Mysterious Island Reviews

If you’re wondering why Ray Harryhausen was brought on a Jules Verne adaptation, look no further than two then-recent live-action adaptations from Disney. In 1954, they brought about 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, a still beloved piece of nostalgia that made piles of money and brought home two Oscars, and in 1960 they released Swiss Family Robinson, which also made piles upon piles of money. Columbia had the bright idea of taking a Jules Verne property, rushing it into production, and adding in Ray Harryhausen for good measure, despite the source material completely lacking in gigantic monsters.

It’s a good thing they decided to enliven the proceedings with Harryhausen’s stop-motion creatures, because otherwise there’s very little going on here to keep your interest. This is one of more anemic entries in Verne’s bibliography, and it bears little resemblance to the popular ideas about what its contents are. In fact, this film is probably the one that popularized the notion of the island being filled with humongous crabs, bees, prehistoric birds, and bits of mordant humor. For instance, after managing to knock the gigantic crab into a boiling geyser we’re treated to them lounging around the carcass discussing how tasty the meat was. A similar joke happens after the Phorusrhacos attack leads to a vaguely Thanksgiving looking scenario.

Not to say that there isn’t some art to be found in this breezy, goofy matinee picture. Harryhausen’s effects are consummate, with the Phorusrhacos and giant bee attacks being typically thrilling and fun pieces of pop entertainment from the master. These sequences, like so many others in Harryhausen’s filmography, is aided by a strong score from Bernard Hermann. Hermann translates the adventure, danger, excitement and whimsy of any given moment into his orchestrations. Just remember whenever the plot doesn’t make any sense (and it often doesn’t, but that’s practically beside the point) or when the acting waivers, there’s always another stop-motion creation around the corner and Hermann’s underscoring to entertain you.

Or there’s the handsome faces of Michael Craig and Michael Callan to stare at, the loveliness of Beth Rogan, and the solidly matinee turns from Gary Merrill and Joan Greenwood. Greenwood is especially good here, using her clipped posh tones to create bits of humor and bothering to give her caricature a bit of a personality. This all leads towards the surprise appearance from Herbert Lom as Captain Nemo, the benefactor of our marooned heroes. The film was never concerned with the numerous mysteries of the island, in spite of being dubbed Mysterious Island, so the revelation that Nemo was behind, well, everything is a bit muted. So it comes as a shock just how idiosyncratic and unique a performance he gives in the role, turning Nemo into a cracked humanist with questionable methods.

Naturally, Mysterious Island ends in a fiery volcanic explosion, because of the Chekov’s gun principle. Why else would you introduce a bubbling volcano in the first moments on the island if you didn’t plan on having it blow by the end? While not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination, Mysterious Island is goofy formula done right. Perhaps a bit weaker than a few other films in the Harryhausen canon, but still worth a cursory glance. I mean, our heroes escape Nemo’s ship, an active volcano, and a rampaging cephalopod in the final act. There’s a certain time and place for this kind of well-made lunacy, and it’s on a lazy weekend afternoon curled up on the couch.