Lost Continent Reviews

• Excellent Film

  
  By A1PPIFR51T81IK on 2006-05-17
  The Image dvd release, with the cover that shows Cesar Romero, Hugh Beaumont and the triceratops, against a green background, DOES have the moving Sid Melton scene at the end. I had a vhs copy that cut it, so I ordered this Image dvd release, when it became available, and the scene IS included.
  As for the movie, it's an excellent B movie with snappy clever dialogue and dinosaurs that look more cute than menacing. It was a perennioal favorite of mine as a youth and remains so. It's not King Kong but it's very enjoyable.
  
  

• Above-average Image DVD of crude, enjoyable dinosaur flick

  
  By A1WHDU7LN87PWY on 2002-01-23
  Not the greatest Sid Melton science fiction movie (that would be The Atomic Submarine), Lost Continent is still lots of cheesy fun, one of those "cross-genre" flicks that should appeal to pretty much any B-movie fan. You get SF, war movie, and jungle adventure cliches neatly combined with some of the most pitiful stop-motion dinosaurs ever. The quintessential B-cast includes Cesar Romero (TV's Joker, Week-end in Havana, Captain from Castile), John Hoyt (When Worlds Collide, Attack of the Puppet People), Whit Bissell (Teenage Werewolf & Frankenstein, Time Tunnel), Hugh Beaumont (Ward Cleaver, Michael Shayne), Chick Chandler (Music Man, Blondie), and Sid Melton (Make Room for Daddy, Green Acres), with Acquanetta (Captive Wild Woman, Tarzan & the Leopard Woman) and second-billed Hillary Brooke (Ministry of Fear, Invaders from Mars) in cameos. To the movie's credit, the plot moves at a brisk pace (except during the seemingly interminable 'climbing scenes'), Romero and Chandler execute some great flyboy banter, and the earthquake stock footage from One Million B.C. is actually pretty well integrated into the movie, particularly during the surprisingly exciting (if rather implausible) climax. The script by Richard Landau (Girl in Black Stockings, TV's Wild Wild West) and direction by veteran PRC schlockmeister Sam Newfield (Nabonga, White Pongo, Flying Serpent) are also slightly above-average for this type of thing. Unfortunately, when we eventually encounter the extremely lame stop-motion brontosaurus, pterodactyl, and triceratops (and one live lizard for laughs), any semblance of credibility generated up to that point is completely destroyed, leaving the movie dangling on the edge of "so-bad-it's-good" rather than "really-not-half-bad". Still a great Saturday-afternoon time-waster for the low-budget cinema set. Serious stop-motion fans beware.
  Image upgrades their typical DVD package a bit with this release (perhaps feeling the heat from Anchor Bay?). The disc comes in the superior 'keep case' box and the main menu is animated (not that I really care that much). Twelve chapter stops, five trailers in an Easter egg, and a very good-to-excellent if rather scratchy LC trailer are the usual extras, plus you get informative Tom Weaver liner notes, and an isolated music and effects track so you can listen to Paul Dunlap's rousing score minus the wisecracks. Source print quality is generally excellent with terrific grayscale, brightness, contrast, sharpness, and detail. There is some light speckling and blemishing (some sporadic horizontal 'banding' toward the beginning of the movie), but otherwise there is no major damage. The plateau scenes are tinted green as in the original release. While I commend Image for presenting the movie in its original format, these scenes are not as easy on the eyes as the crisp B&W of the rest of the movie. The only sour note in the whole shebang is the extremely hyperbolic commentary ("beautifully crafted," "excellent production values") by Wade Williams on the box. Pity the fool who purchases based on his glowing review. Overall a step up from Image's usual offerings and as close to a definitive release as this film is likely to see. Three stars for the movie, 4 or 5 for the DVD. Cheese-lovers, go for it.
  
