To me, this movie is perfection.

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

I didn't realise until I read about this film that it was based on the book by Jules Verne, and is the sequel to 20,000 Leagues Beneath the Sea, so I was made much more keen to see it, directed by Cy Enfield (Zulu). Basically set in 1865, during the American Civil War, during the siege of Richmond, Virginia, Union soldiers Captain Cyrus Harding (Michael Craig), Neb Nugent (Dan Jackson) and Herbert Brown (Michael Callan) are POWs. They make their escape in an air balloon during a hurricane storm, with two confederate prisoners, Sergeant Pencroft (Percy Herbert) and journalist Gideon Spilitt (Gary Merrill), the storm takes the group to a mysterious island near New Zealand in the South Pacific, with lush tropical jungles, harsh plains, and many volcanoes. Captain Harding appoints himself leader of the group, they look for food, they find that they are stranded on a deserted island, before being attacked by a giant crab, but they overthrow the beast and make it their first meal. As time passes they build themselves shelter, find two other castaways who got caught in the same storm, English aristocrat Lady Mary Fairchild (Joan Greenwood) and her niece Elena (Beth Rogan), a trunk of weapons, a sextant (an astronomical instrument used to determine latitude and longitude at sea) and evidence that pirates marooned a man. The group are encountered by a series of more deadly creatures that inhabit the island, including a Phororhacos, a giant prehistoric flightless bird bird, and gigantic honey bees, that build large honeycomb in caves. Pirates later return to the island, the group are able to fend them off and sink their ship, they are then met and helped by Captain Nemo (Herbert Lom), mysterious commander of the legendary submarine Nautilus, including an encounter with cephalopod, a gigantic prehistoric mollusc. In the end, an erupting volcano threatens to obliterate their island, the group are forced to make their escape, so they find a way to raise the sunken pirate ship and use it to sail away, Captain Nemo however is trapped in a cave and is killed when it collapses, the group escape and vow to continue Nemo's dream of making peace in the world. It is a simple story of people stranded on a deserted island doing what they can to survive against the many beastly inhabitants, the creatures brought to life by the great stop-motion animation of Ray Harryhausen are indeed what keep you watching, and a good musical score by Bernard Herrmann, overall it is an entertaining classic adventure. Worth watching!

I may have been only 8 years old when I first saw Mysterious Island and there were some scenes in the movie that gave me nightmares for years to come but more than 50 years later I maintain great memories of my first Ray Harryhausen film. This was also the very first film that I ever saw in the movie theaters and it turned me in to a movie junkie for the rest of my life. I did realize it was only a movie and through the passing of time, the nightmares vanished and some wonderful memories are what I have still retained. Movie makers like Ray Harryhausen are worth their weight in gold. By gold I mean Academy Award gold. With the sad passing of Ray Harryhausen in May 2013 at the age of 92, I sincerely hope the Academy honors him with a special tribute to his body of work and his vast contributions to the evolution of the special effects technique.Ray Harryhausen's creatures were the work of a true innovator. There is one scene in Mysterious Island where Michael Callan and Joan Greenwood are out exploring in the caves on the island and get caught when the giant bees return home to their honey comb hive. The bees try and devour the two explorers but they hide behind the honey combs until the bees fly out of the hive. One of the truly suspenseful scenes of all time.This is a great family film that provides full value for ones entertainment dollar. More than fifty years later I still watch this original adventure movie and I am still in awe of how well done this film was made. It contains superb special effects (without any of today's boring (CGI) computer graphic interface), adventure, heroism, action, romance, and based on a storyline from Jules Verne that was first published in 1874.Mysterious Island is a classic adventure film story that has been remade several times over the past five decades by many other production companies. Don't be fooled by the subsequent imitations, they may be good, but the 1961 Mysterious Island is "THE ORIGINAL" classic and I am hoping to see a clip of it in this years Academy Award ceremony as part of a special tribute to the late and great innovator of the special visual effects, the great Ray Harryhausen.A perfect 10 out of 10 rating!

This movie must have looked great back in 1961, though the special effects today look pretty dated. Now I am not trying to be nasty--I can respect the work Ray Harryhausen did with the film but in this age of incredible CGI work, his stop-motion work does look pretty quaint. Plus, the superimposed backgrounds and other effects just seem to have aged poorly. HOWEVER, the film still looks good and is entertaining--making it sort of a 'turn off your brain and enjoy' sort of film.It begins at a Confederate prison camp during the US Civil War. A group of Union soldiers have a remarkably easy time escaping and seizing an observation balloon. But, once in the balloon they hit a huge storm that takes them way out over the Pacific Ocean. After many days, they arrive at an odd island--odd because there are some HUGE creatures there and also because oddly fortuitous things keep happening. First, some ladies conveniently land there as well (yet the island is supposedly in the middle of no where). Second, when pirates or giant animals attack, Captain Nemo suddenly appears and saves the day. Third, when the island decides to explode and kill them all, they manage to create a means of escape.Now you might think this would make for a silly film, but the overall effect was actually pretty cool. The acting, while most of the actors are relative unknowns, was quite good. The only really familiar faces I saw were Herbert Lom (who played a nice Captain Nemo) and Gary Merrill (one of Bette Davis' many husbands and a very underrated actor). I think kids, fantasy and Harryhausen fans will enjoy this. However, if you are a person who only watches DVDs from the Criterion Collection or the latest and most up to date films, you probably won't enjoy this film nearly as much. I liked it because it was charming for its kitsch value--plus it was pretty fun.By the way, although there are several silly effects in the film, the one that made me laugh is one I see all the time. At one point the folks find a skeleton and it is fully articulated--in other words, all the bones are connected like you'd see in a skeleton in a science classroom. Well, despite seeing these all the time in movies, once the flesh is removed from a skeleton, the ligaments and tendons become disconnected from the bones and the whole thing falls apart. In other words, you'd just find a pile of bones. That's your biology lesson for today, kids!

Compared with other Ray Harryhausen pictures, like the Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, I prefer Mysterious Island. Not because of the effects, but because this movie is actually exciting and well acted / directed. Unlike the very cheesy (still great though in its own right) Seventh Voyage. For example the escape in the balloon delivers some exciting moments and other adventures on the island as well. Great voice over as well, during some scenes. Love the background paintings of the volcano/island. Nice atmosphere, and a great great score form Bernard Herrmann. (my favourite Herrmann score, its rousing!) For those who like the score... there is an absolutely great new re-recording available, spot on performance and conducting. (label: Tribute Film Classics), a work of love. Google it up, enjoy! Highly recommended. (no affiliation)