christinehuges i agree with some of these reviews island wa exciting at the age of 9 primarily because during the 70s era there was very little else.however being at the age of fifty to some of them are completely unwatchable now. the majority of them were good decent films however Disney lacked at times this film is one of them.i can appreciate the work but the storyline on this one is dull and non engaging.this was released at Christmas time of 1974 so it must have done well considering that there was most likely nothing better in the cinema that Christmas period nothing my sharp memory can pull up anyway and it was cheaper in those days than now. must have been a dollar fifty to get into the theater so thats why Disney always had large attendances. these days the film has to be spectacular or it will die a quick death at the box office. also in those days studios didn't have big bucks to make a film like they do these days thefore we have to look at the times these films were released in in order to better evaluate their entertainment level.the Disney studios worked well with what they had to work with at the period these films were released in. only when we get older o we ever say cant believe i bought what i was watching plus our minds were more younger therefore most likely more tolerable.

Scott LeBrun Walt Disney Studios was probably hoping lightning would strike twice in this adaptation of a Jules Verne-like story by James Vance Marshall (writing as Ian Cameron). "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" it's not, but it does offer some great, grand scale action and atmosphere, not to mention the appeal of a "Land That Time Forgot" type of tale. The acting is generally enjoyable, the characters have sufficient rooting interest, and the special effects are pretty decent, most of the time.David Hartman ('The Bold Ones: The New Doctors', 'Lucas Tanner') is American archaeologist Professor Ivarsson, recruited by English businessman Sir Anthony Ross (Donald Sinden). Sir Anthony is desperately searching for his estranged son Donald (David Gwillim), who disappeared into the Arctic circle in search of adventure. With the help of brilliant Captain Brieux (Jacques Marin) and his magnificent airship, they venture off to the top of the world where they discover a community populated by the descendants of Vikings.Sinden is a standout in a cast also including Mako as a not-so-brave Eskimo villager named Oomiak, the beautiful Agneta Eckemyr as a Viking babe named Freyja, and Gunnar Ohlund as a scary Viking high priest known as The Godi. Hartman is quite likable, and Gwillim is similarly engaging. Eckemyr isn't a great actress, but she is rather appealing. And, just to push some of our emotional buttons, an unanticipated participant on this journey is a sweet French poodle named Josephine.There are some thrilling moments, all punctuated by Maurice Jarres' majestic score. Our heroes will have to enter the mouth of a volcano, dodge a lava flow, struggle to keep the airship aloft, evade The Godi and various Viking antagonists, and fight off some aggressive Orcas. Although filmed at Disney Studios, and in Oregon, the matte paintings are good enough to give us a feeling of wintry Arctic locations.Pretty good family entertainment, overall, competently handled by journeyman director Robert Stevenson.Seven out of 10.

capone666 The Island at the Top of the WorldThe upside to the melting ice caps is that sun-seekers can finally access those time-shares they bought before the last ice age.Mind you, the explorers in this action-adventure movie aren't looking for cozy accommodations.Determined to locate his son (David Gwillim) who went missing on an expedition to find an island in the arctic where whales go to die, a nobleman (Donald Sinden) hires an archaeologist (David Hartman), an Inuit (Mako) and a balloonist (Jacques Marin) to fly them aboard his dirigible.Soon, the searchers not only discover the legendary bone yard, but also a lost Viking tribe and an active volcano that threatens their aerial escape. Featuring fanatical savages, killer whales and middle-age heroes, this fanciful - but mostly forgotten - live-action Walt Disney escapade from the 1970s is an interesting albeit hokey history lesson.What's more, the real place where whales go to die is called SeaWorld.Yellow Lightvidiotreviews.blogspot.ca

MARIO GAUCI This is one of the better-regarded of the Disney studio's live-action efforts, particularly among those made following Walt's death. It's a fantasy adventure on Jules Verne lines; actually, the film coincided with the somewhat similar (and equally good) THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT (1974). We have a handful of people embarking on an expedition to the Arctic via airship in search of the leader (Donald Sinden)'s son – the others are David Hartman (young but expert explorer), Jacques Marin (French captain of the vessel) and Mako (the Eskimo who last saw the boy alive). Eventually, half-way through the proceedings to be exact, they find him – along with a lost Viking civilization (which speaks in its native tongue) and the location of a fabled whale graveyard! The film may take a typically juvenile viewpoint, but it's no less engaging for all that – of course, we also get humor (including Sinden's traditionally Victorian haughtiness), romance (between his boy and a local lass) and a variety of thrills (the party having to fend themselves against not just standard human villainy but a rather intense attack by killer whales) along the way. The production design of the mythic landscape is attractive (as is the widescreen photography) and, while dated, the special effects (notably the eruption of a volcano and the climactic explosion of the airship – it's purely coincidental that I watched this only a day after THE ASSASSINATION BUREAU [1969]; see my review for that film) are quite nicely done.