THE LOST WORLD [1960 / 2015] [Blu-ray] [UK Release]
Discover The Most Amazing of All Possible Worlds! Exactly As It Did At The Dawn Of Time!
An eccentric scientist Prof. George Edward Challenger [Claude Rains] returns from the Amazon with news of a distant plateau where creatures from the dawn of time still prowl the jungle. To prove his story, he gathers a team of explorers, including a journalist Ed Malone [David Hedison], a playboy adventurer Lord John Roxton [Michael Rennie], a beautiful socialite Jennifer Holmes [Jill St John] and a pilot Manuel Gomez [Fernando Lamas] with a secret plan of revenge.
But an unexpected attack on their camp leaves the group stranded in a world of dinosaurs and other exotic creatures, where humans are no longer lords of the earth, they are helpless prey! ‘THE LOST WORLD’ [1960] is a 1960 fantasy adventure film based on the novel of the same name by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and from legendary fantasy/adventure director and producer Irwin Allen [‘Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea,’ ‘The Towering Inferno’ and ‘The Poseidon Adventure’].
FILM FACT: In 1959 Irwin Allen purchased the rights to Doyle's novel for $100,000 and he wanted to make the film with Trevor Howard, Peter Ustinov, Victor Mature and Gilbert Roland who had been in the 1925 film. So Irwin Allen hired Charles Bennett to help him adapt the book into script form and got Willis O'Brien, who worked on the 1924 film, to do models. Irwin Allen eventually received financing to make the film from Buddy Adler, head of production at 20th Century Fox. Special effects for the film were rather basic and involved monitor lizards, iguanas, and crocodiles affixed with miniature horns and fins. Director Irwin Allen later stated that though he wanted stop motion models, he could only work with lizards and live creatures in accordance with the studio's budget.
Cast: Michael Rennie, Jill St. John, David Hedison, Claude Rains, Fernando Lamas, Richard Haydn, Ray Stricklyn, Jay Novello, Vitina Marcus, Ian Wolfe, Ross Brown (uncredited), Colin Campbell (uncredited), Fred Cavens (uncredited), Larry Chance (uncredited), Phyllis Coghlan (uncredited), Alex Denaszody (uncredited), Anne Dore (uncredited), Alex Finlayson (uncredited), Bess Flowers (uncredited), Peter Fontaine (uncredited), Don Forbes (uncredited), John Graham (uncredited), Sam Harris (uncredited), Ivo Henderson (uncredited), Stuart Holmes (uncredited), Kenner G. Kemp (uncredited), Harold Miller (uncredited), George Pelling (uncredited), Ruggero Romor (uncredited), Brian Roper (uncredited), Cosmo Sardo (uncredited), Jacqueline Squire (uncredited), Bert Stevens (uncredited), Gilchrist Stuart (uncredited) and Ben Wright (uncredited)
Director: Irwin Allen
Producers: Cliff Reid and Irwin Allen
Screenplay: Charles Bennett (screenplay), Irwin Allen (screenplay) and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (book) (uncredited)
Composer: Bert Shefter and Paul Sawtell
Cinematography: Winton C. Hoch, A.S.C. (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p (Color by Deluxe)
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 (CinemaScope)
Audio: English: 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio
Subtitles: None
Running Time: 97 minutes
Region: Region B/2
Number of discs: 1
Studio: 20th Century Fox / 101 Films
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: The theatrical release of Irwin Allen’s ‘THE LOST WORLD’ [1960] must have been a dream come true, for fans of this type of genre film. Especially with a brand new breath-taking spectacular CinemaScope adventure in Color by Deluxe with an all-star cast and, most importantly, dinosaurs! The timing was certainly right. Universal had just three years previously begun releasing their great classic horror films to television for the first time. A monster fad was started, horror hosts in seemingly every major and some minor cities, bubble-gum collector’s cards at every register checkout, magazines devoted to cinematic horror on every magazine stand, and plastic model replicas of the most famous movie monsters in every hobby and toy store. Now, every Monster fan can own this brilliant 1960 versions of ‘THE LOST WORLD’ on this UK Blu-ray release.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1913 novel, “The Lost World,” tells the tale of Professor Challenger and his discovery of a tropical plateau where evolution has ceased and dinosaurs continue to proliferate. The book had been brought to the cinema screen (officially) only once before, in the now famously 1925 film starring screen legends Wallace Beery [Prof. George Edward Challenger] and Lewis Stone [Lord John Roxton]. It was one of the biggest hits of the silent film era; ‘THE LOST WORLD’ employed the art of stop motion animation to depict the prehistoric denizens. Although stop motion had been employed sporadically in the past, this more realistic use of the process was as every bit as startling and captivating to the public as ‘JURASSIC PARK’ [1993] would be to later audiences.
