lemon_magic Seemingly in the same vein as material like "Journey to the Center Of the Earth" and various jungle safari movies (in fact, when I saw Jock Mahoney's name in the credits, I thought it was going to be a Tarzan movie). Pro: Good looking, photogenic cast, who work hard to sell the dialog and the premise. There were very few false notes as lines were delivered. Interesting plot dynamics, with the introduction (SPOILER ALERT) of an additional character halfway into the film; this fifth character's existence and demands complicate issues nicely. Pretty decent sets. And very few of the scenes, even the ones laden with exposition, drag. Not-so-Pro: Some poor special effects, especially the dinosaurs and the flying shots of the crews' helicopter superimposed against stock footage. A couple major plot holes that let the air out of the plot (I won't reveal too much, except to say that the fifth character reveals he has a way to control the dinosaurs, and it's highly portable - its existence takes all the leverage out his demands). Predictable arcs for all the characters (with an exception that the stock character I was sure was marked for death by his complaining and sniveling actually survives and redeems himself somewhat). Same old stock soundtrack - close your eyes and I defy you to distinguish it from "Revenge Of The Creature" or "The Mole People" - appropriate but not at all interesting. Still, worth watching for fans of 50s black and white genre films. I was pleased to see Jock Mahoney (who I remembered fondly from "Tarzan's Three Challenges") in another lead role, playing not just A Body, but a man with a fine mind, so I may be prejudiced a bit in the film's favor, but I give it 6 out of 10. No more than genre filler, but well done genre filler.

unbrokenmetal The idea of a tropical place in Antarctica where dinosaurs are still alive goes back to Burroughs' novel "The Land That Time Forgot" (1918). Therefore, 'The Land Unknown' certainly hasn't got a new story, and also the low budget shows in cheap studio sets and ridiculous dinosaurs. It's hard not to laugh when you watch the T Rex slowly waddling closer to, uh, 'attack'.But surprisingly, despite many problems this is still a remarkably good B movie. There is good widescreen photography, a believable tension between the human characters, and good performances by some of the actors, especially Shawn Smith as Maggie and Henry Brandon as Doctor Hunter. Maggie shows courage as the first woman on an Antarctic expedition - at least as long as the local vegetables don't bite. Hunter is a survivor of a previous expedition who spent years all alone. Brandon portrays this character as a man who has forgotten much of civilized behavior and turned into a caveman. His troubles to get along peacefully with other human beings are convincing. The script would have deserved filming in color and better special effects. There was potential for a monster movie classic, but it sadly ended up with too little production value. Even if not fully succeeding, 'The Land Unknown' is still an interesting contribution to the genre.

bkoganbing Although it rarely makes the news now even in the Fifties when I was growing up polar exploration was still news. So in the context of the times the expedition that Douglas Kennedy is head of is quite congruent. Would that the story here been a bit better done.The Land Unknown is a real camp classic. Part of Kennedy's expedition involves some map making by Jock Mahoney, William Reynolds and Phil Harvey who with reporter Shirley Patterson are taking a helicopter ride over the Antarctic. They encounter a dense fog and then the blade of the helicopter brushes against something big flying into it and a part comes loose forcing them down.Once down the group finds themselves in the Mesozoic age like in so many of these kinds of films. But a scientist from a previous expedition that was lost has survived their among the dinosaurs and that is Henry Brandon. He's set himself up nicely in a cave and has now regressed somewhat to the primitive. And being a caveman he takes one look at Patterson and woos her caveman style.Even among the beasts Mahoney waxes philosophical and shows off his knowledge of paleontology. Patterson outfit is getting skimpier by the minute only encouraging Brandon more. But in a camp sort of way the film is fun.Not the fault of The Land Unknown, but ever since Steven Spielberg gave us Jurassic Park , dinosaur films from the past just don't cut it. We've moved ahead in movie magic, not like poor Henry Brandon.Story is a bit dumb, but enjoyably bad.

gavin6942 Three men and a woman (Shirley Patterson) crash-land in a deep crater in Antarctica, where they find a prehistoric world.I want to comment on this film and its comparison to the Savage Land of Marvel Comics (particularly the X-Men). Where did the idea of a prehistoric world in Antarctica come from? Was it this film? I think maybe so. The Savage Land was not until 1965, so this predates it by about 8 years... and it is entirely possible Stan Lee or Jack Kirby saw this film.There was an earlier story of warm water found there, but that hardly turns into a tale of dinosaurs (or of men who dress up in T-Rex costumes, or men named Hunter who fight the Loch Ness monster).