The Lost Continent

Unexpected. An interesting film. A little too much rock climbing for my taste; but, all in all, very enjoyable. Best scenes of dinosaurs in combat I've seen.

My favorite sci-fi movie, in fact my FAVORITE MOVIE. Why? It had a limited budget but with special effects including stop-motion animation and a "cheesy" theme. An atom-powered rocket...stock footage of a V-2 rocket taking off from White Sands in the early fifties...a 1941-vintage battleship (Arizona Class) with two main masts as a research vessel in the Pacific code-named "Neptune". "Top of the World" was a radar unit inside a mobile vehicle. Then why is it so good a movie?

It is pure escapism. The movie's musical score is riveting. The special effects, though limited, are state-of-the-art for 1951. There are no "gila monsters" substituting for dinosaurs except for one scene near the top of the "lost continent" about 25 minutes into the movie. The Brontosaurus and Triceratops look decent for what was thought of as their appearance in the fifties.

Cesar Romero (the Joker in 1966-1967 "Batman" as well as numerous thirties-forties movies), Chick Chandler, Hugh Beaumont (Beaver's father), John Hoyt ("When Worlds Collide", "Time Travelers" in 1964, "X-The Man With X-Ray Eyes" and Twilight Zone episodes), Hugh Bissell (1956 "Invasion of the Body Snatchers") and Sid Melton ("Danny Thomas Show" and "Atomic Submarine") provide credible acting to the movie.

Why Hillary Brooke and Aquanetta were given higher credit is a mystery to me than some of these actors mentioned, above. Nonetheless, this movie is the ONE movie I have seen 100+ times and never get tired of watching.

Unfortunately the DVD master has "light bars" through some of the sequences but that does not deter from my memories of making this the greatest movie of my life.

My only complaint is that I wish they could find a better master copy...

A bit dated, but well acted. Better than I remembered from what was shown back in the 1950's on TV. Good cast and moves along well. Special effects were some of the best for the 1950's.

A classic "Lost fill in the blank" movie, with a plot and good acting, given the script they had to work with. The effects were not too bad for the time and the stars went on to better opportunities.

This movie has always been a special one for me. I thoroughly enjoy the thought that somewhere still in the pacific there maybe an island that harbors prehistoric life. This is why King Kong is one of my very favorites.

Yet to be realistic, satellites most likely have scanned every spot on the globe and it is likely that some cigar/candy wrapper litter-bug has visited each and every lonely spot.

The acting is quite good and the trek through the lost continent is superb as far as I am concerned. Never mind that the dinosaurs seems wooden and in fact there is one scene that the triceratops looks like some one has made a cardboard model and moved it through the scene. And why do these dinosaurs, Triceratops and Brontosaurus, both of which are primarily vegetarians in nature, attack people on sight? Yet who cares. The story is great, the location is super, and this is a movie well worth having on the self to see now and then.

I would have given this 5 stars if the dinosaurs were a little more true to form and, actually, they are not all that bad, to be honest.

Joe