Dreadfully Boring

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

James Nicholson and Samuel Arkoff were obviously hoping for another JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH when they were making this film. Come to that, even another MYSTERIOUS ISLAND may have been something. Sadly, whereas both of those films were consistently entertaining, MASTER OF THE WORLD turns out to be one of the dullest Jules Verne adaptations that I've ever witnessed. There are approximately two potentially exciting situations in the entire film, both of which are mishandled. The rest is packed with dialogue and lame characters arguing with each other.Indeed, there are two good things about this film. Their names are Vincent Price and Charles Bronson. Everything else is just below par, especially the supporting cast with whom we have to spend much time. First up we have the token female, a bland presence. It's impossible to understand why two men would fight over her, when she's such a forgettable and personality-free woman. Secondly, there's a crusty old inventor who must be one of the most irritating and plain unlikeable characters in the history of film - he spends the whole time complaining or shouting, and even when he escapes at the end, he isn't happy. Thirdly, we have the young male romantic lead who spends the entire time fighting with Bronson and even attempts to kill him - only for him to fail and Bronson to instantly forgive him (?). Things sink lower with the introduction of a "comedy" French cook whose comic relief is simply excruciating. Things briefly look as if they might become interesting when muscular peplum actor Richard Harrison pops up, but it's in a non-speaking bit as the ship's helmsman.I'm not sure whose idea it was to cast Charles Bronson as this film's hero. He's not the first person you'd think of for a children's adventure such as this, but his presence oddly works. Bronson gives a good performance as the non-violent prisoner who agrees with Price's ambition but is determined to stop him nonetheless. His ruthless character is one of the more interesting things this film has to offer. Obviously, though, the best thing on offer is Vincent Price, who gives a typically great performance as the misguided villain of the piece, playing him as a tormented and mournful soul who just wants peace but ends up murdering lots of people. Sadly, he's wasted in this insipid movie.MASTER OF THE WORLD is a bright, impossibly colourful film with a consistently chirpy movie score. It also contains some of the most disappointing special effects in a film of this type, from the dodgy back projection to the dodgy stock footage which pops up nown again. When we see a superimposed ship flying over a native battle then we know we're in trouble. One scene has Bronson and Frankham dangling from ropes over a forest, dodging trees and rocks alike. Sadly the special effects are so unconvincing as to render this worthless. It's a shame that MASTER OF THE WORLD is such a flop, as the story is quite a good one with an interesting theme. If the special effects had been better, if the film had had more incident and if something had actually happened, then this might have been watchable. As it is, it's not. I say turn it off after the interesting footage of primitive flying machines at the beginning.

The theme is similar to Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea." An unusually intelligent and industrious man who thinks war is terrible nevertheless wages his own private attacks on military vessels. It's Captain Robur in this story and Captain Nemo in the other. Verne is worth following because he, in a manner similar to H.G. Wells, pioneered science fiction. You might recall Well's "anti-war" story "War of the Worlds." That was long before the tape recorders and analog electric meters that characterized the "science fiction" written for early television and movies. Verne has an excusable innocence of later scientific discoveries. His scientific foresight was engaging and adventurous. It is the sort of imagination that makes the basis for a good story. The characters are as interesting as the wonders of science they encounter. Vincent Price as Captain Robur might be confusing as the character is not as sinister as the sort Price usually plays.

One might wonder after first hearing about "Master of the World" is how the filmmakers were able to pull off this Jules Verne adaptation with one of American-International Pictures' B movie budgets. Well, the interiors of the flying craft look okay, and I guess the model of the flying craft itself is okay. But otherwise, the low budget shows, with ample use of stock footage and a lot of shoddy special effect sequences. The screenplay has some holes as well, such as the fact that it's never revealed how the villain managed to construct his flying craft in the first place. And it's really weird seeing tough guy Charles Bronson in a movie that's essentially a fantasy. But despite these problems, the movie is kind of fun if you approach it the right way. It's goofy, but naive in a way that makes the movie kind of charming. And except for the lengthy black and white opening sequence, the movie never gets boring; you'll be curious about how things will be wrapped up in the end. If you are in a kind of silly mood when sitting down to watch the movie, there's a good chance you'll be entertained.

This is an OK film. Vincent Price does his usual hammy bit, and if you like Price you will like the film, if you don't, you won't. This however, is far from his best film ("Theatre Of Death", "The Raven" and "The House On Haunted Hill" are a few that come to mind). What is interesting is Charles Bronson's presence in this film, he was badly miscast I can tell you, John Strock is probably one of the lightest roles that Bronson ever played in his career (Although most of his characters had some humor to them (Jack Murphy "Murphy's Law" comes to mind)). Perhaps only Josh Corey in You Can't Win 'Em All (Without question Bronson's WORST film), Graham in "From Noon Til Three" and Jay Killion in "Assassination" were lighter characters. There are other films that were lighter in scope ("Four For Texas" where he played Matson, comes to mind, but his character was nothing to laugh at or about). Basically watch it for Price, not Bronson.