Unknown Island :: Education by Design Store

Customer Reviews

It's different...

2006-12-30
This is very different from what I've seen in other movies, mainly because it was made a long time ago.

I'm definitely not an expert on special effects, but, I've heard that these ones were worse than average even for their time.

But what the heck, the dinosaurs may be men in suits, but at least those suits are better than the extreme crap that is the Jurassic Park CGI dinosaur effects.

The characters are somewhat interesting, but none of them would get on my list of best movie characters.

I had something else to say about this movie, but I've completely forgotten what it was...

First Color Dinosaurs

2006-05-21
If you're a fan of Harryhausen, O'Brien, and movies like Mighty Joe Young, The Lost World, and Valley of The Gwangi, this one is a must to complete your collection. I'm not sure how the monsters were done - some look like men in suits, but better.

The plot's similar to King Kong - a sea voyage to a monster island. I believe it's the first feature film about dinosaurs in color. One of the monsters is a giant sloth that looks like a modified gorilla suit - certainly not as cute as the sloth in Ice Age. But scarier than many movie monsters.

The stars are much better than in the typical "B" monster movies - Virginia Grey, Richard Denning, and Barton MacLane were respected actors in their day.

Frivolous fun

2006-02-21
My wife enjoyed this movie but thought the "men in suits" creatures where ridiculous and probable is one she won't watch again.

Barton MacLane fans rejoice!!

2004-01-25
Well of course it's NOT Jurassic park; it's not really meant to be. As for acting, sure, only one word describes it, it stinks. Then why 5* you ask? Well if you are, like me, a big fan of Barton MacLane, then this is one of his best movies. Lots of fun and lots of unintended laffs make this film a riot. After he burns down the camp, his classic line of"I don't know what you're gonna do, but I got a bottle around here somewhere and I'm gonna find it" is classic stuff. As the title says- 5* for Barton MacLane fans, all others, maybe 1.5*.

UNKNOWN ISLAND or Better Yet, Muppet Island

2002-12-22
A tyrannesaurus with a spike on its nose? Well, I guess all the old movies got it wrong. We now know that if these meat eating dinosaurs walked upright they would break their backs. Here they do so with no trouble, in a lumbering walk fashion, and make nasty faces at visitors to the island. Would there be enough food for these monsters on an island ten miles square? Ah, real science is ruining these movies for me.

Unlike most films of this genre from the 40's and 50's, it is filmed in expensive CINECOLOR. Not rated, it was released in 1948 by Albert Jay Cohen Productions Inc. The DVD is released through Image Entertainment and runs 72 minutes with no extras.

It is a picture reminescent of King Kong with the sea journey and an island of jungle and prehistoric beasts.

Stereotypes abound in the characters and the plot is totally predictable. Viewers may recognize scenes that were salvaged for the film, HORROR OF THE BLOOD MONSTERS (1970) with John Carradine.

The plot is simple. Philip Reed, played by Ted Osborne and Virginia Grey, played by Carole Lane hire Captain Tarnowski, played by Barton MacLane, to take them by steamer to an uncharted island. During the war, Reed flew over the island and caught sight of prehistoric creatures. He wants to return and take photographs to prove his discovery. They are introduced to John Fairbanks, played by Richard Denning, the lone survivor from a shipwreck upon its shores. Surviving mutiny at sea, they reach their objective and the native crew become fodder for the beasts and the sea. The captain suffers from malaria, is a drunkard, wants a specimen for the return journey, and also wants the girl. Here is where the real plot tension emerges. Reed shows himself more interested in his photos than in Grey who sponsored the expedition. A romance buds between Fairbanks and Grey. Not giving any more away, that is about it.

Richard Denning has done several films in science fiction/horror, including CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON and THE DAY THE WORLD ENDED. He gives a good performance although his sailor suit is rather silly.

There is a giant sloth on the island that has taken to killing people, looks rather ape-like. The man in the suit was Ray Corrigan, who often dressed up for the movies, i.e. DR. RENAULT'S SECRET, THE WHITE GORILLA, NABONGA, and "It" in IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE. Like the dinosaurs, the costumes look silly, but hey, even Godzilla is a man in a rubber suit.