  

• Lost in the Fifties

  
  By A10Q8NIFOVOHFV on 2000-02-17
  Primitive but effective sci-fi/dinosaur movie. An experimental rocket (as if in 1951 it could be any other kind) gets lost somewhere over the ocean, and the military hones in on a remote island. Major Joe Nolan (Cesar Romero) is ordered to guide a search party of scientist types to retrieve the critical scientific data in the missing rocket. The simple, fast paced story holds the viewers' attention. There are a few tiresome interludes while Nolan argues with Rostov (John Hoyt) to get on the "right" political side. Evidently in 1951 it was smart for moviemakers to be openly anti-communist. The expedition finds the rocket on a great plateau of a tropical island. A primitive jungle covers the plateau, tinted in green (an unusual visual gimmick in a B&W film), and inhabited by antisocial, stop motion animated dinosaurs. This Grade B movie is fun for 11 year olds of all ages. The anti-communist moralizing of the script makes the film a curious relic of a bygone era. Lovable Sid Melton's comedy relief provides chuckles in distress. Until the triceratops attacks, but we won't go there in this review. Cesar Romero is curiously cast as a career military type. Hugh Beaumont (you know, Wally and the Beaver's dad) is one of the scientists. The special effects are almost as primitive as the dinosaurs, but serve the purpose. Bottom line, this is a basic sci-fi/dinosaur adventure film that doesn't pretend to be more than it is. Take it for what it's worth, and enjoy it.
  
  

• Lost Continent - Sid Melton gored by Triceratop is in DVD

  
  By A35CTXF1DVU2BJ on 2005-08-20
  I just got my Lost Continent DVD today from Amazon. I saw this movie in a theater when I was young. It was good to see it again after some 50-years for the first time in a long time.
  I had my concerns, by other reviews about the scene with Sid Melton being gored by the Triceratop would be cut out from the DVD version.
  Well! the scene is in! The DVD shows Sid Melton behind a rock and a Triceratop coming in from behind him. The others tried to warn him, but too late. He gets gored.
  The entire movie is as I remember seeing it back then, especially the tinted green scenery. I remember my brother coming home telling me about it which prompted me to go see the movie.

  An interesting item that is inside the DVD case is the information sheet that gives a detailed account of how the movie was made, Sid Melton's role, and some disappointments that faced the directors and actors.
  The stop-motion dinosaur sequence were not the best, it explains, but they didn't have the technology like they have now.
  The movie was done in 11-days.
  But they got a lot of praise for their efforts in making this movie when it was released in theaters.

  Enjoy!
  
  

• One of my favorites

  
  By on 2006-09-03
  At first I thought the movie was going to be bad but I was wrong. I loved it!!! Especially the big fight between the two triceratops. I recomend this to dino fans and B-movie fans.
  
  
• Still Missing Scenes
  By AAN7I72XBXR9L on 2005-09-02
  OK, from the other reviews I have concluded that this is still a cut-up version. Sid Melton's "death scene" is missing (Romero puts a cig between his blood-oozing lips before he cashs his chips in and tells them to say goodby to the plane for him). Some of the earthquake scenes are probably missing also (Acquanetta's demise - if my memory serves me correct they used the "lava flow overcomes cavegirl" stock footage from 1 Million Years BC - Now you think, "Say, what did happen to those other villagers?"). Sinister Cinema advised me some years ago that whoever owns the rights was just too lazy or stupid to restore them properly. Boycott it until they do it right. Pitiful! It was one of my favorites as a child.
  
  
• The Best SciFi movie I ever saw as a kid !
  By ABIRM1WXCC21H on 1999-10-02
  I grew up during the formative years of SciFi and all the mellodramatic garbage that we were forced to digest, but this and "Rocketship XM" were the best of the growing medium. As a "pre-Boomer" we didn't have an awful lot to see on Saturday afternoons, and many of the movies we COULD see were denied us by the Catholic Legion of Decency. So, many of us were destined to grow our teeth on second rate genre movies. In 1950 and 1951 these two movies kept me awake many nights thinking about monsters and the post-atomic age we were going to live in -- a lot of meat to digest for a boy of 7 and 8 years of age. "The Lost Continent" is a clasic for me, because it helped me form a wedge in my thinking about the abstract world of science fiction. I respect the effort that this low-budget movie achieved, and the results are terrific for the $.29 that were spent on special effects. Besides, this is one of the few films where we '50s children had a glimpse of a Beaverless pre-Ward Cleaver in the accomplished actor Hugh Beaumont. It's worth the price of the CD just to see him act without Wally and The Beav. I always will like this film -- as much of my childhood as Wonder Bread and Richard Nixon.
  
