Amazon.com video review:
Every larger-than-life creature feature, from King Kong to
Godzilla to Jurassic Park, owes a debt to the original Lost
World, the granddaddy of giant monster movies. Based on an adventure fantasy
by Arthur Conan Doyle, it's the story of a maverick scientist (Wallace Beery,
under a bushy beard) who finds a land that time forgot on a plateau deep within
the South American jungles and comes back to London with a captured brontosaur
to prove it. His expedition includes Bessie Love, the daughter of an explorer
who disappeared on the previous expedition, and big-game hunter Lewis Stone.
The ostensible stars of the picture are all upstaged by Willis O'Brien's dinosaurs,
simple models brought to life with primitive stop-motion animation. Hardly realistic
by any measure, these pioneering special effects are still a sight to behold,
especially the lumbering brontosaur (which receives the most care from O'Brien,
both foraging in his jungle and rampaging through the streets of London).
The Lost World was truncated for rerelease in the 1930s and the original
negative was subsequently lost. David Shepard meticulously "rebuilt" the film
using material from eight different surviving prints from all over the world,
cleaning and restoring along the way. The result, which is 50 percent longer
than previously extant prints, is still not complete but closer than any version
since its 1925 debut. The difference is not merely in restored scenes but in a
rediscovered sense of grace in scenes filled out to their original detail and pace.
The film moves and breathes once again like a silent film.
The disc features the choice of an original, modern score by the Alloy Orchestra
and a classic orchestral score compiled and conducted by Robert Israel (both
enjoyable and effective), 13 minutes of O'Brien's animation outtakes (including
a couple of isolated frames that capture O'Brien manipulating his models), and
rudimentary commentary by Arthur Conan Doyle historian Roy Pilot. --Sean Axmaker
Amazon.com video review:
Seven decades before Michael Crichton borrowed the title of
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic adventure tale, The Lost World
was the movie sensation of 1925. (The film is not to be confused with
Steven Spielberg's sequel to Jurassic Park.) Just as
Spielberg's dinosaur thrillers would advance the technology of
computer-generated spectacle, Doyle's classic story provided a perfect
opportunity to exploit the illusions made possible by stop-motion
animation. Eight years before he stunned audiences with the amazing
special effects of King Kong, pioneering stop-motion animator
Willis O'Brien created the dinosaur stars of this classic silent-film
fantasy. Following Doyle's plot, the film plays like a dress rehearsal
for King Kong and establishes a now-familiar scenario: Wallace
Beery plays a visionary scientist who returns to the remote South
African plateau where he'd earlier discovered a jungle haven of
prehistoric creatures. Determined to introduce this discovery to the
world, he returns to London with a captive brontosaurus, which later
escapes and goes on a destructive rampage through the city. --Jeff Shannon
Amazon.com video review:
Seven decades before Michael Crichton borrowed the title of
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic adventure tale, The Lost World
was the movie sensation of 1925. (The film is not to be confused with
Steven Spielberg's sequel to Jurassic Park.) Just as
Spielberg's dinosaur thrillers would advance the technology of
computer-generated spectacle, Doyle's classic story provided a perfect
opportunity to exploit the illusions made possible by stop-motion
animation. Eight years before he stunned audiences with the amazing
special effects of King Kong, pioneering stop-motion animator
Willis O'Brien created the dinosaur stars of this classic silent-film
fantasy. Following Doyle's plot, the film plays like a dress rehearsal
for King Kong and establishes a now-familiar scenario: Wallace
Beery plays a visionary scientist who returns to the remote South
African plateau where he'd earlier discovered a jungle haven of
prehistoric creatures. Determined to introduce this discovery to the
world, he returns to London with a captive brontosaurus, which later
escapes and goes on a destructive rampage through the city. Though
somewhat quaint by modern standards, this silent classic remains a
milestone of fantasy filmmaking, and Lumivision's splendid collector's
edition DVD presents the film in near-pristine condition. Accompanied
by a newly composed musical score, the film is supplemented by a
series of still photographs to illustrate the legendary missing scenes
from the original (and long-lost) 10-reel version. To further showcase
the animation work of O'Brien (who would later inspire and mentor Ray
Harryhausen), the disc also includes several excerpts from his
pioneering films from the early 1920s. Included too is a still-frame
library and an informative onscreen essay by film historian Scott
MacQueen. If you're a silent-movie buff or a fan of imaginative
movies, consider this an essential addition to your DVD
library. --Jeff Shannon
