classicsoncall I couldn't get over how Confederate Sergeant Pencroft (Percy Herbert) put one over on the entire band of Union soldier escapees by stating he could fly the balloon. The only control a balloonist has over his aircraft is when to release the tether rope, and after that, just up and down depending on the amount of hot air forced into the envelope of the balloon. And this balloon didn't have any means of propulsion for lifting it off the ground!!! Oh well, a lesson in balloon physics isn't what your average viewer would be tuning in for anyway. Personally, I thought the Mysterious Island would be home to all manner of dinosaurs for some reason, so it was rather a surprise to see all those otherwise normal looking animals blown up to monstrous proportions. I believe the giant crab scene was the basis for one of those Dell Comic Book covers back in the Sixties, and if it wasn't, it should have been. The mega-chicken was pretty cool too, but for some reason I expected an even larger mother hen to come blazing around the corner.Captain Nemo (Herbert Lom) turned out to be an interesting guy. I get a kick out of characters who's idea of championing world peace involves killing off unsavory competition like those pirates approaching the island. Sure they might have deserved it, but how does one responsibly become an arbiter in this sort of equation? The movie certainly looks dated from the standpoint of 2016 as I write this, but there's a certain charm and mystique in films like this from a half century ago. They might be saying the same thing about the "Star Wars" films some day too. Check this one out for another excellent example of Ray Harryhausen's handiwork. His prior films featured creatures filmed using the 'dynamation' process, this one upped the ante by going for 'super dynamation' according to the picture's opening credits.

AaronCapenBanner Cy Endfield directed this non-Disney sequel to "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" also set during the Civil War by author Jules Verne. A group of Union soldiers escape from a Confederate prison in a nearby hot air balloon, only to float over the ocean into the south seas, where they land on the mysterious island of the title. There, they discover a land of giant animals, like a chicken and lobster, as well as the remains of pirates, who will later return to the island, which is their occasional hideout from the authorities. As if that wasn't enough, a volcano threatens to erupt, and then Captain Nemo(played by Herbert Lom, in place of James Mason) turns up... Exciting and well-made film has excellent F/X by Ray Harryhausen and an engrossing story with few lulls. A real classic of its kind, fine for adults as well as kids.

Alex da Silva Michael Craig (Captain Harding) organizes an escape from a Confederate prison during the US Civil War in the 1800s with fellow inmates Michael Callan (Herbert) and Dan Jackson (Neb). During some intense fighting and poor weather conditions they make it into a hot air balloon and cast off. They take with them Unionist Percy Herbert (Sergeant Pencroft) and journalist Gary Merrill (Spilitt). As they drift up into the sky, their adventures are about to begin.....The bulk of the story takes place on the mysterious island that the group land on which they need to exit before the volcano erupts. While they battle for survival, the group is joined by 2 castaways from a sunken ship - Joan Greenwood (Lady Fairchild) and Beth Rogan (Elena). Herbert Lom (Captain Nemo) is also lurking around on the island with what is left of his submarine "The Nautilus".The group have some interesting hurdles to overcome - treacherous weather, a giant crab, a giant chicken, some giant bees, pirates, a giant octopus and an erupting volcano - but more excitement could have been delivered from each of these situations. The best of the cast are Gary Merrill and Herbert Lom, and the film screams out for Gregory Peck and Tony Curtis in the roles taken by Michael Craig and Michael Callan respectively. Greenwood can be irritating - her voice is good (think Fenella Fielding) but her stage-like delivery is comical. Almost as comical as the giant chicken.A mention must be made about this giant chicken as the author (Jules Verne) has predicted the future of a great food source, namely Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). Colonel Sanders must have seen this film and then started his business as today, as we all know, KFC chickens are bred in secret and grow to enormous heights, not to mention the abnormalities they are mutated into like having 7 wings, 12 legs and 3 heads as they are processed for human consumption. Tasty, though.Overall verdict - it's all rather pointless and certainly doesn't leave you with anything to think about once the film has finished. It's lightweight, forgettable fluff that's OK as being just that.

Robert J. Maxwell It ought to be kind of fun, especially for the kids. It's a wild adventure story in which a couple of Civil War soldiers are blown in a balloon from Richmond, Virginia, to some island in the South Pacific. There they encounter strange, over-sized animals -- a giant crab, something that looks like a technicolor emu, and a bumble bee the size of Ford Navigator. They also run into two ladies whose ship was wrecked nearby. Of the two ladies, Beth Rogan supplies sex appeal and Joan Greenwood introduces some class. Then, towards the end, they run into Captain Nemo and his Nautilus submarine.A white-haired, sullen Herbert Lom is Captain Nemo. He informs the others that the volcanic island is going to destroy itself in a few days and they must escape by repairing a ship. They get the vessel repaired just in time and they escape. Well, almost all of them escape.In a movie like this, full of phantasmagorical effects, it's hardly possible to make any comments on the acting. No one stands out as particularly good, nor does anyone draw attention to himself by being especially inept.Ray Harryhausen gets four shots at stop-motion animation: the giant crab (which is pretty good, if you ask me), the colorful emu, the excitable bumble bee, and some kind of underwater cephalopod. The other effects -- the exploding mountain and the crumbling underwater ruins -- I attribute to his colleagues in the department. Of course, stop-motion was long ago replaced by CGIs and the images may look dated but they always had their own special brand of charm, especially when their appearances were underscored by Bernard Hermann's music.There is a brief conversation about the ethics of Nemo's goal of stopping war by destroying its instruments and the men who wield them but it doesn't amount to anything. The movie does what it was designed to do -- provoke thrills, not thought.