The Lost Continent :: Education by Design Store

Customer Reviews

Still Missing Scenes

2005-09-02
OK, from the other reviews I have concluded that this is still a cut-up version. Sid Melton's "death scene" is missing (Romero puts a cig between his blood-oozing lips before he cashs his chips in and tells them to say goodby to the plane for him). Some of the earthquake scenes are probably missing also (Acquanetta's demise - if my memory serves me correct they used the "lava flow overcomes cavegirl" stock footage from 1 Million Years BC - Now you think, "Say, what did happen to those other villagers?"). Sinister Cinema advised me some years ago that whoever owns the rights was just too lazy or stupid to restore them properly. Boycott it until they do it right. Pitiful! It was one of my favorites as a child.

Lost Continent - Sid Melton gored by Triceratop is in DVD

2005-08-20
I just got my Lost Continent DVD today from Amazon. I saw this movie in a theater when I was young. It was good to see it again after some 50-years for the first time in a long time.
I had my concerns, by other reviews about the scene with Sid Melton being gored by the Triceratop would be cut out from the DVD version.
Well! the scene is in! The DVD shows Sid Melton behind a rock and a Triceratop coming in from behind him. The others tried to warn him, but too late. He gets gored.
The entire movie is as I remember seeing it back then, especially the tinted green scenery. I remember my brother coming home telling me about it which prompted me to go see the movie.

An interesting item that is inside the DVD case is the information sheet that gives a detailed account of how the movie was made, Sid Melton's role, and some disappointments that faced the directors and actors.
The stop-motion dinosaur sequence were not the best, it explains, but they didn't have the technology like they have now.
The movie was done in 11-days.
But they got a lot of praise for their efforts in making this movie when it was released in theaters.

Enjoy!

Good sci fi 2005-07-15
I saw this film only when it was shown on B&W TV in the '50s and didn't know about the green tint gimmic until I watched the DVD.

Good Fun 2002-04-24
I have the video version of this film. The dialogue is suprisingly well written for a low budget movie, though attitudes toward women are old fashioned. Does anyone know if the scene with Sid Melton, after he is attacked by the triceratops, is in the DVD version? It was stupidly dropped from my video version which is in otherwise excellent shape. I don't want to purchase the DVD version if that scene is still missing.

Above-average Image DVD of crude, enjoyable dinosaur flick 2002-01-23
Not the greatest Sid Melton science fiction movie (that would be The Atomic Submarine), Lost Continent is still lots of cheesy fun, one of those "cross-genre" flicks that should appeal to pretty much any B-movie fan. You get SF, war movie, and jungle adventure cliches neatly combined with some of the most pitiful stop-motion dinosaurs ever. The quintessential B-cast includes Cesar Romero (TV's Joker, Week-end in Havana, Captain from Castile), John Hoyt (When Worlds Collide, Attack of the Puppet People), Whit Bissell (Teenage Werewolf & Frankenstein, Time Tunnel), Hugh Beaumont (Ward Cleaver, Michael Shayne), Chick Chandler (Music Man, Blondie), and Sid Melton (Make Room for Daddy, Green Acres), with Acquanetta (Captive Wild Woman, Tarzan & the Leopard Woman) and second-billed Hillary Brooke (Ministry of Fear, Invaders from Mars) in cameos. To the movie's credit, the plot moves at a brisk pace (except during the seemingly interminable 'climbing scenes'), Romero and Chandler execute some great flyboy banter, and the earthquake stock footage from One Million B.C. is actually pretty well integrated into the movie, particularly during the surprisingly exciting (if rather implausible) climax. The script by Richard Landau (Girl in Black Stockings, TV's Wild Wild West) and direction by veteran PRC schlockmeister Sam Newfield (Nabonga, White Pongo, Flying Serpent) are also slightly above-average for this type of thing. Unfortunately, when we eventually encounter the extremely lame stop-motion brontosaurus, pterodactyl, and triceratops (and one live lizard for laughs), any semblance of credibility generated up to that point is completely destroyed, leaving the movie dangling on the edge of "so-bad-it's-good" rather than "really-not-half-bad". Still a great Saturday-afternoon time-waster for the low-budget cinema set. Serious stop-motion fans beware.
Image upgrades their typical DVD package a bit with this release (perhaps feeling the heat from Anchor Bay?). The disc comes in the superior 'keep case' box and the main menu is animated (not that I really care that much). Twelve chapter stops, five trailers in an Easter egg, and a very good-to-excellent if rather scratchy LC trailer are the usual extras, plus you get informative Tom Weaver liner notes, and an isolated music and effects track so you can listen to Paul Dunlap's rousing score minus the wisecracks. Source print quality is generally excellent with terrific grayscale, brightness, contrast, sharpness, and detail. There is some light speckling and blemishing (some sporadic horizontal 'banding' toward the beginning of the movie), but otherwise there is no major damage. The plateau scenes are tinted green as in the original release. While I commend Image for presenting the movie in its original format, these scenes are not as easy on the eyes as the crisp B&W of the rest of the movie. The only sour note in the whole shebang is the extremely hyperbolic commentary ("beautifully crafted," "excellent production values") by Wade Williams on the box. Pity the fool who purchases based on his glowing review. Overall a step up from Image's usual offerings and as close to a definitive release as this film is likely to see. Three stars for the movie, 4 or 5 for the DVD. Cheese-lovers, go for it.

Still a great movie 2008-07-12
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 lost classic from the early years. 2007-12-21
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.

The Lost Continent - very good movie, fair special effects 2007-09-12
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

One of my favorites 2006-09-03
At first I thought the movie was going to be bad but I was wrong. I loved it!!! Especially the big fight between the two triceratops. I recomend this to dino fans and B-movie fans.

Excellent Film 2006-05-17
The Image dvd release, with the cover that shows Cesar Romero, Hugh Beaumont and the triceratops, against a green background, DOES have the moving Sid Melton scene at the end. I had a vhs copy that cut it, so I ordered this Image dvd release, when it became available, and the scene IS included.
As for the movie, it's an excellent B movie with snappy clever dialogue and dinosaurs that look more cute than menacing. It was a perennioal favorite of mine as a youth and remains so. It's not King Kong but it's very enjoyable.