Mysterious Island is the sequel to Jules Vernes classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) starring Kirk Douglas.
Also following a Jules Verne novel (Kind of) it tells the story of a group of people who find themselves stranded on a "mysterious" island and must fight to survive.
Well that's the concept of the original book anyway, apparently the films creators thought that a tale of mere survival would be boring and decided to gratuitously amend it to fit their narrative and it simply doesn't work.
You see in believing that Jules Vernes work is "Boring" they took a tale of survival and turned it into Jason & the Argonauts. That's right we see giant monsters and oversized animals besieging them. Adapting a book is one thing, but that is just sheer lunacy and makes a mockery of the source material.
The end result is a special effects laden tale that lacks character, structure and truth be told a competent cast. Even industry veteran Herbert Lom as Captain Nemo hams it up to ridiculous levels.
There are plenty of adaptations of Vernes work, this is perhaps one to avoid.
The Good:
Has a novelty value
The Bad:
Really ugly in places
Recasting Captain Nemo
Not loyal to the source material
Also following a Jules Verne novel (Kind of) it tells the story of a group of people who find themselves stranded on a "mysterious" island and must fight to survive.
Well that's the concept of the original book anyway, apparently the films creators thought that a tale of mere survival would be boring and decided to gratuitously amend it to fit their narrative and it simply doesn't work.
You see in believing that Jules Vernes work is "Boring" they took a tale of survival and turned it into Jason & the Argonauts. That's right we see giant monsters and oversized animals besieging them. Adapting a book is one thing, but that is just sheer lunacy and makes a mockery of the source material.
The end result is a special effects laden tale that lacks character, structure and truth be told a competent cast. Even industry veteran Herbert Lom as Captain Nemo hams it up to ridiculous levels.
There are plenty of adaptations of Vernes work, this is perhaps one to avoid.
The Good:
Has a novelty value
The Bad:
Really ugly in places
Recasting Captain Nemo
Not loyal to the source material