* Amazon are not included in Price Watch

Mysterious Island DVD

| DVD

Notable neither for its director nor its stars, Mysterious Island has been given the widescreen DVD treatment rather because of its special-effects man, the legendary Ray Harryhausen. And though his input here is minimal compared with other movies, his stop-motion contributions add zest to a cracking good yarn. A gang of American Civil War soldiers hijack a hot-air balloon and escape from the frying-pan of a military prison to the fire of a deserted tropical island. When a couple of English girls are washed ashore and a legendary nautical figure resurfaces, the scene... is set for a ripping survival adventure, taking in weighty theories of political democracy, equality and cowardice, and still managing to add a healthy dollop of stirring music, dodgy accents, old-fashioned sexism, pirates, giant bees, a giant crab and a fearsome, err, giant chicken. Harryhausen's eighth feature contains all the elements that make his movies great, and the pacey script, based on the Jules Verne novel, has you gripped from the off. One of his more modern-feeling early films, the colour film stock, the exotic settings and wider stable of stars (black and English actors feature alongside a pre-Clouseau Herbert Lom) move it forward an era from his dated black-and-white schlock-fests. Gripping, erudite and easily on a par with the more well-known Sinbad and Argonauts movies, this is one to be marooned with. On the DVD: Mysterious Island's colour picture is bright, clean and crisp in this anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen transfer, and the Dolby digital mono soundtrack is clear enough. The theatrical trailer will please the kitsch fans, as will the featurette "This Is Dynamation" produced at the same time as the first Sinbad movie. The real corker here though is the generously lengthy documentary "The Harryhausen Chronicles". Narrated by Leonard Nimoy, it features a stellar cast of devotees (George Lucas among them) waxing lyrical about the influence of Harryhausen's films, and allows the man himself to ramble fascinatingly over clips of his filmic canon. If you're a fan, it's Harryhausen heaven. --Paul Eisinger [show more]

Read More

buy new from £999,999.00 | RRP: £12.99
* Excludes Voucher Code Discount
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. If you click through any of the links below and make a purchase we may earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you). Click here to learn more.
Searching retailers...
  • DVD Details
  • Reviews (0)
  • Descriptions
    abc...
  • Price History
  • Watch Trailer
Released
02 December 2002
Directors
Actors
Format
DVD 
Publisher
Columbia Tri-Star Home Video 
Classification
Runtime
97 minutes 
Features
Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen 
Barcode
5035822012837 
  • Title not yet reviewed...

  • Please review this title

    We will publish your review of Mysterious Island [1961] on DVD within a few days as long as it meets our guidelines.
    None of your personal details will be passed on to any other third party.

    Thank you - we will review and publish your review shortly.

Please note this is a region 2 DVD and will require a region 2 or region free DVD player in order to play During the US Civil War Union POWs escape in a balloon and end up stranded on a South Pacific island inhabited by giant plants and animals They must use their ingenuity to survive the dangers and to devise a way to return home Sequel to &39;20000 Leagues Under the Sea&39; Age Rating U

Ray Harryhausen's adaptation of Jules Verne's sequel to '2000 Leagues Under the Sea'. During the American Civil War a group of captured soldiers make a daring air balloon escape, only to end up on a strange island where they meet two shipwrecked English ladies and are harassed by giant animals and birds. Includes out-sized chickens, crabs, and bees, as well as a late appearance from the one-and-only Captain Nemo.

Related Titles

More Titles Starring Michael Craig

More Titles Starring Joan Greenwood

More Titles Starring Michael Callan

More Titles Starring Gary Merrill

More Titles Starring Herbert Lom

More Titles Starring Percy Herbert