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Mysterious Island (Widescreen) | |||||||||||||||||||
 
| 80% Recommended by our customers. Studio: Sony Catalog: DVD Release date: 2002-10-29 Media: DVD released in theatres: 1961-12-20 Running time in minutes: 100 DVD aspect ratio: 1.85:1 Audience Rating: Unrated Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC DVD Region code: 99 released in theatres: 1961-12-20 Ean: 9780767882897 Book Isbn: 076788289X Upc: 043396078949  Tip: compare prices with similar DVDsDirector:
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Written on January 11, 2007 Summary: It is NOT wide screen The movie is a 5. The fact that it's advertised as Wide Screen yet isn't is why I give this a 4. Mysterious Island is one of my favorite movies, but I've never seen it in wide screen. (I was grounded as a kid when it was at the movies ...) Anyway, I was excited to finally be able to see Mysterious Island in Wide Screen. It's advertised that way, states it's wide screen on the package, but trust me -- it isn't. Written on November 26, 2006 Summary: Survivor On The Mysterious Island I watched this with my nine-year-old, who noticed immediately that the pacing of the story was slower than he was used to. I explained that was how things used to be done in movies. Now everything is hurry up and get it done. Still, he stayed as glued to the TV as I did, and I'd seen the movie before -- the first time when I was about his age, and in black-and-white because it was on the Sunday matinee Mystery Theater. The reason "The Mysterious Island" works, and it's more than Ray Harryhausen's great claymation sequences, is because this is old school storytelling. You've got Civil War prisoners, Union soldiers, escaping from a Confederate prison by hot air balloon, then getting caught in an unusual storm that blows them completely across the United States and nearly to New Zealand, as they find out later. The sheer adventure of the tale, not knowing what to expect and what was going to happen to the heroes, carries the story along. After they reach the island, things become a bit more predictable, but watching everything come together is still a fascinating bit that's worth rewatching or introducing to young audiences. There's enough action without being overly violent or bloody to keep them fretful about the heroes and how everything is going to turn out. And, thankfully, there are several comical moments too. Freely adapted from Jules Verne's novel, THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND is a grand adventure that employs great storytelling and a little bit of science that elementary school students can enjoy. I'm glad movies have moved on from here in the special effects and on-location departments, but the best elements of adventure are contained within this movie. It's nice to re-visit the old neighborhood, and THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND is one of the best tickets you'll get.  Written on November 7, 2006 Summary: Mysterious Dynamation "Mysterious Island" is a 1961 adaption of the book of the same name by Jules Verne, a film that features effects animated with stop motion by Ray Harryhausen. It was a lot of fun to watch, and the special features on the DVD were great. In the midst of the American civil war, a group of prisoners escape and hijack a balloon. Unfortunately gets caught in a storm and blown all the way through to the Pacific Ocean. The group manage to survive the squall and the seas and wash up on a mysterious island, lush, fertile and crowned with a still active volcano. Together with a couple of women from a shipwreck, they make a living, gather goats and work on making a ship to get back home. Blunt and primitive axes are the least of their problems. This mysterious island is full of giant animals: giant crabs, giant birds and giant bees, all of them rather defensive when they come in contact with people. There's also the threat of pirates, and the curious Captain Nemo. Will the group ever make it off the island? Is there something about this island they should know? There's a lot to like about this film, I reckon. It's well paced, it's got a memorable bunch of characters who have great little conversations. My favorite character is probably Mr Spilitt, the war journalist whose a bit rough around the edges, and the only civilian man washed up on the island. They're always giving him a hard time, it's kind of funny. Ray Harryhousen's stop motion special effects are really cool too, as they always are. The matte paintings used for the backgrounds are beautifully done, and really added to the mystery and depth of the island. The tropical location helped too. Special features include an hour length documentary called "The Harryhousen Chronicles", narrated by Leonard Nimoy (he gets around, doesn't he?). It's covers Ray Harryhousen's stop motion career, from it's beginnings in his parent's garage, all the way to his Oscar win in 1992 for his contributions. It features interviews with Ray Harryhousen, Ray Bradbury and George Lucas, to name a few people, and also features a little bit (not a whole lot, but a little bit) of previously unseen stop-motion footage from a couple of Ray Harryhousen's rejected and unfinished projects. It was all really interesting. There's also an original 1960s featurette called "This is Dynamation", which is mostly a promotional showcase for Harryhousen's effects in "The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad", plus a featurette specifically about Harryhausen's effects in "Mysterious Island", featuring Ray Harryhausen once again. There's also a photo gallery of various shots and promotional material. A good selection of special features, I thought. It's thorough, but not overwhelming. I'd recommend this film to anyone with a love of adventure and anyone with an eye for old time special effects. It's worth a look. Written on October 25, 2006 Summary: Make mine extra crispy A beloved movie from childhood. Great Bernard Herrmann score, especially over the gripping balloon escape at the beginning. The cast is better than average for this genre, but the Nautilus and Nemo are pallid imitations of Disney's. But what Disney didn't have is Ray Harryhausen, whose wondrous stop motion animation is the reason this film exists. RH often exercised his love of prehistoric life by slipping examples into films even when there was no explanation for them being there. So here, alongside the more prosaic giant bee and crab we get a big Ammonite (not a squid) and a nicely conceived Phororacos much maligned in these precincts as a giant chicken. No chicken, but tasty