To me, this movie is perfection.

People are voting emotionally.

Highly Overrated But Still Good

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

A group of people land on a mysterious island.Mysterious Island or The Out Of Control Balloon? What is the correct title? I say this because I have made several viewings of this film since the early 1990s, and when the movie is talked about I remember the wonderful opening footage of the balloon in the storm (scored by Bernard Herrmann). The rest of the film is fine as well, but not as mind-blowing as the start.Captain Nemo, the submarine, giant creatures, danger, adventure, science fiction, Gary Merrill, attractive young people, Bernard Herrmann going on all thrusters for the whole flick, this movie has the works...outstanding and better than 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (1954).

I didn't realise until I read about this film that it was based on the book by Jules Verne, and is the sequel to 20,000 Leagues Beneath the Sea, so I was made much more keen to see it, directed by Cy Enfield (Zulu). Basically set in 1865, during the American Civil War, during the siege of Richmond, Virginia, Union soldiers Captain Cyrus Harding (Michael Craig), Neb Nugent (Dan Jackson) and Herbert Brown (Michael Callan) are POWs. They make their escape in an air balloon during a hurricane storm, with two confederate prisoners, Sergeant Pencroft (Percy Herbert) and journalist Gideon Spilitt (Gary Merrill), the storm takes the group to a mysterious island near New Zealand in the South Pacific, with lush tropical jungles, harsh plains, and many volcanoes. Captain Harding appoints himself leader of the group, they look for food, they find that they are stranded on a deserted island, before being attacked by a giant crab, but they overthrow the beast and make it their first meal. As time passes they build themselves shelter, find two other castaways who got caught in the same storm, English aristocrat Lady Mary Fairchild (Joan Greenwood) and her niece Elena (Beth Rogan), a trunk of weapons, a sextant (an astronomical instrument used to determine latitude and longitude at sea) and evidence that pirates marooned a man. The group are encountered by a series of more deadly creatures that inhabit the island, including a Phororhacos, a giant prehistoric flightless bird bird, and gigantic honey bees, that build large honeycomb in caves. Pirates later return to the island, the group are able to fend them off and sink their ship, they are then met and helped by Captain Nemo (Herbert Lom), mysterious commander of the legendary submarine Nautilus, including an encounter with cephalopod, a gigantic prehistoric mollusc. In the end, an erupting volcano threatens to obliterate their island, the group are forced to make their escape, so they find a way to raise the sunken pirate ship and use it to sail away, Captain Nemo however is trapped in a cave and is killed when it collapses, the group escape and vow to continue Nemo's dream of making peace in the world. It is a simple story of people stranded on a deserted island doing what they can to survive against the many beastly inhabitants, the creatures brought to life by the great stop-motion animation of Ray Harryhausen are indeed what keep you watching, and a good musical score by Bernard Herrmann, overall it is an entertaining classic adventure. Worth watching!

In 1865, during the siege of Richmond, Virginia, the union soldiers POW Captain Harding (Michael Craig), Neb (Dan Jackson) and Herbert (Michael Callan) escape in a balloon during a storm with two confederate prisoners, Sergeant Pencroft (Percy Herbert) and the journalist Spilett (Gary Merrill). The uncontrollable wind takes the balloon to a mysterious island in the South Pacific in the area of New Zealand. Captain Harding self-proclaims the leader of the group and they look for food; sooner they discover that they are stranded in an island. Further, they are attacked by a giant crab that becomes their first meal. Along the days, they build a shelter and finds that the island is inhabited by giant animals. A couple of days later, they find two castaways on the beach, the aristocratic Lady Mary Fairchild (Joan Greenwood) and her sexy niece Elena (Beth Rogan). Later they find a trunk with weapons and instruments like sextant and shelter with a journal of a man left alone in the island by pirates. When the pirate vessel arrives in the island, they are helped by Captain Nemo (Herbert Lom) of the Nautilus, a submarine that had supposedly sunk in the coast of Mexico eight years ago. Nemo is famous as the man that tried to end strike among man. When the volcano begins activity, they need to leave the island to save their lives."Mysterious Island" is a fantastic and enjoyable adventure from the 60's that recall many films that I used to see in my childhood. The naive story has great special effects for a movie of almost fifty years ago, excellent music score and still is a wonderful family entertainment. While watching this movie, the costume of the sexy Ms. Beth Rogan called my attention and I glanced in a review an humorous comment from an IMDb User about the dress of this actress. Unfortunately in the modern world of satellites and communication, there are no more space for movies about lost worlds; maybe the exceptions are the TV series "Lost" and M. Night Shyamalan's "The Village". "Mysterious Island" is a highly recommended voyage to not only a lost world, but also to a time that has gone by. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "A Ilha Misteriosa" ("The Mysterious Island")

This is a typical '60's Harryhausen movie, set on a remote island with lots of big creatures on it, who of course got all created by Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion effects, for which he got so famous.It's a movie that got based on a Jules Verne novel, that isn't really his best known one today though. It still is a real fun and adventurous story, that has lots of entertaining moments in it. It has a great and imaginative main premise. Still the movie doesn't always know how to handle it very well and instead the movie decides to repeat itself too often, in an attempt to show off with its Harryhausen creature effects. Also the ending seems quite rushed and out of place, from the moment on that captain Nemo suddenly shows up in the picture.Otherwise, the movie still remains for most part a quite maintaining movie, that is made to look real fun and adventurous. It's definitely made a movie made for pure entertainment and this movie must have really exited some people at the time of its release. Now days it's of course all a bit too dated to watch and we look upon this movies more critical than when it got released for the mainstream audience in the early '60's. It's effects as well as all of its settings are quite dated and cheap looking by todays standards but this of course also has become part of the charm of these type of movies.The acting really isn't much special, including the performance from Herbert Lom. But this also is quite suiting for the genre, which never was about its performances or story but always all about its stunning early effects and its means to bring pure entertainment, that is made all the more spectacular by the great Bernard Herrmann musical score.7/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/