  
• A great old time war-monster-action classic!
  By on 1999-03-26
  It has all of the crucial elements: U.S. Military equipment Cheezy Monsters

  Only drawback is it is missing one scene when one guy gets killed they were supposed to give him a cigerette.
  
  

• The Lost Continent
  By A1IT9VY8Z9RG92 on 2009-07-10
  1951 had its share of great films-The Thing (From Another World), The Day the Earth Stood Still, The African Queen, An American in Paris, A Streetcar Named Desire, When Worlds Collide, etc. Lost Continent is a nice entry into the science fiction genre.
  
  Hunting for a lost atomic rocket on a remote island are three scientists, two air force pilots and a sergeant whose plane crashes on the mysterious island with its plateau shrouded in clouds. Instruments failure was the cause of the crash.
  
  They meet a youngster and a young woman- Acquanetta, an exotic beauty who appeared in a number of B movies. Nicknamed the Venezuelan Volcano by the studio who wanted to add a Latin favor, she was actually a Native American born in Wyoming. Unfortunately, for her fans her appearance was just a cameo. She directs them to the mountain of the gods and the great firebird that caused her people to abandon their island.
  
  Now, the scientists and the sergeant are totally dressed for a climb up this island's Olympus, but the two pilots are dressed in their uniforms and dress shoes. Take it from someone who has climbed a lot of mountains and canyon walls, dress shoes don't cut it. You need a great pair of boots and the right gear.
  
  It was nice to see Cesar Romero in his prime. His main love interest was the beautiful Hillary Brooke who was regulated to a mere cameo. He would gain international fame in the late 60's as the Joker on the Batman television series.
  
  Whit Bissell as Stanley Briggs was the family man with two children. He had no business climbing a mountain. In the late 60's he would gain international recognition as the commanding general in the television series-The Time Tunnel.
  
  John Hoyt is always a joy to watch in films. In fact, he was in three 1951 films-this one, When Worlds Collide, and Quebec. Playing an exile Russian scientist was a great part for this fine actor, especially when he revealed the reasons why he left the Soviet Union which is one of the touching moments in this film. In addition, he had the best line, "No country can survive when it loses the respect of its own people or the world".
  
  Hugh Beaumont, one of the scientists, was one of the busiest actors of his day. However, it is his portrayal of Ward Cleaver of Leave It To Beaver fame that he is remembered fondly as a great dad and role model. He wrote and directed several episodes of the series, especially the finale.
  
  One of the special effects was the green tint when the party reached the top of the plateau. It was explained why there was green tint.
  
  One thing that amazed me was the endless supply of cigarettes. Based on all the smoking in this film, it is a miracle that the prehistoric creatures did not die just from second hand smoke.
  
  Overall, this is a great film which has an excellent story, cast and descent special effects for 1951. Paul Dunlap wrote the music. His name is probably unfamiliar to most people, but his resume is outstanding if you want to look it up.
  
  
  
  
  
• CLASSIC FUN
  By on 2000-02-26
  I loved this film as a child, and I still enjoy it. The film used to air on the old WNEW in New York City back in the early and mid 1960s. Of course, I don't know how much of the enjoyment of the movie comes from the nostalgia. One thing I noticed is that it's a major cigarette add. The dialogue is very clever abeit politically incorrect in many ways. "What, and have some wife tell him what dames he should or shouldn't go out with? Not, Joe." According to one of your reviewers, the Sid Melton scene toward the end is cut half way through. It is also cut on a differently packaged copy which I purchased some years ago. That's unfortunate, as the scene is very moving. It shows a lack of responsibility on the part of the releasing companies.
  
