Le monde perdu

source: The Lost World

Trailer—The Lost World

The Lost World

Subpar dinosaur adventure flick based off of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novel, made once before in 1925 and a few times since 1960. It's a misfire of a movie, overflowing with a cast too large playing characters too unlikeable. The only character I really rooted for was Professor Challenger, played by Claude Rains. That was more my affinity for the actor than the part anyway. Special effects are actually worse than the effects made 35 years before! I'll take Willis O'Brien's stop-motion effects over cheap photographic tricks and reptiles with glued-on horns and fins any day. See the 1925 silent film instead. It's a lot more fun.

Probably the most memorable of Irwin Allen's adventures cashing in on the current vogue for adaptations of Jules Verne; the film's major liability is the dinosaurs themselves, which were much better done the silent version. Claude Rains is uncharacteristically hammy as Challenger, the best performance probably coming from Jill St John's poodle. No movie evoking a prehistoric environment ever seems complete without a giant spider, although improbably there's usually just the one.

This film was shown a couple of times in the " Saturday Night At The Movies " slot on BBC 1 in the early 1970s and being a young child at the time I enjoyed it immensely . Come on lads if you're six years old any movie featuring dinosaurs in the present day is a movie highlight It goes without saying that my enthusiasim for THE LOST WORLD has waned in later life . It has a totally B movie quality to it and is rather unsophisticated . There is still some amusement to be had at the special effects . Nowadays thanks to the power of technology we can watch convincing dinosaurs thudding around but in the 1960s we had to put up with actors standing in front of some back projection pretending they're frightened of a couple of giant lizards with massive fins stuck on them . Oh well at least the cheese factor means it's more entertaining than JURASSIC PARK: THE LOST WORLD

"The Lost World" may not be the best sci-fi flick made, obviously, and it has its share of detractors. But it reflects the sensibilities of 1960, and has to be taken as such. That said, "The Lost World" is an interesting film to watch, because of the performers. We get to see David Hedison in an early role, as well as Claude Rains in one of his last ones. Michael Rennie fans should be glad, as well as those of Fernando Lamas. But for me, seeing a pre-bouffant Jill St. John was loads of fun. She seemed older than 19 years old at the time, which is likely due to the makeup and costuming. Her presence alone makes this film worthwhile. As for the special effects, it is sad that corners were cut here. However, the computer effects we take so much for granted today were not available nearly 50 years ago. Still, this is a fun film to watch, and an interesting curio.