MovieChat Forums > The Land Unknown (1957) Discussion > Good forgotten scifi.

Good forgotten scifi.

posted 19 years ago by larryman
7 replies | jump to latest

I give this movie a 'good' for its plot, and acting. And the ever-present fog gave it a bit of a 'creepy' atmosphere. Unfortunately the low-grade dinosaurs hold it back. When I first seen it on TV, I was young and unable to grasp how there was an isolated prehistoric region in the arctic ice.
And even then I was not impressed by the quality of the dinosaurs. But it stuck in my mind as another form of "The Lost World". But at the Polar region, not on a platau in Africa or South America.

I now, years later, have purchased it just to review how the hot and steamy dino-land was possible in the Arctic. The extinct volcano concept would still hold up today, if not for our modern satellite recon and mapping.

Anyway, as a lover of any 'lost world dino lands', I would recomend this oldie to others of like mind. Not at the top of your 'must get' list, but not to be forgotten either.

[–] Boaz357 18 years ago

this film is a must have if you love 50's scifi flicks.
i agree about the atmosphere in the film makes it a classic movie.
yeah, the t-rex was a little lame but it got to me as a kid.

all around great 1950's scifi

[–] Dejael 15 years ago

Unfortunately this movie lacks color film and the imaginative dinosaur animation of Ray Harryhausen to really make it work.

Of course, Universal could not have afforded these luxuries with its mandate from the front office of studio mogul Edward Muhl not to exceed $500,000.00 on a single picture's budget for this genre of film. Consequently, all Universal science fiction, fantasy and horror movies of the 1950s were low-budget black & white B-movies which came in somewhere between $250,000. and $300,000., with the notable exception of the A-production THIS ISLAND EARTH (1955), which cost nearly $1 Million, and the 3-D B-movies IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE (1953) and CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (1954) which both cost close to $750,000.00 each.

I saw this at the theater when I was a kid in 1957, and I remember how scary it was when the T-Rex dinosaur threatened to bring down the helicopter, and the girl got tangled in that horrible squid monster's tentacles. The background scenic art and matte work is impressive.

Fairly good, considering how ridiculous-looking the T-Rex dinosaur is, and a real oddity being the only black & white CinemaScope sci-fi movie made at Universal.
Fox released KRONOS the same year which was also an oddity being made in black & white and CinemaScope (Regalscope). They could afford Scope lenses but not color film.

Dejael

[–] Boaz357 15 years ago

Nice information about these films.Thanks.

50's scifi has and always will be my favorite genre.
If you've seen the universal set put out through "Best Buy", the film looks wonderful.Widescreen.

[–] GJValent 10 years ago

Of course, the lenses could be used forever, sort of. Film, only once.

[–] Woodyanders 13 years ago

Agreed. This film is very charming and entertaining.

I'm a totally bitchin' bio writer from Mars!

[–] babettegillette 11 years ago

Would have preferred a more expressive actress such as Maya Corday.

[–] richard.fuller1 9 years ago

I saw this thing when I was 9, MAYBE 8, and I thought it was brilliant.

I was shocked to finally see it years, decades later, and see how short it was.

I still enjoy it.

I saw the Chuck McClure-ERB movies of the '70s as well and they are favorites and many of the early '60s Jules Verne and all, but this one stands very well with them.

I tracked down utterly obscure ones like Lost Continent and Unknown Island and they are dreadful compared to this one. Very disappointing.