Mysterious Island

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Great vintage movie for adventure fans!

I remember as a kid goring up in the Midwest, watching the Sunday classic movies on Chicago’s WGN and Mysterious Island being one of my favorites. Back in the day nothing streamed so we had to wait a year until time came around again, but those Sunday movies at home with dad set a precedent and created my love of films. Mysterious Island is one of the first ones I clearly remember watching and always looked forward to. I loved it. So would it hold over the years? You bet! I still love to pop it in on a Sunday afternoon or rainy day, curl up with my wife and watch. We’ve owned it on VHS and DVD and when Amazon had a sale, I grabbed it streaming. This is a classic I revisit again and again.Okay, so yea, by today’s standards it’s hoaky - the special effects don’t even make Spielberg or Lucas level of the 70s. But, they are still great and in some ways, better. Without giving it away.... (I’ll try not to give spoilers, but be aware from here on out).A group of union soldiers held in a confederate prison break out and hop into a hot air balloon in a storm. Flying off to who-knows-where, they crash land in the ocean off and island where they find themselves... alone. With GIANT animals. Two women end up on the island with them (always gotta have that B Love Story) and together they survive. Making a home, they are still trying to get off, but those animals.... weird things happen, there’s a giant bee hive, and a smoking volcano. Pirates. Dead guy bones. A rock home. And suddenly... it all starts to make sense with the arrival of Captain Nemo. Will they get off the island...I love this movie and within a day of buying it had watched again! it is a classic, good fun, and a great film if you love movies.

Twenty years ago MYSTERIOUS ISLAND appeared on a special edition laserdisc, with a re-recorded soundtrack based upon elements discovered in England, some of which were stereo. The sound quality of the laserdisc was superb, and the picture very good as well. That release made me a convert to the movie, my personal favorite Harryhausen/Herrmann film.Ten years ago MYSTERIOUS ISLAND appeared on DVD, and the soundtrack was murky by comparison with the laserdisc. Also the DVD was widescreen, by contrast with the Academic Ratio of the laserdisc. When I compared I found that the widescreen edition omitted about 1/6 of the picture, all from the bottom of the screen. In the opening Columbia logo, the statue looked nicely centered on the DVD, but on the laserdisc one could see that three bottom steps of the podium had been omitted. The director seemed to have filmed at full ratio with the idea of masking for widescreen release as well, because the lower 1/6 of the picture is usually expendable. Occasionally, however, the masking deletes important information. When the new prisoner arrives at Libby Prison in the opening scene, his papers are handed off from the escort to the prison official at the very bottom of the screen on the laserdisc, and that action is invisible on the DVD. The papers appear in the hands of the prison official out of nowhere. Knowing this made me watch more closely, and at times the framing on the DVD is claustrophobic, following the action but omitting ambience. The aspect ratio is listed as 1.85 to 1 on imdb.com so the widescreen is apparently the official version of the film. I just happen to like the Academic Ratio better on this particular film, as long as both are available for comparison.My hope for the new blu-ray release was that the laserdisc restoration would be the basis for the blu-ray mastering. Alas, it was not to be so. The same masking is used for the blu-ray as for the DVD. The Bernard Hermann score is lost in the sound effects during the opening battle footage on both the DVD and the blu-ray, while the two tracks are nicely separated on the laserdisc. So the blu-ray is not everything that it could have been, but, well, I do like it anyway. The picture clarity is outstanding. The blu-ray entirely supersedes the DVD, but the laserdisc documents another way of enjoying the film. This blu-ray is a limited edition (just as the laserdisc was) and is not likely to remain in circulation long. So snap it up.

Can’t wait to watch it again on a modern TV.

Came on time, and in great condition. I first saw the film as a small boy on the TV in 4:3 format. To see the remastered version in widescreen, as it originally was, means I'm in for a treat.Thank you, Amazon.

A classic movie in the line with "20,000 miles under the sea"!

DVD pour utilisation personnelle et nostalgie des vieux film de science-fiction des années 50 à 80 c'était parfait

The DVD arrived on time. The video and sound are excellent. The film is in english with english, french and spanish subtitles. A great classic that I saw as a child.

とても面白かったですし、懐かしかったです。