Man vs. nature has its obstacles, especially when it has lizards twice the size of elephants. Actually, there are land and water lizards of all sorts here, dinosaurs to "Jurassic Park" fans. One watery creature gets a quick last meal before ending up a meal, served with yams. Fortunately, no one says "It tastes like chicken" even though it looks like the radio active turkey from "The Giant Claw".
The movie takes half an hour to get from the North Atlantic to this far away place, seen as a snow covered island yet filled with sunshine, tropical ferns and big beasts with huge teeth. The first half hour is a setup between American and German soldiers in World War one, with the Americans taken aboard a German submarine after their ship is torpedoed. Initial conflicts with them turn into a camaraderie of sorts when they find themselves on this island.
Between the two leads, American Doug McClure and German John McEnery, they come to an understanding and find out that they have more in common than the battles they face as enemies. A third ally comes in with an island natuve, first thought to be savage yet later revealed to be very helpful and interested in aiding them in exploring the island. There's also a female scientist. (Susan Penhaligon) among the crew, but any hint of romance brewing anywhere is mostly wishful thinking although it's apparent that there a possibility of one growing once the dangers are dealt with.
The focus remains on survival, dealing with some uncivilized Island natives, the many natural dangers and of course, the need to find shelter and food. Then, there is the island volcano, one that they believed to be the largest on Earth. This is a very enjoyable film for one that doesn't have modern CGI special effects, and the dinosaurs are in general fairly realistic, more in tune with what film goers has seen in the 1950s then they will see 17 years later with Spielberg's dinosaur masterpiece. That is a modern classic because it was non-stop thrills, but this is quite different because it has a story agenda that is still universal, the theme of survival.
The movie takes half an hour to get from the North Atlantic to this far away place, seen as a snow covered island yet filled with sunshine, tropical ferns and big beasts with huge teeth. The first half hour is a setup between American and German soldiers in World War one, with the Americans taken aboard a German submarine after their ship is torpedoed. Initial conflicts with them turn into a camaraderie of sorts when they find themselves on this island.
Between the two leads, American Doug McClure and German John McEnery, they come to an understanding and find out that they have more in common than the battles they face as enemies. A third ally comes in with an island natuve, first thought to be savage yet later revealed to be very helpful and interested in aiding them in exploring the island. There's also a female scientist. (Susan Penhaligon) among the crew, but any hint of romance brewing anywhere is mostly wishful thinking although it's apparent that there a possibility of one growing once the dangers are dealt with.
The focus remains on survival, dealing with some uncivilized Island natives, the many natural dangers and of course, the need to find shelter and food. Then, there is the island volcano, one that they believed to be the largest on Earth. This is a very enjoyable film for one that doesn't have modern CGI special effects, and the dinosaurs are in general fairly realistic, more in tune with what film goers has seen in the 1950s then they will see 17 years later with Spielberg's dinosaur masterpiece. That is a modern classic because it was non-stop thrills, but this is quite different because it has a story agenda that is still universal, the theme of survival.