aspatulablogspotcom I wanted to watch this movie with my thirteen year old daughter because I remember the 1961 movie so fondly. I don't have high hopes for most movies on the SciFi channel, but I thought this might be one of those bonding moments with my child. After twenty minutes, my daughter wonder away so she could work on her homework -- how boring does a movie have to be for a child to pick homework over watching a movie? This movie reminded me of my childhood. The special effects were almost as good as those on "H.R. Pufnstuf," and the action sequences, especially the pirates were almost as good as "Danger Island" on the "Banana Splits." The 1961 version of this movie is a lot of fun; this one is just painfully boring and tedious.

twren-964-401794 Mysterious Island was one of my favorite boyhood books. The book has a great premise -- surviving and prospering on an island when you're starting almost from scratch -- and celebrates honesty, cooperation, and the combination of ingenuity and knowledge to solve problems. The story has plenty of adventure and is a true classic. I was looking forward to see how they would adapt the story into a movie.Unfortunately, this movie is beyond a train wreck, stripping out Verne's story and replacing it with an incoherent mess. As my son said after seeing it, the producers should be charged with deceptive advertising, because it has nothing to do with Verne's wonderful story besides using the same title.The writers removed key characters and added new ones. Worse, they added ridiculous giant insects and animals, which adds nothing to the story. When the pirates were introduced at the beginning of the movie, I thought it was a flashback because they looked like they walked off a bad version of Pirates of the Caribbean. It's supposed to be 1863, not 1700! The acting is stiff and unbelievable. The CGI effects are amateurish. I could go on but my biggest disappointment is the abandonment of an inspiring story and replacing it with dreck. Don't waste your time with this.

rlange-3 I read Mysterious Island as a child many years ago and I remember being fascinated by it. This version might be OK as a family evening to pass the time -- there is no foul language, no nudity, barely a hint of a romantic relationship with one kiss.However as entertainment for adults it fails on every level. As many have mentioned, the special effects are not special at all, the dialogue is stilted, the acting for most of the cast is charitably mediocre, and the plot elements come across as contrived. And it is long, without good timing.Apparently the director decided that this timeless classic novel needed a major rewrite to pass muster in the new millennium. Two woman are thrown in as major characters; the younger manages a new wardrobe almost daily, and neither have so much as their hair mussed for more than five minutes, despite fighting off pirates, giant ants, sea monsters and what have you. They manage to build a house inside a nice clean cave with amenities that probably rival those available to a typical country cottage in the 30s. I was almost surprised that they didn't manage a washing machine. Smokeless fires conveniently illuminate the giant cave better than track lighting. Everyone in the main party manages to be fresh scrubbed and well groomed at all times.The pirates are like the Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyworld, highly stereotyped caricatures. At least the Pirate Captain is entertainingly bombastic, but realism has definitely been left marooned on the shore somewhere.Nothing even approaches being frightening, or intriguing. For a movie for those interested in Verne's work or a well told adventure tale, this is a waste of time.

ma-cortes This new adaptation from Jules Verne novel starts on American Civil War, after the battle of Richmond. An Union POWs , an officials named Cyrus(Kyle McLachlan), Pencroff(Jason Durr), an African-American soldier(Omar Gooding), a mother(Gabrille Anwar) and her daughter(Calvert) escape in an observation balloon and terminate stranded on a lonely South Pacific island . They must to use their talents to survive dangers, facing off pirates(Vinnie Jones) and devise a way to return home. At the uncharted island find gigantic bugs such as large serpents, giants spiders,monstrous dragonfly, enormous rat , among them. Off course , also encounter captain Nemo(Patrick Stewart) and his loyal helper Joseph(Roy Marsden) and his riveting submarine of the future called Nautilus. Furthermore an unstable volcano on the edge of eruption.This follow-up to ¨20.000 leagues under the sea¨ is an exciting fantasy-adventure full of special effects created by computer-generator. The runtime is overlong with several incidents and sub-plots , taking too much liberties from original novel.The cast is great but wasted, as weak performance by Patrick Stewart, unforgettable Star Trek's Piccard. Colorful cinematography , being filmed on location an island of Thailand. The motion picture is middling directed by Russel Mulcahy.Another versions based on this classic story are the following and filmed before : 1) Silent rendition made in 1929 2) Directed by Cy Endfield (1961), and starred by Michael Craig, Joan Greenwood and Herbert Lom as Nemo, with creatures designed by the master Ray Harryhausen, it's the best adaptation, and 3) European take on by Juan Antonio Bardem(1973) with Omar Shariff as captain Nemo.