tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7799692319538063538.post702360058563706378..comments2024-03-11T00:24:45.891-07:00Comments on Popcorn Culture: Cardboard Science: Prisoners Of The WindBrennanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15399713449347559869noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7799692319538063538.post-14646676225915391922019-10-04T08:14:16.165-07:002019-10-04T08:14:16.165-07:00Look, we all loved a bunch of really bad movies as...Look, we all loved a bunch of really bad movies as a kid that we still love now and nothing can take that away from us. And Mysterious Island isn't really bad. It's just... bland! At any rate, even the Cardboard Science movies I like the least I am always glad to have been exposed to, so thank you!Brennanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15399713449347559869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7799692319538063538.post-71823987972309985382019-10-03T13:25:57.280-07:002019-10-03T13:25:57.280-07:00Oh, and another postscript: whoever was titling th...Oh, and another postscript: whoever was titling these adaptations did indeed hate the definite article. The novel is THE Mysterious Island, in French or in English, much as H.G. Wells' novel was THE First Men In the Moon. The movie's just "First Men In the Moon." I guess it's to emphasize the breathless matinee excitement that is simply not demonstrated by the actual product in either case?Hunter Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10925220178171355473noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7799692319538063538.post-56204659170971282462019-10-03T13:20:48.529-07:002019-10-03T13:20:48.529-07:00Ah well. I honestly do like Mysterious Island, bu...Ah well. I honestly do like Mysterious Island, but not really <i>too</i> much more than a 5/10 would indicate. The choppiness of the plotting probably has a lot to do with how they adapted a book that didn't have monsters in it, but since one of "they" was Ray Harryhausen, the <i>movie</i> was obviously going to have monsters in it. (What is possibly interesting in the book beyond another tale of island survival, I cannot possibly say. I guess the opportunity to retcon Nemo's death, then kill him again, along with introducing some major inconsistencies into his chronology?)<br /><br />Even so, I might put it ahead of the movie it serves as an off-brand sequel to (Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) because, whatever else, it does have visually-interesting stuff happening every dozen or so minutes rather than Kirk Douglas getting drunk off formaldehyde. And I really love the heck out of the choreography around that terror bird.<br /><br />The weird thing is that Mysterious Island probably has a little more going for it than MOST Ray Harryhausen movies, which turn out to be reliably... well, not especially good, especially considering the reputation that precedes them (indeed, considering my childhood memories of his films). Nevertheless, unwisely or not, I spent a non-negligible sum of money on acquiring a lot of the damn things on blu-ray, and now I have passed the vague whimsy of Dynamation--and the vague boredom of the mediocre plots Dynamation apparently required--onto you.<br /><br />P.S.: If you think spending twenty minutes on a balloon in a movie called Mysterious Island is offensive, try out The First Men In the Moon, because you won't even begin to guess when they actually get to the damn moon.Hunter Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10925220178171355473noreply@blogger.com