This film really made me feel wistful. You see, the original version of this film was about 50% longer and I really would like to see what some idiots chose to remove from the original print. This is especially true for the very end, as the film ends way too abruptly and it looks like there MUST have been a lot more to this movie. As it was, the film was way too choppy and I'll one day look for a more complete version.
The movie is a masterpiece for 1920s stop-motion photography. Willis O'Brien, who later became famous for this type of filming in 1933's KING KONG, was also the guy responsible for bringing to life the dinosaurs in this film. The overall effect really isn't that much different than a decade later--as both films are wonderful for the time. Sure, it's possible to make them seem almost 100% real today, but for the 20s and 30s, this was amazing stuff.
The plot involves a crazed anthropologist (Wallace Beery) who insists that there is a land filled with living dinosaurs in South America and he wants to mount a return expedition to find a colleague who was stranded there. Though scoffed at by other professors, he is able to get funding and convince others to come with him. Once there, they find pretty much what you'd expect they'd find (except that there are some African creatures here as well--oh, well, if they can have dinosaurs, why not chimps?!). The only surprise is that they bring back a live Brontosaurus and it pretty much does a "King Kong"-type escape at the end and runs amok in London, not New York. And, while all this doesn't seem very original, remember that KING KONG was second--this was the first film of its type and so it deserves a lot of kudos and recognition for its place in film history.
The movie is a masterpiece for 1920s stop-motion photography. Willis O'Brien, who later became famous for this type of filming in 1933's KING KONG, was also the guy responsible for bringing to life the dinosaurs in this film. The overall effect really isn't that much different than a decade later--as both films are wonderful for the time. Sure, it's possible to make them seem almost 100% real today, but for the 20s and 30s, this was amazing stuff.
The plot involves a crazed anthropologist (Wallace Beery) who insists that there is a land filled with living dinosaurs in South America and he wants to mount a return expedition to find a colleague who was stranded there. Though scoffed at by other professors, he is able to get funding and convince others to come with him. Once there, they find pretty much what you'd expect they'd find (except that there are some African creatures here as well--oh, well, if they can have dinosaurs, why not chimps?!). The only surprise is that they bring back a live Brontosaurus and it pretty much does a "King Kong"-type escape at the end and runs amok in London, not New York. And, while all this doesn't seem very original, remember that KING KONG was second--this was the first film of its type and so it deserves a lot of kudos and recognition for its place in film history.