With director Irwin Allen’s film it bears almost no resemblance to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel, but despite this, we have a lot of fun and big adventure along the way with this film version of the novel. Prof. George Edward Challenger [Claude Rains] arrives in London to give a lecture on his latest discovery, the existence of dinosaurs in South America. Rather quickly, an expedition is financed by reporter Ed Malone’s [David Hedison] newspaper publisher with the proviso that he and great white hunter Lord John Roxton [Michael Rennie] accompany the Professor and his scientific nemesis Prof. Summerlee [Richard Haydn].
In short time they are in South America with their local guides Manuel Gomez [Fernando Llamas and Costa [Jay Novello]. Once on the plateau their helicopter is destroyed by a dinosaur stranding them in a Lost World. They encounter a big green spider, a beautiful native girl, and her tribe. Diamonds figure into the plot, also.
Claude Rains is a good Prof. George Edward Challenger, if a bit older than Wallace Beery in the original film. Prof. George Edward Challenger’s blustery and bombastic, his red hair adding to the concept that he’s under pressure and ready to explode. Michael Rennie makes a fine Lord John Roxton, younger than Lewis Stone. And David Hedison as Ed Malone is easily as good as Lloyd Bacon. Richard Hayden as Prof. Summerlee (the poor man’s Clifton Webb) is his usual supercilious self, a role that typecast him but was employed perfectly in the TV series ‘THE TWILIGHT ZONE’ in the episode “A Thing About Machines.” Fernando Llamas as Manuel Gomez plays his role as the guide with a dark earnestness while Jay Novello as Costa provides some humour as the comic coward.
Jennifer Holmes [Jill St. John], as the daughter of the backer of this junket, as lovely as she is, dressed in tight-fitting fuchsia pants and is as out of place here as a manikin in a mud hole, is simply a ridiculous presence in her pink stretch pants and booties. The poodle doesn’t help, either. One amusing scene occurs when her poodle wanders off only to confront a big dinosaur. Somehow, Jill St. John doesn’t see the giant lizard until she picks up the dog, and when she does she stands frozen in terror, her screaming bring all the others to save her.
The two return to an empty camp. Natives must have captured everyone, except for the poodle of course. And David Hedison who explains that they appeared from above oops, there's more. These remaining campers are taken prisoner, join the others in a cave, and prepare to die in a cannibalistic ritual after the drum solo. Creature-girl offers a way out, so off through a cavern of wind with natives in lukewarm pursuit we go. We stumble on Burton White [Ian Wolfe], now blind, who doesn't want to go with us and who tells Manuel Gomez that Santiago is dead. White gives out more guns and instructs us on directions through the caves to escape the altar of sacrifice to the fire god. We trek through lava caves and through the tendrils of grasping slime, into the graveyard of the damned, where dinosaur eggs and diamonds are discovered. Manuel Gomez pulls a gun, saying Santiago was his brother and he wants to kill Lord John Roxton. A dinosaur appears out of a lake and eats the other Spaniard, and somehow Lord John Roxton saves Manuel Gomez, who then runs to sacrifice his life yanking on a log which somehow unleashes rocks and lava onto the dinosaur (but wouldn't the log . . . never mind). Manuel Gomez falls into the sea of hot lava goo.
Despite the use of lizards and alligators decked out with fins, the dinosaurs are kind of fun on their own level. It was a thrill back in the day to watch them battle each other but now it’s just animal cruelty. Still, there are some nice tracking shots as one of them moves through the jungle and the scene with Jill St. John is nicely composed and composited. Also, the water monster that appears late in the picture is fairly cool, too, until they jam a human puppet down its throat. What really carry’s these images are the booming sound effects. These dinosaurs roar magnificently in impressive stereo. Of course it’s strictly comical to hear these lizards referred to as a Brontosaurus or Tyrannosaurus.
