Mark Turner Growing up in the sixties I was one of those early fans of Ray Harryhausen films. I remember the first one I saw was JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS followed by MYTERIOUS ISLAND. I found the special effects in both to be fascinating and read what I could on how they were done. They were movies that captured my imagination and spurred me on to learn about Jules Verne and Greek mythology. Somehow THE THREE WORLDS OF GULLIVER eluded me and I looked forward to finally getting the chance to watch it.Based on the GULLIVER'S TRAVELS by Jonathan Swift, the film uses only a portion of the novel here, the visits to Lilliput and Brobdingnag. Those familiar with the book will know that it was a political satire of the time that has been watered down over the years via first a cartoon version and lastly by a terrible Jack Black film. I'm sad to say this film doesn't do it much better.Gulliver is a doctor who wants to marry his girlfriend Elizabeth. But he refuses to do so until he can financially support her. With this in mind he leaves England for the high seas. To his chagrin Elizabeth has snuck on board as well. During a storm Gulliver is washed overboard and comes to on the shores of a country called Lilliput.This may not seem odd except that the people of Lilliput stand about 6 inches tall compared to Gulliver. Mistaking him for an enemy they tie him down to the beach. He soon wins their favor and in return for help building a boat aids them when he can. But problems arise when they want him to defeat their enemies, the inhabitants of Blefuscu. It seems the two islands are at war over which end of an egg should be broken before it is eaten, the small or large end. Gulliver tows away the navy of Blefuscu thinking that will end things but the Lilliputian king wants them destroyed. Before leaving Gulliver must find a way to bring peace to the two countries.He does eventually leave and ends up washed ashore once again, this time on the island of Brobdingnag. This time the reverse is true, Gulliver is now 6 inches tall compared to the inhabitants here. Fortunately Elizabeth was stranded here and the pair are reunited. But an envious court alchemist warns the king that Gulliver must be a witch. Gulliver is pitted in battle against a crocodile that seems giant to him. Their idyllic life threatened Gulliver and Elizabeth must find a way off the island before they are tossed aside or killed for witchcraft.In watching the film the story of Gulliver as told in the novel is obviously too intricate to bring forth from the written word to the screen. The subtle nuance of the story is lost in the over the top production values given the costuming and acting among the characters of both islands. It just doesn't work. Kerwin Matthews who had appeared in the earlier Harryhausen film THE SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD seems more bored than anything here.But the most disappointing thing is the special effects used here. I realize that CGI was far in the future when this film was made but the matting process used makes one image seem slightly soft and out of focus while the other is clear. And the most loved thing that Harryhausen did, the stop motion animation of his films, is used sparingly here with just a short sequence of a squirrel that wanders off with Gulliver and the aforementioned crocodile.In reading the background on the film in the enclosed booklet the reason for these problems is apparent. Columbia had been working on the film prior to Harryhausen and his team being brought in rather than this being a project he worked on start to finish. It may not have been a case of his heart not being completely in it but the difference between this film and those classics he left behind is obvious.The best part of this package from Twilight Time is the extras, something they don't normally include much of. This time around we get an isolated score and effects track, an audio commentary track featuring film historians Randall Cook, C. Courtney Joyner and Steven C. Smith, THE MAKING OF THE 3 WORLDS OF GULLIVER short, THE HARRYHAUSEN CHRONICLES a short documentary on Harryhausen, THIS IS DYNAMATION! a short describing the process of stop motion animation Harryhausen used and the original theatrical trailer. The quality of the picture here is the usual top notch for any and all Twilight Time releases and once again is limited to just 3,000 copies. If you must have every Harryhausen film in your collection then you should make sure one of those copies is yours.

