Post by foster1941 on Jan 17, 2005 4:09:13 GMT -5
This afternoon I saw a double-feature, on the big screen, of beautifully restored prints of Mysterious Island and Jason and the Argonauts. It was a packed house (including lots of parents with their kids) and in-between films there was a ~30 minute talk and Q&A session with Ray Harryhausen himself (who is still very spry and well-spoken despite being well into his 80s). It's things like this make me glad I live in LA (and that I have to try to remember when I'm stuck in freeway gridlock).
I assume everyone here's already seen Jason and the Argonauts so you don't need me to tell you how good that is, but Mysterious Island was new to me and is also a lot of fun. It's based on a Jules Verne book (a loose sequel to "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea") and thus less "fantastical" (in a D&D/magical sense) than Harryhausen's Greek Mythology and Sinbad movies, but there are still lots of giant monsters and cool 'primitive' scenery, a babe who spends half the movie in a 'cavegirl' outfit with lots of exposed thighs and cleavage, and a rousing score by Bernard Hermann. What more could you ask for in a movie? (Fun trivia: the credited director (which means he directed the actors, before Harryhausen and his puppets took over in post-production) is Cy Endfield, who also directed Zulu, which is easily one of the 2 or 3 best war movies ever made).
I assume everyone here's already seen Jason and the Argonauts so you don't need me to tell you how good that is, but Mysterious Island was new to me and is also a lot of fun. It's based on a Jules Verne book (a loose sequel to "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea") and thus less "fantastical" (in a D&D/magical sense) than Harryhausen's Greek Mythology and Sinbad movies, but there are still lots of giant monsters and cool 'primitive' scenery, a babe who spends half the movie in a 'cavegirl' outfit with lots of exposed thighs and cleavage, and a rousing score by Bernard Hermann. What more could you ask for in a movie? (Fun trivia: the credited director (which means he directed the actors, before Harryhausen and his puppets took over in post-production) is Cy Endfield, who also directed Zulu, which is easily one of the 2 or 3 best war movies ever made).
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