The script could have used more work. Note these lines from Fairbanks: "It's quicker having your throat cut by a lascar's knife than to be crushed by a monster you don't even see or hear until a shadow as big as a mountain falls on you." Huh? Where's the logic in that? Despite the danger, Fairbanks permits Grey to go off into the jungle by herself (unarmed) saying simply, "Stay on the path." Pleeeeease! Do the dinosaurs avoid the path?

As for the dinosaurs, I liked them, not because they were good, but because they were funny looking. Hey, at least they did not strap ridges and hornes to lizards and pretend they were giants! The dinosaurs get a kill but you would have to be a one-legged stroke victim to really be caught by these guys, they are so slow. The alignment in the mouthes of the creatures is a bit off and they remind me of Henson's early sock puppets.

The full-screen DVD is not too bad and even younger kids can probably watch it in ease.

>No nudity.
>The Captain makes unwanted advances upon Grey.
>Fight scenes and murder (hey even pirate and cowboy movies have these).
>Some hard language but nothing really foul.

Clasic Cheapo Dino Film 2008-05-08
A classic cheapo dinosaur movie with guys in rubber suits that sometimes look pretty cool, but often pretty crappy. The plot is thin, the script is not too swift, and the acting is campy and melodramatic at best. Plus, the color does look more like two-strip Technicolor than an actual modern color process. Yet, despite all this, the movie is good, dopey fun, and a must-see for any connoisseurs of dino movies, rubber suit monsters, or 50s pseudo sci-fi. While not nearly as good as The Land Unknown, this is still a fun flick that I'm glad to have in my collection, and this Image DVD is a very good print of it. Look for the star of The Creature of the Black Lagoon as the former drunkard hero and the cop from The Maltese Falcon as the drunk and out-of-control captain. Enjoy!

A really fun island/jungle adventure! 2007-10-05
I really enjoyed this film, although I never saw it in my youth. It was shot in Cinecolor which, I think, must have been a "two-strip" process. As a result you see a lot of cheesy pastels but the skin tones are great. Now granted, the monsters are pretty hokey in this one and it's clear that the "beach" is a studio one... but, somehow, I still liked it. This flick is sort of a King Kong rip-off with no central monster to love or to hate. So, the principals shoot at darn near every one that they see. There are some cool weapons and the casting is near perfect, even though there are no big stars here. All in all, as a baby boomer and horror/sci-fi film nut, I find this film a nice nostalgic return to the good old days.

A little gem from the past 2007-07-04
They sure dont make movies like this anymore,, and if they did, it would be
pretty hard to secure a budget... Im glad that they did make these movies, as
they were our source of entertainment. I would rather see cheap monster
movies than gangster or war movies that were all the rage in the 60's.
There were much better creature movies out there, but only this one had
those weird dinosaurs. I just got the DvD version, and again am i pleased
with the quality, the color, the music. Its pretty bare bone dvd, without
any bonus stuff....

Great nostalgia.... 2007-06-02
"Unknown Island"....Not as awesome or frightening as when I first saw it as an 8-year old in 1948 at the Centro Theatre on 77th and Central in South Central Los Angeles....but well worth the few bucks I paid for this treasure of memories.
johnnie

cheesy but fun. 2006-12-31
This is your typical dinosaur movie. A lost island that time has stood still and prehistoric (most of the time dinosaurs) animals still roam this world. Several people get eaten by the dinosaurs. It's sort of predictable. The animals look very fake but it's still a good movie. There are four animals in the movie. A brontosaurus,dimetrodons,giant sloths (they look more like giant apes), and many t.rexes. I especally like the t.rexes. They look more like ceratosaurus than a t.rex but who cares! Overall it's a good movie to see. It's apporpreate enough for childern. No bad words but some violence. The violence isn't too intense but it's mild. By this movie with Lost Continent (the one with Cesar Romero). It makes a great double feature!