BA_Harrison Lemuel Gulliver (Kerwin Matthews) is a hardworking but not very wealthy doctor who wants to make a success of himself in order to provide for his betrothed, Elizabeth (played by the gorgeous June Thorburn, who sadly died way too young in a plane crash). Taking a position as a ship's physician, Gulliver hopes to earn enough money to pay for a cottage, but he doesn't realise that Elizabeth has stowed aboard the vessel to be with him.During a storm, Gulliver is washed overboard and finds himself in the land of Lilliput, where he is a giant compared to the inhabitants. After failing to solve a conflict between the Lilliputians and the neighbouring Blefuscudians, who are at war over which end of an egg should be cracked before eating, he escapes, only to end up in Brobdingnag, where he is the tiny one (along with Elizabeth, with whom he is reunited). Treated as toys by the Brobdingnagian king (Grégoire Aslan), and accused of witchcraft by royal sorcerer Makovan (Charles Lloyd Pack), Gulliver and Elizabeth escape back to England with the help of a young Brobdingnagian girl, Glumdalclitch (Sherri Alberoni).Fantasy film legend Ray Harryhausen delivers a whole host of excellent special effects in The 3 World's of Gulliver, utilising hundreds of travelling mattes and some very convincing forced perspective to achieve marvellous results. However, those looking for lots of Harryhausen's trademark stop motion work might well be a little disappointed: there's a cool animated crocodile, with which Gulliver battles, a mini menagerie, and a rather moth-eaten looking squirrel (which is far from the man's finest work). But that's it.Still, with such a timeless tale, performed by a wonderful cast, it's hard not to have a good time with this charming fantasy which not only astounds with its stunning visuals, but also acts as a satire about politics and imperialism, and as an indictment of human nature, illustrating man's many weaknesses: vanity, pride, ignorance, jealousy, stubbornness etc. (as per Jonathan Swift's novel, or so I believe—can't say I've ever read it).6.5/10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.

wes-connors In 1699 England, handsome doctor Kerwin Mathews (as Lemuel Gulliver) is set to marry pretty June Thorburn (as Elizabeth), but worries about supporting her in poverty. Hoping to make his fortune, Mr. Mathews joins a treasure-seeking ship's crew. After a stormy shipwreck, Mathews washes up on the sands of Lilliput, a surreal land inhabited by tiny people. Due to his large size, the Lilliputians fear and distrust Mathews. However, he negotiates a release from bondage and finds allies with little Lee Patterson (as Reldresal) and beautiful blonde Jo Morrow (as Gwendolyn)...Mathews begins to build a large boat, hoping to return home and find his fiancée. But there is big trouble in Lilliput for their newest citizen. Mathews is caught up in local politics when the Lilliputians enlist his help in their war with another island of tiny people. The people of Blefuscu crack open their eggs at the larger end, in direct conflict with the Lilliputians method of opening eggs at the shorter end. The yolk's on war (as noted in writer Jonathan's Swift's original work). Later, Mathews' "Gulliver" finds his world turned upside down in a land of giants... This is watered-down Swift, but it's still a great adventure for children of all ages.******* The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (11/30/60) Jack Sher ~ Kerwin Mathews, Sherry Alberoni, Lee Patterson, June Thorburn

Timothy A. Buchser This pleasant yet dated little 1960 family movie arrives is part of Columbia TriStar's "Ray Harryhausen Signature Collection." However, unlike Jason and the Argonauts, First Men in the Moon, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, and 20 Million Miles to Earth, there's not much here to thrill the average Harryhausen fan. Other than a quick battle with a giant alligator and a dino-sized squirrel that's more mirthful than menacing, The 3 Worlds of Gulliver doesn't depend on Harryhausen's famed stop-motion monsters to menace our hero. Instead, it features cinematic effects that make seafarer Dr. Lemuel Gulliver (7th Voyage's Sinbad, Kerwin Mathews) a skyscraper-tall behemoth on the isle of Lilliput and a doll-sized castaway "witch" in the court of Brobdingnag. The script is just a wire hanger for the "giant/tiny" effects scenes, but the story moves briskly (even a pair of treacly song-breaks don't get much in the way), and it should particularly appeal to the under-10 set who haven't yet become jaundiced to anything pre-dating modern CGI gloss. Mathews is plenty wholeseome and likable in a role first offered to Danny Kaye and (no kidding) Jack Lemmon. And Gulliver's fiancé/wife (June Thorburn) is perfunctory but not too much of a drip. Look for Peter Bull, Dr. Strangelove's Russian ambassador, in a small role. Of course the script is loosely based on the first half of Jonathan Swift's ribald 1726 novel, Gulliver's Travels. While the book remains one of the hardest-biting social satires ever to draw blood from the pompous and the political, few of those teeth remain in this truncated adaptation. Nonetheless, the Lilliputian social order and its Emperor's single-minded war against a neighboring island - fought over an absurdly trivial matter inflated to genocidal levels by unbending ideological fervor - are still recognizable targets. Visually, Harryhausen's tall/small effects are well done, though a viewer accustomed to more recent breakthroughs should expect to see the seams showing and hear the floorboards creaking. For a good number of fans, Bernard Herrmann's fine score is the chief appeal here.