nonetheless. Written on July 8, 2006 Summary: Ray Harryhausen lends his talents to this Jules Verne story There was a woefully bad 15-part serial version of Jules Verne's "Mysterious Island" released in 1951 that stupidly gave away the big surprise by listing Captain Nemo's name in the credits. Fortunately a decade later the release of this version of "Mysterious Island" replaced that one in the public's consciousness. The team that put together "Mysterious Island" consisted of producer Charles Schneer, special effects wizard Ray Harryhausen, and composer Bernard Herrmann, which is important because it puts the film more in the tradition of their earlier collaborations, "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" and "Jason and the Argonauts," than it does Verne's novels. Obviously the 1954 Disney film version of "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" had an influence on this 1961 film by director Cy Endfield ("Zulu") as well. During the American Civil War, Union Captain Cyrus Harding (Michael Craig) is being held prisoner in a Confederate prison camp along with young Herbert Brown (Michael Callan), cynical "New York Herald" reporter Gideon Spillett (Gary Merrill), and a former slave named Corporal Neb Nugent (Dan Jackson). During a massive hurricane the group escape by stealing an observation balloon and sailing over the palisade, taking with them a Confederate soldier, Sergeant Pencroft (Percy Herbert). The storm is so fierce that it blows them to an uncharted (and dare I say, mysterious) island somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, where the balloon crashes. Harding is pulled from the water by unseen figure and the group decides to put the war behind them and work together to survive (I was going to say this is sort of like "Survivor," after the merger, which Nemo playing the Jeff Probst role, but clearly the more relevant television analogy today would be to "Lost"). But beyond the basic requirements of staying alive they learn that they have to contend with monstrously giant crabs, equally giant bees, and a ship full of bloodthirsty pirates. To make things more interesting a pair of shipwrecked female castaways are added to the little band, namely Lady Mary Fairchild (Joan Greenwood) and her pretty young niece, Elena (Beth Rogan). Using the abandoned cliff side cave of the pirates as their new home the castaways settle in for the long haul, all the while receiving timely help from their mysterious benefactor. I never read the novel, but I still have the "Classics Illustrated" comic book version of "Mysterious Island." For me the big impression was the things the castaways did to bring a touch of civilization to the island, and while that is greatly reduced in the film you do get a least a visual sense of what they have been up to in order to make the best of a bad situation. Of course, the situation proceeds to get even worse, which forces the unseen benefactor, Captain Nemo (Herbert Lom), to reveal himself and his identity, and to help the castaways one last time. It is a good thing that Lom does not show up until the end of the film, because he overpowers the rest of the cast, just as his character enjoys superiority over them as well. Merrill stands out from the rest as the crotchety reporter, who is almost as smart as he is cynical, and Craig manages to hang on to the hero role throughout, but Herbert and Elena descend to the puppy love phase and are just begging to be eaten by one of the giant creatures on the island, preferably the giant chicken. This is not a great film for this genre, but it certainly holds up as a more than decent Saturday matinee movie. Harryhausen's stop-motion animation is always fun, even though no one will consider his work in "Mysterious Island" to be up to the finest moments of "Sinbad" or "Jason." The link between the giant animals and Captain Nemo is a bit absurd, since hunger has never been considered one of the causes of the American Civil War, but by the time we learn about these we have already enjoyed the castaways trying to fight the monsters (the crab is the best and the chicken has to be the nadir of Harryhausen's distinguished career). Actually, the balloon journey at the beginning provides the best special effects in the movie, especially given the impressive musical score by Herrmann. This movie is not about political philosophy, but about monsters in an exotic location and the sense of adventure that has thrilled young schoolboys for generations. |
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| Price comparison |
 Mysterious Island (Widescreen) |
 Journey to the Center of the Earth |
 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (Special Edition) |
 The Time Machine |
 H.G. Wells' First Men in the Moon |
 Jason and the Argonauts |
| Our price | $14.99 | $12.99 | $14.99 | $14.99 | $7.99 | $9.99 |
| List price | $19.94 | $14.98 | $19.99 | $19.98 | $9.95 | $14.94 |
| Lowest used price | $5.97 | $6.99 | $8.70 | $10.99 | $3.48 | $6.12 |
| Lowest new price | $6.47 | $6.98 | $9.98 | $12.66 | $4.10 | $7.66 |
| Collectible price | $19.94 | $19.99 | $20.00 | $25.99 | $20.00 | $19.99 |
| Catalog | DVD | DVD | DVD | DVD | DVD | DVD |
| Release date | 2002-10-29 | 2003-03-04 | 2003-05-20 | 2000-10-03 | 2002-03-26 | 1998-07-14 |
| Media | DVD | DVD | DVD | DVD | DVD | DVD |
| released in theatres | 1961-12-20 | 1959 | 1954-12-23 | 1960-08-17 | 1964-11-20 | 1963-06-19 |
| Running time in minutes | 100 | 132 | 127 | 103 | 103 | 104 |
| DVD aspect ratio | 1.85:1 | 2.35:1 | 2.55:1 | 1.66:1 | 2.35:1 | 1.85:1 |
| Audience Rating | Unrated | G (General Audience) | G (General Audience) | G (General Audience) | Unrated | G (General Audience) |
| Picture format | - | - | - | Letterbox | - | Letterbox, Pan & Scan |
| Format | Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC | Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC | Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Live, Special Edition, Widescreen, NTSC | Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC | Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC | Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC |
| DVD Region code | 99 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 99 | 1 |
| DVD layers | - | - | - | 2 | - | 1 |
| DVD sides | - | - | - | 1 | - | 2 |
| Ean | 9780767882897 | 0024543050094 | 0786936192476 | 9780790747323 | 9780767859790 | 9780767810869 |
| Book Isbn | 076788289X | - | - | 0790747324 | 0767859790 | 0767810864 |
| Upc | 043396078949 | 024543050094 | 786936192476 | 012569523128 | 043396058453 | 043396002593 |
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