"Lost Continent" turned out to be a reasonably solid film, which was a surprise for me since I knew A) it was directed by mega-hack Sam Neufeld and B)it was an early target for Mystery Science Theater 3000 (in their 2nd season, when they really hit their stride).
So let's get the bad stuff out of the way first - rock climbing, Sid Melton, and unconvincing dinosaur animation. Anyone who has seen "LC" all the way through knows that the movie stops dead in the second act and subjects the viewer to endless scenes of the characters scrambling up a mountainside on their way to the crashed "atomic rocket" at the top. I am sure that the point was to help the viewer experience the struggle and fatigue of an 'epic' journey...but the climbing scenes are staged in a plodding, pedestrian manner that kills any interest the first 20 minutes managed to generate. It's worse than watching paint dry. Things actually get moving a little once the crew makes it to the top, but man...rock climbing was sloooooow going.
2nd, Sid Melton. I know that Melton got a lot of work in various TV shows and movies calling for comedy relief. And I remember he was pretty good at times (on "Danny Thomas", etc). But he's just not funny to my "modern" sensibilities...in fact, he's really irritating. His performance pulls the movie down a couple of rating points all by itself. His role is pure cardboard, his dialog is completely lame, and he basically does sad-sack military enlisted man "schtick" here, purely on auto-pilot. I kept praying for his immediate and painful death in "LC". Then again, I'm not sure Elvis channeling Jim Carey could have saved this part, so I don't want to trash poor Sid too hard. I hope he's happily retired and living on his residuals somewhere.
3rd, the dinosaur animation. I am sure this was the biggest expense in the film, but once you've seen Ray Harryhausen, you can't tolerate stuff like this anymore. There are no credits for the animation sequences in the credits, so it's possible that the producers (and the animators) felt the same way. It was also kind of irritating to have a brontosaurus/apatosaur attack the party and try to eat Hugh Beaumont when any six year old could tell you that the bronto was a gentle, timid vegetarian. Apparently, Neufeld didn't have any six year olds around to act as consultants.
As for the "good": everyone else here does a workmanlike job of getting their dialog over and filling out their stereotyped roles. I'd never seen Romero in a "straight" dramatic role before, and I have to admit, he's pretty dashing. He has great hair, and he knows how to rock the mustache. If you were looking for someone to "do" the Errol Flynn role in your movie, Romero would be an obvious choice. Whit Bissell and Beaumont are their usual dignified, genial selves, and the guy who plays the Russian rocket scientist brings a certain humanity and nobility to his lines that a lot of other actors might not.
And c'mon...it's rockets and dinosaurs and manly men on a manly adventure, how could this movie's intended audience (sleepy male adolescents) NOT love it? As I said, MST3000 covered this one early on...if fact, I remember that the episode where they tackled "Lost Continent" was the first MST I ever saw. And yes, the movie deserved all the barbs, japes, and witticisms they tossed at it, but it still has a certain quality that elevates it far above most of their other fare...even if it hasn't aged too well. But let's be fair...how well do you thing Cameron's "Titanic" will hold up to viewers in 2056??
So let's get the bad stuff out of the way first - rock climbing, Sid Melton, and unconvincing dinosaur animation. Anyone who has seen "LC" all the way through knows that the movie stops dead in the second act and subjects the viewer to endless scenes of the characters scrambling up a mountainside on their way to the crashed "atomic rocket" at the top. I am sure that the point was to help the viewer experience the struggle and fatigue of an 'epic' journey...but the climbing scenes are staged in a plodding, pedestrian manner that kills any interest the first 20 minutes managed to generate. It's worse than watching paint dry. Things actually get moving a little once the crew makes it to the top, but man...rock climbing was sloooooow going.
2nd, Sid Melton. I know that Melton got a lot of work in various TV shows and movies calling for comedy relief. And I remember he was pretty good at times (on "Danny Thomas", etc). But he's just not funny to my "modern" sensibilities...in fact, he's really irritating. His performance pulls the movie down a couple of rating points all by itself. His role is pure cardboard, his dialog is completely lame, and he basically does sad-sack military enlisted man "schtick" here, purely on auto-pilot. I kept praying for his immediate and painful death in "LC". Then again, I'm not sure Elvis channeling Jim Carey could have saved this part, so I don't want to trash poor Sid too hard. I hope he's happily retired and living on his residuals somewhere.
3rd, the dinosaur animation. I am sure this was the biggest expense in the film, but once you've seen Ray Harryhausen, you can't tolerate stuff like this anymore. There are no credits for the animation sequences in the credits, so it's possible that the producers (and the animators) felt the same way. It was also kind of irritating to have a brontosaurus/apatosaur attack the party and try to eat Hugh Beaumont when any six year old could tell you that the bronto was a gentle, timid vegetarian. Apparently, Neufeld didn't have any six year olds around to act as consultants.
As for the "good": everyone else here does a workmanlike job of getting their dialog over and filling out their stereotyped roles. I'd never seen Romero in a "straight" dramatic role before, and I have to admit, he's pretty dashing. He has great hair, and he knows how to rock the mustache. If you were looking for someone to "do" the Errol Flynn role in your movie, Romero would be an obvious choice. Whit Bissell and Beaumont are their usual dignified, genial selves, and the guy who plays the Russian rocket scientist brings a certain humanity and nobility to his lines that a lot of other actors might not.
And c'mon...it's rockets and dinosaurs and manly men on a manly adventure, how could this movie's intended audience (sleepy male adolescents) NOT love it? As I said, MST3000 covered this one early on...if fact, I remember that the episode where they tackled "Lost Continent" was the first MST I ever saw. And yes, the movie deserved all the barbs, japes, and witticisms they tossed at it, but it still has a certain quality that elevates it far above most of their other fare...even if it hasn't aged too well. But let's be fair...how well do you thing Cameron's "Titanic" will hold up to viewers in 2056??