Here it is, the granddaddy of all Lost World genre movies. Many have been made since this one. But this is the one that almost all others pay homage to, if not outright steal from. This is the one that first set the bar way back in 1925. And amazingly, though many have tried, few have matched or exceeded the storytelling potential first mined in this movie. The original clocked in at 106 minutes or so, the version I own from runs 93 minutes and is considered the most complete. The cut down version of 60 or so minutes is not recommended.
I watch this movie for historical enjoyment, not to watch it with the expectation of watching a great movie. It is not because this is a silent movie (there are several silent films I think are great), it is simply that the story lags in places and is a little loose in others. Even with that caveat, this is an amazing movie. According to the original 1925 souvenir program, 'It took six times longer to produce this picture than any other production in film history, for it was more than seven years from its inception to completion." It is in this spirit, of this movie as a pioneering accomplishment of imagination, that I enjoy it so much.
The movie is based on a book written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The book is great fun and is well worth reading. Much of the spirit of the book is present in the movie. For the movie a female character and a romantic triangle are introduced. I can't think of any Lost World type movies that have failed to include a female love interest, it is that compelling and necessary in this genre. However, in this movie, the love triangle is tepid and somewhat dull. I suspect some of the lost footage is tied to the trading post scene, where a love ballad is supposed to be sung. Maybe that footage would have helped deepen the romantic triangle. I doubt it. But if the love story falls flat, the characters of Challenger and Roxton are perfectly cast, perhaps never since equaled. The constant and hilarious bickering between Challenger and Summerlee, one of the delights of the book, is at least represented in this movie.
But it is the stop motion dinosaurs that justifiably make this movie famous. So many movies have failed to come even close to the bar set by these dinosaurs. This is their coming out party in a major film. They look great, as if they jumped out of one of the fabulous paintings of Charles R. Knight. They are active, quick and powerful. They fight and kill with gusto and ferocity! These dinosaurs are true tyrant lizards, unapologetic masters of their world. And at the end, with the brontosaurus swimming out to sea, we know that the true primordial can never be contained or tamed.
The setting for the movie is a wonderful combination of paintings, miniatures and actual jungle footage. And there is so much setting to play with - an inaccessible, forgotten land, intricate caves, skulking man-apes, primitive tribes (in the book, not the movie), lost explorers, volcanoes which threaten to destroy everything, and of course, the hope that something could be brought back.
This is a must see movie for all fans of the lost world genre. Who would not want to venture off into this primeval lost world? When Challenger calls out for volunteers, I want to jump up and shout, "Sign me up!"
I watch this movie for historical enjoyment, not to watch it with the expectation of watching a great movie. It is not because this is a silent movie (there are several silent films I think are great), it is simply that the story lags in places and is a little loose in others. Even with that caveat, this is an amazing movie. According to the original 1925 souvenir program, 'It took six times longer to produce this picture than any other production in film history, for it was more than seven years from its inception to completion." It is in this spirit, of this movie as a pioneering accomplishment of imagination, that I enjoy it so much.
The movie is based on a book written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The book is great fun and is well worth reading. Much of the spirit of the book is present in the movie. For the movie a female character and a romantic triangle are introduced. I can't think of any Lost World type movies that have failed to include a female love interest, it is that compelling and necessary in this genre. However, in this movie, the love triangle is tepid and somewhat dull. I suspect some of the lost footage is tied to the trading post scene, where a love ballad is supposed to be sung. Maybe that footage would have helped deepen the romantic triangle. I doubt it. But if the love story falls flat, the characters of Challenger and Roxton are perfectly cast, perhaps never since equaled. The constant and hilarious bickering between Challenger and Summerlee, one of the delights of the book, is at least represented in this movie.
But it is the stop motion dinosaurs that justifiably make this movie famous. So many movies have failed to come even close to the bar set by these dinosaurs. This is their coming out party in a major film. They look great, as if they jumped out of one of the fabulous paintings of Charles R. Knight. They are active, quick and powerful. They fight and kill with gusto and ferocity! These dinosaurs are true tyrant lizards, unapologetic masters of their world. And at the end, with the brontosaurus swimming out to sea, we know that the true primordial can never be contained or tamed.
The setting for the movie is a wonderful combination of paintings, miniatures and actual jungle footage. And there is so much setting to play with - an inaccessible, forgotten land, intricate caves, skulking man-apes, primitive tribes (in the book, not the movie), lost explorers, volcanoes which threaten to destroy everything, and of course, the hope that something could be brought back.
This is a must see movie for all fans of the lost world genre. Who would not want to venture off into this primeval lost world? When Challenger calls out for volunteers, I want to jump up and shout, "Sign me up!"