Mysterious Island

Production year: 1961

Fantasy/Adventure G   Running time: 1:40 

IMDB rating:   6.8     Aspect: Wide;  Languages: English;  Subtitles: English, French, Spanish;  Audio: DD 5.1

Jules Verne's classic adventure is perfectly matched with Ray Harryhausen's timeless movie magic in Mysterious Island. Based on Verne's sequel to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, this rousing Civil War-era fantasy begins when a band of Union war prisoners (and one Confederate straggler) escape in a hot-air balloon, which crash-lands on the titular island of mystery. Verne's novel doesn't include any gigantic creatures, but Harryhausen's version--under the capable direction of genre specialist Cy Endfield--features giant oysters, bees, a prehistoric Phororhacos (a giant chickenlike bird!), an undersea cephalopod, a giant crab, and enough danger to keep its resourceful ensemble on constant alert. Captain Nemo (Herbert Lom, ably filling James Mason's shoes) is a third-act hero, pursuing an ill-fated dream to save humanity from hunger and war. The action may be too intense for younger viewers, but Endfield's pacing and Harryhausen's stop-motion mastery make Mysterious Island a wondrous precursor to Harryhausen's follow-up classic, Jason and the Argonauts.

Director

Features

Audio commentary
Featurettes/Behind-The-Scenes/Documentaries
Photo gallery
Trailers/TV spots

Special features

The Making Of Mysterious Island
The Harryhausen Chronicles
"This Is Dynamation" Featurette
Audio Commentary with Ray Harryhausen and Tony Dalton
Audio Commentary with film experts Randall William Cook, C Courtney Joyner and Steven C Smith
Introduction by Ray Harryhausen
Ray Harryhausen on "Mysterious Island"
Kim Newman on "Mysterious Island"
"Mysterious Magic"
Isolated Score Track
Mysterious Island