Neil Welch Krakatoa: East of Java tells of a boatload of assorted people swanning about in the vicinity of Krakatoa in the period immediately before and during the biggest volcanic eruption in recorded human history.This is the sort of spectacular special effects epic we used to get in the days before film effects were advanced enough to be truly spectacular. Oh, how we loved them in those days. Nowadays, we see a well-built model boat (telltale giveaway being the absence of anyone on deck), less effective model sets, some poor matte lines, big water out of scale with the models, some fun pyrotechnics on a model island on a water tank skyline, far too many obviously repeated shots, and some stock footage of tidal waves.All of this takes place as a backdrop to the tedious goings on between a not-very-interesting group of people, so that you don't really care who survives and who doesn't (in fact there are those who you want the volcano to polish off even though you're not supposed to).I bet this was better back in 1969, when big water was still acceptable.

moonspinner55 Resolutely old-fashioned, corny yet undeniably entertaining sea-faring adventure set in 1883. Maximilian Schell is cast as the most polite, soft-spoken ship's captain I've ever seen; he's on a mission to find a sunken ship off the coast of Singapore and raid it of its treasures. He brings several passengers aboard (a divorcée looking for her young son, father and son thrill-seekers, a deep-sea diver with bad lungs, etc.), as well as thirty shackled prisons whom he keeps down in the ship's galley. Great-looking movie originally released in the widescreen, three-camera Cinerama process, though the narrative is shaky from the beginning and the second-half is overloaded with repetitive volcanic explosions. The opening multi-screen montage of skin-divers and sunsets is beautifully presented--until you realize it's actually made up of scenes from the film which have yet to occur! The large cast is alternately wooden and unhappy, though the cinematography and special effects are good and DeVol's music score is rousing. Not a classic from the disaster movie genre, and saddled with a geographically incorrect title, but one that hopes to provide something for everyone. It's silly, but still quite a thrilling ride. *** from ****

pegasusunicorn52 The television versions of this movie have always frustrated me as have the various releases onto videotape.There are several incidents at sea as the Batavia Queen is making its way to Krakatoa. An underwater eruption, birds behaving oddly, a pressure build-up and excessive heat(more excessive, no doubt, than normal). Now along comes John Leyton to give an explanation to Diane Baker that all of these incidents are leading directly to Krakatoa.Why, oh why, does the explanation inevitably get cut whenever it is shown on TV(as well as on video)? It would be far better were the incidents themselves to be eliminated. At least then the explanation could be left in as a reference to unseen incidents.Apart from that I feel the film is entertaining although not without its faults.I've made a great deal out of the above deleted scene but now must attempt to redress the balance, so to speak. Thus far the various(UK) transmissions of the film have, as I have said, omitted this scene. However I recently purchased a newly-issued Region 1 version of the film in which this missing scene has been restored--much to my intense pleasure. This version has a running time of 2 hours and 11 minutes. It would have been slightly longer had the intermission been kept in.My reason for awarding the film only 6 out of a possible 10 is because of the various television transmissions as well as the truncated tape editions. Had they been complete the film would have got at least 9 out of 10.My final analysis? Not one of the greatest disaster movies ever made(The Towering Inferno, for me, would get 10 out of 10) but an entertaining flick nonetheless.Watch it if you get the chance--even the truncated version.

Poseidon-3 Though "Airport" and "The Poseidon Adventure" are most often credited with kicking off the 1970's disaster craze, this film clocked in just a tad earlier and certainly has its share of catastrophes (though nothing is more disastrous in it than the script!) Set in the late 1800's, Schell is the treasure-seeking captain of The Batavia Queen, a steamship bound for a sunken boat that promises to contain bags of huge, priceless pearls. Baker plays his love interest, a mentally troubled lady upon whose memory the entire mission rests. She is also seeking her lost son who her husband off-loaded somewhere before dying. Keith plays a Laudinum-addicted diver who is literally near his last breath. He's toting tacky would-be singer Werle (outfitted in a series of blonde wigs no doubt leftover from her many TV western appearances.) Also on board are father/son balloonists Brazzi and Mineo, bell diver Leyton and a quartet of Japanese female divers, famed for their breath-holding ability. Things get off to a rough start when a sailor falls to his death merely loading the diving bell onto the ship! Then a thoroughly inappropriate song (sounding like The Beach Boys) plays as the ship slips out of port. It gets worse from there as birds mass, fish die, the sky turns orange, smoke descends everywhere and chunks of lava rock are hurled at the boat (and this is before the climactic eruption of the title volcano which, as everyone knows by now, is WEST of Java, not east!) There's even a gaggle of prisoners placed on board to add to the troubles. In the meantime, a lot of dull, pointless dramatics play out amongst the "Grand Motel"-level cast. Baker frets, alternately wooden and over-the-top. Keith engages in drug-induced violence. Werle sings the planet's deadliest song while stripping off her horribly non-period, period costume. Mineo flirts with the oldest of the female divers. Schell wanders around with a nipple hanging out of his torn shirt. The bell and the balloon run into trouble. Nothing seems to go right for these hapless salvage-seekers and it only gets worse when Krakatoa decides to blow (and blow!) At this point, the volcano shoots like a Roman candle, filling the air with ash and creating a massive tidal wave that would make George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg jealous. If any of this sounds entertaining, it really isn't except for some of the special effects. The characters are never properly fleshed out and mostly don't share much discernible chemistry with each other. The screenplay couldn't be any more thoughtless and pointless, though there is one memorable line when lower class Werle barks at Brazzi, "Labels are for jelly jars!" That one would even do well in today's PC environment! The film was heavily edited after its initial release and what remains is so dull it's hard to imagine what was cut! The opening credits act as a sort of trailer for the film. Some audiences may want to let watching that suffice and skip the rest of the movie!