Later, the group find a cavern to use as their sleeping quarters, but what happened to all the camping equipment they brought along? A cosy fire and some nice fluffy ferns bring them all the comforts of home... but the good times don't last for long. The head-hunters come and get them and carry them off to their Easter Island inspired lair. Here plenty of bones give us the hint of what's to become of our leading players. These guys obviously can't wait for supper. Grandpa Longhair likes the large white bones best it seems. Through the help of the shapely native girl, they are led away from the head-hunters and taken to their old abandoned pal Burton White, who tells them the secret to escaping from the soon-to-be-erupting caverns.
They quickly take the advice from the blind man Burton White and why not, what have they got to lose...except their heads and eventually journey to the Cave of Fire, the only passage that will take them out of the plateau. The natives believe this is the altar to their fire god and are too scared to pass it... but they give them a good chase nonetheless. Here we see the grandest of the sets so far, this one sporting old dinosaur shells, spewing fires, and plenty of sooty smoke. Of course, a passageway like this can only mean one thing... That is...a dinosaur. This fella seems to enjoy the lava bath that he gets just before the film's ending, unlike Prof. George Edward Challenger who’s hanging on the brink of being boiled.
The rest emerge in time to see the plateau blow up volcanically. Prof. George Edward Challenger laments: "My lost world, lost forever." However, they did manage to save proof of their adventure: Lord John Roxton has diamonds which he gives to Ed Malone and Jennifer who now are on the marriage track somehow and the dinosaur egg hatches a tyrannosaur which Prof. George Edward Challenger predicts will grow big enough to wreak havoc on London, at which point they should all move out. Ho! Ho! Ho! The End!
Unlike the 1925 film, which brings the Brontosaurus to London and lets it wreak havoc on the city, this films ends with the hatching of a dinosaur egg? It seemed to promise a sequel but one that was not forthcoming. ‘THE LOST WORLD’ [1960] was another let's-go-on-a-scientific-expedition classic. This film was also released by 20th Century Fox but unlike ‘THE LOST WORLD’ features sets that bear the professional quality mark of the studios head of the art department, Lyle Wheeler.
Blu-ray Image Quality – 101 Films has finally released a UK Blu-ray Release in a very impressive 1080p image presentation, but sometimes there can be a bit of softness and some noise scattered in the open sky shots but the Color by Deluxe are surprisingly rich. It has an equally impressive 2.35:1 [CinemaScope] aspect ratio that provides as good a presentation as I've seen for the star-studded adventure hoot. It's clean without damage or speckles. I'd say this Blu-ray image is looking better than I anticipated. I can confirm with this particular Blu-ray disc is equal to or even superior to other Blu-ray discs that have been released. Playback Region B/2: This will not play on most Blu-ray players sold in North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Learn more about Blu-ray region specifications.
English: 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio – 101 Films presents us an impressive 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio sound mix features outstanding and surprisingly gripping bass levels heard almost from the beginning and notable throughout. Dialogue has been spread across the front soundstage rather than being done directionally, but it’s always clear and precise. And the rear surround channel carries some interesting sound effects with water and waves swirling, heavy winds whirling, and avalanche-pounding rock slides being especially notable. Bert Shefter and Paul Sawtell’s music score gets woven impressively throughout the entire two channel sound mix experience.
Blu-ray Special Features and Extras: Sadly there are no extras on this Blu-ray disc, which I do not understand, as in the vaults of 20th Century Fox, they must have loads of outtakes and interviews and comments from the director, actors and crew, so shame on you 101 Films.
Finally, "In the middle of the Twentieth Century, you fall off the brink of time!" was what the poster's tagline claimed. The audience never really does fall off the brink like the lizards do, but the film's characters have a number of great jungle settings to trip their feet over. Nevertheless, in spite of the paper-mache caverns and feather-light boulders, Duncan Cramer and Walter M. Simons' sets feature some creative designs that really do transport us into Professor Challenger's lost world. Sometimes cheap and cheerful, sometimes full of fun and frolics, all things considered, there's a good time to be had for the discerning creature feature/fantasy adventure film ‘THE LOST WORLD’ [1960], which I am a massive fan of this film. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
