TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Greenes Please don't spend money on this.

Forumrxes Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

christinehuges i agree with some of these reviews island wa exciting at the age of 9 primarily because during the 70s era there was very little else.however being at the age of fifty to some of them are completely unwatchable now. the majority of them were good decent films however Disney lacked at times this film is one of them.i can appreciate the work but the storyline on this one is dull and non engaging.this was released at Christmas time of 1974 so it must have done well considering that there was most likely nothing better in the cinema that Christmas period nothing my sharp memory can pull up anyway and it was cheaper in those days than now. must have been a dollar fifty to get into the theater so thats why Disney always had large attendances. these days the film has to be spectacular or it will die a quick death at the box office. also in those days studios didn't have big bucks to make a film like they do these days thefore we have to look at the times these films were released in in order to better evaluate their entertainment level.the Disney studios worked well with what they had to work with at the period these films were released in. only when we get older o we ever say cant believe i bought what i was watching plus our minds were more younger therefore most likely more tolerable.

utgard14 In 1907, a wealthy Englishman recruits an American archaeologist and a French dirigible pilot to help him find a mysterious island in the Arctic where he believes he will find his missing son. When they locate the island, they find its inhabited by a lost Viking civilization that aren't too happy to see the outsiders.Enjoyable Disney adventure film that's a throwback of sorts to similar films of the 1950s and early 1960s. It immediately brings to mind movies based on the works of Jules Verne, although it's actually an adaptation of the Ian Cameron novel "The Lost Ones." Handling the screenplay is John Whedon, a writer who worked mostly in sitcom television and also happens to be the grandfather of Joss Whedon. Directing the film is Disney favorite Robert Stevenson. It's a good-looking picture with nice sets and matte paintings. The scenes with the dirigible model are pretty good. There are no Harryhausen monsters to speak of, sadly, but there is a groan-tastic scene involving killer whales. The cast is decent, with most of the actors playing stereotype stock characters. Mako's turn as a cowardly Eskimo is probably the most colorful performance in the film. Maurice Jarre's evocative score is a big plus. The journey to discover the island is the best part. Once they arrive and deal with the Vikings, it becomes a lot less interesting, although things do pick back up during the escape. It's not going to give 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea or Mysterious Island a run for their money, but it's very entertaining in its own way. Give it a shot if you're a fan of old-school adventure films, Disney or not, and you'll likely find something to enjoy here.

trojans7 this is what a good family film is all about. simple great fun with wonder and adventure. my two daughters and i just watched it, and they where wooing and arring at all the right spots.that is all a good yarn has to do, take the kids on a 90min adventure and send them to bed with wonder.so its all a lot of hockem but thats half the fun.you don't need the latest state of the art f/x just a passion to tell a good story.but i feel this was state of the are back in 1974 so maybe a remake today would be just as good you never no they remade clash of the titans anything is possable. this Disney production was directed by robert stevenson a Disney work horse. who did may fine films for the studio,including mary poppins and herbie films. if your a gen x you would have grow-in up on his work.so it worth a rent. add it to your list of must see classics and surprise your kids they wont regret it.

Poseidon-3 Some arresting visuals blend with uneven performances in this so-so, yet somehow appealing, adventure film for children. Sinden plays an English nobleman and explorer whose song has been missing in the Arctic Circle for two years. He enlists (in some cases without consent!) a team of aides to man his zeppelin, travel to a mythic area of the region and bring back his son. On board are Hartman, as an American professor, Marin, as Captain of the vessel and Mako, as a frightened native of the region. As the group nears the cloud-covered, secret civilization, harsh winds knock most of them out onto the terrain where they are soon accosted by a long-lost Viking tribe! Sinden locates his son Gwillim, but the Vikings are far from accommodating, especially Ohlund, a sort of high priest. Fortunately, Gwillim's been cozying up to local cutie Eckemyr and she is able to aid the team in their escape attempt. However, getting out of the territory involves any number of adventures including frozen rivers, flowing lava, explosions, over-sized icicles and even killer whales. Hartman couldn't be any more wrong for this film. It calls for someone heroic and strong and he's wallpaper with teeth; his resonant voice already sounding like the morning news host he was about to become on "Good Morning America" (a place he fit perfectly!) His TV-level charisma simply doesn't come across on the big screen, especially next to the wildly hammy Sinden, his counterpart. At least Sinden's theatrical approach manages to inject a little bit of life into the earlier set-up scenes which seem to take an awfully long time to play out (especially when children are expected to watch.) His character is stubborn and arrogant and not very likable. Also on the broad side, but in a somewhat more amusing way is Marin, who is persnickety about the running of the dirigible. Mako has what could almost be described as a demeaning role, but he aptly delivers what the script asks of him. Gwillim's role could have been played by practically any young British actor. He's not bad, but neither is he impressive. A real surprise is Eckemyr. Not only is she quite lovely to look out, but her role is far less window-dressing than females tended to get in films like this at the time. She serves as interpreter, completes a rescue, creates diversion and keeps up with the men with no complaints, even when she's in a flimsy skirt in the middle of the Arctic! It's a shame her acting career went nowhere fast because she's rather appealing. (She later became a successful clothing designer, fortunately.) One benefit of the film is the casting of a lot of authentic Swedish actors to play the Vikings, not that they come off as realistic, but at least their accents don't sound bad. One exception, buried in the cast, is almost unrecognizable former-Tarzan Miller, hulking around as a guard. Ohlund wears an amulet in the temple scene whose chains will provide an amusing reminder to "Valley of the Dolls" fans of Patty Duke's wayward beads in the telethon scene. There's a lot of special effects work in the film, some of it impressive and some of it not. The matte paintings, while elaborate and colorful, rarely seem in any way real. The model work is sometimes great, but is occasionally blatantly obvious. Rear projection, again, ranges from top of the line to shoddy. The whales in the river scene don't seem real at all. Perhaps more frenetic editing might have helped there. Fans of his may greatly enjoy the musical score provided by Jarre, even if it sometimes sounds like Nordic "Doctor Zhivago". It's a vivid, elaborate film with flaws, but which is nonetheless entertaining. If only there were a bit more emphasis on the island rather than on the trip to it along with a more magnetic leading man, this could have been an even greater classic.