Starring Michael Craig, Joan Greenwood, Michael Callan, Gary Merrill, Herbert Lom
Directed by Cy Endfield
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)
During the Civil War, Union soldiers escape a Confederate prison via a hot air balloon, and crash land on an unknown island where they encounter plants and creatures that have grown into giants.
One of my favorite films, the picture combines a strong story (based on Jules Verne's classic novel), with wonderful special effects by stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen. The excellent cast, despite their characters' different backgrounds and heritages, display a real camaraderie that's infectious to the audience, cinematographer Willkie Cooper lenses colorful landscapes, and the great Bernard Herrmann accentuates the action with an adventurous music score that highlights the perils and fantastic creatures encountered by our heroes. Verne's novel was a followup to his 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, and both stories featured his dynamic character Captain Nemo. Fans of Disney's 1954 adaptation of Leagues will be pleased with the similar design of Nemo's equipment and submarine in this film, making it seem like a cinematic sequel, although with Lom playing Nemo this time around. It's a wonderful production, visually and sonically as appealing as Verne's prose was to his audience's imagination.
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