please do this so we can discuss this remarkable film on All Sci-Fi.
Bud
______________ The Mysterious Island (1929)
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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 Feb 25, 2020 4:21 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Bud Brewster Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)
Joined: 14 Dec 2013 Posts: 17190 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Tue Feb 25, 2020 12:42 pm Post subject: |
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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.
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) |
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scotpens Starship Captain
Joined: 19 Sep 2014 Posts: 886 Location: The Left Coast
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Posted: Tue Feb 25, 2020 1:36 pm Post subject: |
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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. |
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Bud Brewster Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)
Joined: 14 Dec 2013 Posts: 17190 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Tue Feb 25, 2020 4:19 pm Post subject: |
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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. _________________ ____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958) |
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scotpens Starship Captain
Joined: 19 Sep 2014 Posts: 886 Location: The Left Coast
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Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2020 1:33 am Post subject: |
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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. |
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. |
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Bud Brewster Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)
Joined: 14 Dec 2013 Posts: 17190 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2020 9:34 am Post subject: |
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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) |
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Bud Brewster Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)
Joined: 14 Dec 2013 Posts: 17190 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Sat Aug 05, 2023 10:33 pm Post subject: |
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This is an astounding item from IMDB! ]
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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.
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Amazing! The print of a color science fiction movie from 1929 which managed to survive! _________________ ____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958) |
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