Sammi enjoys the sci-fi/fantasy/horror films that I grew up on. I wish more reaction channels showed more appreciation for these wonderful old classics.
"What I did was in the name of peace. Your war, like all wars, glories in devastation and death." "Well, my war will set men free." Fun Fact: Originally, there was going to be a scene featuring a man-eating plant, but it was never shot. Location Location Fact: The opening scenes at the Confederate prison camp were shot in England and the exteriors were shot at Shepperton Square. The scenes on the island were actually filmed on the coast of Spain. Practical Over CGI Fact: The armature for the crab is covered with the shell of a real crab instead of the usual latex. Ray Harryhausen bought three crabs for the production, having one humanely killed by a museum employee as boiling it would have changed the color of the shell. The other two were used for close-ups of the crabs' mandibles, which would otherwise have required a huge amount of time to properly animate. These crabs subsequently served as a dinner entrée for Harryhausen and producer Charles H. Schneer. Lost In Adaptation Fact: Producer Charles H. Schneer claimed that he chose this story after reading an article stating that Jules Verne's The Mysterious Island (1875) was the most-looked-at book at public libraries. The original novel does not contain any reference to giant or extinct animals or plants. Film makers decided to include this to make the movie more exciting, appearing ever since as the most recognizable and persistent aspect of every subsequent adaptation of this Jules Verne work. Although Captain Nemo (Herbert Lom) has been famously played by English actors, the character's actual origin is Indian, the son of a maharajah, according to Jules Verne himself. The name means "Nobody" in Latin, which further shrouds his mysterious identity.
Stay on the Harryhausen train with....it came from beneath the sea....earth versus flying saucers....20 million miles to earth not claymation....his figures were not clay....the crab was a live crab cooked hollowed out and rods put in it to articulate it.....he call it...dynamation. Great work Sammy...thanks
Just Googles "dynamation," not sure why I've never come across the term before, but glad I'm educated now :) Thank you for tuning in, and for sharing all the recommendations!
Thanks for this one, Sammy. I notice that your volume of output varies, and we don’t know what you do for a living full-time, but I would love to see your subscribership increase. Love your output and commentary.
Thank you for your support my friend, indeed, it's a challenge to publish weekly, and I've always meant to try to ... won't give up, will try harder to stay consistent :) And thank you for the kind words, and for tuning in!
Here's a 'reaction' for you. One Saturday afternoon when I was twelve or thirteen years old, I went to a theatre in my neighbourhood and sat down by myself to watch Mysterious Island, having no idea what was coming. When the movie was finished I stayed and watched it a second time, mesmerized. The following day, Sunday, I went back and sat through it twice again. This incredible adventure story had all the right elements to transport someone my age to another world, and I encountered it at precisely the right time. I was completely absorbed, and if there was anyone else in the theatre I was quite unaware of them. Decades later, this remains one of my best movie experiences ever.
Watched several great classics over the last week, Taking of Pelham 123” 1974 The Train” 1964 Run silent run deep” 1958 And The Killing” 1956 Pelham in color the rest black and white classics! Seen them all a couple few times, so great, thanks Sammy! The train has incredible practical effects and stunts!
I couldn’t look back as to whether you’ve seen Seventh/Golden Voyage of Sinbad, but there’s still some remaining Ray Harryhausen & Charles Schneer epics out there to be explored- Like HG Wells’ “First Men in the Moon”, or “The 3 Worlds of Gulliver”, which gets unfairly overlooked for Harryhausen’s stop-motion not providing any monsters.
Claymation is a subset of stop-motion animation using figures made from clay or plasticine. Ray Harryhausen's models we're usually cast rubber over metal armatures. Best. Mike.
As always, I love your happy vibe and perceptive commentary. I knew I had seen this film on TV as a kid and had read the book, but I could remember nothing of it until the episode with the bees. I especially remember being impressed by the walk underwater and the encounter with the ancient ruins, which I think introduced me to the idea of underwater archeology. I feel inspired to see this whole film again. James Mason, an A-list actor, played Nemo in 20,000 Leagues and played the villain in “North By Northwest,” so he would have been way too expensive for this film, I expect. As it was, I was very surprised to see Gary Merrill in this movie. He was most noted for his roles in “All About Eve” and “12 O’Clock High.”
That underwater scene was phenomenal! I wish we could get a short film just on that citadel! And it makes sense now that you mention it why James Mason wouldn't have reprised his role for Captain Nemo, quite a shame though, I enjoyed him thoroughly as that character in 20,000 Leagues ...
Hi Sammy, great reaction to this movie that often is forgotten, it crops up here on the Film4 channel, I like to watch it if its on. Contains one of my favourite quotes from Nemo...'contact with my species often disappoints me'....BTW, Herbert Lom went on to play Clouseau's long suffering boss in The Pink Panther movies and he's great at comedy too.
In my youth in the olden times of the '70s, if this marvelous movie was listed in the weekly TV Guide magazine I would be sure to not miss its broadcast. Today we can watch cinema at our leisure but at the time it was usually "miss it now on teevee, wait another year to see it again". Other people have probably already said this in the comments but I must say: it's not _claymation_ ... that is a particular kind of stop motion animation in which clay is used and the effect is cartoony-- think the Gumby kids show or The California Raisins (dating myself yet again, lol). Ray was the king of stop motion in his heyday. This movie seems to use a mix of Ray's work, plus some puppetry and/or large props filmed with the actors, plus some footage of a real crab's body. I do not believe that many films have often used audio animatronic effects (a technique which you mentioned here); maybe in the 90s version of Total Recall, stuff like that. It seems a very pricey and complicated process, creating a creature that is moved by remote controls. If memory serves, the 1989 anthology show Tales from the Crypt had a fun host (The Cryptkeeper, voiced deliciously by John Kassir) who was partially brought to life (after death, haha) via puppeteers and audio animatronic wizardry. Thank you, and keep the good flicks coming! Love these fantasy/adventure tales from the golden age of Hollywood; and horror too.
Indeed, a different time in Hollywood :) Such inventive filmmaking, I had no idea how Ray got to do some of those effects, but they were great, and the actors interaction with them was spot-on!
Greetings. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen a video from you in my feed. This was a fun watch. Hey, I noticed a vintage ViewMaster in the background of your room. That’s a model C. Not rare or valuable, but unusual to see a younger person with one. Does it indicate a side interest in 3D for you? I’m a huge enthusiast of all forms of 3D - stereoscopes, images, books, movies, games, 3D and VR. I dabble in 3D photography, VR180, 2D-3D conversion etc. I also attend 3Dcon every year. Let me know if you share any of these interests. Always fun to make a friend who is likeminded.
Good eye! Indeed, it is a model C, have 2 of them in fact. 1 Model Junior Projector, 1 Model E, and 1 Tru-Vue Viewer. I became interested in yet about 1-2 years ago when I used to attend garage sales, or go antique hunting :) I don't think I've gone in-depth as you have, but it sound fascinating!
Sammi enjoys the sci-fi/fantasy/horror films that I grew up on. I wish more reaction channels showed more appreciation for these wonderful old classics.