Movielogr
The Mysterious Island (1929)
Directed by Lucien Hubbard, Benjamin Christensen, Maurice Tourneur
Twitter Facebook Google+Science Fiction | Adventure | Action
Overview
On a volcanic island near the Kingdom of Hetvia rules Count Dakkar, a benevolent leader and scientist who has eliminated class distinction among the island’s inhabitants. Dakkar, his sister Sonia and her fiance, engineer Nicolai Roget have designed a submarine which Roget pilots on its initial voyage just before the island is overrun by Baron Falon, despotic ruler of Hetvia. Falon sets out after Roget in a second submarine and the two craft, diving to the ocean’s floor, discover a strange land populated by dragons, giant squid and an eerie undiscovered humanoid race.
Rated NR | Length 95 minutes
Actors
Lionel Barrymore | Jacqueline Gadsden | Lloyd Hughes | Montagu Love | Snitz Edwards | Gibson Gowland | Dolores Brinkman | Karl Dane | Pauline Starke | Carl Roup
Viewing History (seen 1 time)
| Date Viewed | Device | Format | Source | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02/15/2020 | Computer | Streaming | Video on Demand | 6.5 stars |
| (Average) 6.5 stars |
Viewing Notes
A strange “adaptation” of Jules Verne’s “20,0000 Leagues Under The Sea” (regardless of the title of the film) that seems to embrace an idealist version of Communism mixed with abuse of power and technology.
This was a long-delayed film that bridged the silent/talkie gap with some talking dialogue scenes and a few other action scenes with sound effects and voiceovers along with sparse intertitles and mostly silent (i.e. scored) scenes.
The underwater scenes are muddy and maybe better for it. The undersea race of sea creatures are actually pretty cool looking (and there are tons of them!) as are the clunky diving suits.
I’d really like to see the color version of this as well but it doesn’t appear it’s available. Warner Archive has this available on DVD but it’s this same TCM 94 minute black and white version.
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