  
• Think Like a Kid and You Might Like It
  By AAW58LG72PG7I on 2009-06-29
  When you think of a "B" science fiction movie, one like THE LOST CONTINENT comes to mind. Released in 1951, it is a microcosm of the age. It shows the skimpy special effects typical of the age although one might think that Hollywood ought to have progressed beyond the King Kong film of nearly twenty years prior. It includes the prototypical cast of second tier actors, most of whom are well known to viewers old enough to remember such stalwarts as ABBOT AND COSTELLO (Hillary Brooke), ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE (John Hoyt), I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF (Whit Bissel), LEAVE IT TO BEAVER (Hugh Beaumont), ROCKY JONES, SPACE RANGER (Sid Melton), and BATMAN (Cesar Romero). And it even includes the anti-communist dogma then current with a burgeoning cold war.
  
  The plot is a straight forward account of a team of scientists and military types sent to recover a lost missle. The film never lets the viewer forget that the successful accomplishment of the mission is a must. Even when the very lives of the team are in danger, their leader (an oddly miscast Cesar Romero as the romantic hero) insists that they push on. And push on they do. Director Sam Newfield spends considerable screen time in showing no more than the extreme vicissitudes involved in climbing the sheer cliffs of a volcano that you know must erupt as part of the grand finale. The dinosaurs are clumsily filmed in a manner that had begun to pall even on juvenile audiences. It is easy to overlook the scientific blunders such as a charging Brontosaurus, who as a herbivore, would not have been likely to feel threatened by a pack of puny humans. What gives THE LOST CONTINENT its basic dramatic thrust is the continuing ability of the rescue team to recover the lost missle so as to determine why it went off course. There were a few grumbles in the team about whether the benefit was worth the cost but Cesar Romero kept them on target. There were even a few scenes of emotional power such as the one in which the wise cracking Sid Melton was gored by a raging Triceratops. The ending weakened what until then had been a reasonably satisfying adventure movie. I shall not reveal the specifics except to say that the crumbling island vignette had been done before and better. Still, THE LOST CONTINENT is a pleasant way for the over fifty crowd to remember just why they went to the Saturday matinee in the first place.
  
  
• It's Great for its time...
  By A2C7OILAF9QFSZ on 2008-08-01
  My favorite sci-fi movie, in fact my FAVORITE MOVIE. Why? It had a limited budget but with special effects including stop-motion animation and a "cheesy" theme. An atom-powered rocket...stock footage of a V-2 rocket taking off from White Sands in the early fifties...a 1941-vintage battleship (Arizona Class) with two main masts as a research vessel in the Pacific code-named "Neptune". "Top of the World" was a radar unit inside a mobile vehicle. Then why is it so good a movie?
  
  It is pure escapism. The movie's musical score is riveting. The special effects, though limited, are state-of-the-art for 1951. There are no "gila monsters" substituting for dinosaurs except for one scene near the top of the "lost continent" about 25 minutes into the movie. The Brontosaurus and Triceratops look decent for what was thought of as their appearance in the fifties.
  
  Cesar Romero (the Joker in 1966-1967 "Batman" as well as numerous thirties-forties movies), Chick Chandler, Hugh Beaumont (Beaver's father), John Hoyt ("When Worlds Collide", "Time Travelers" in 1964, "X-The Man With X-Ray Eyes" and Twilight Zone episodes), Hugh Bissell (1956 "Invasion of the Body Snatchers") and Sid Melton ("Danny Thomas Show" and "Atomic Submarine") provide credible acting to the movie.
  
  Why Hillary Brooke and Aquanetta were given higher credit is a mystery to me than some of these actors mentioned, above. Nonetheless, this movie is the ONE movie I have seen 100+ times and never get tired of watching.
  
  Unfortunately the DVD master has "light bars" through some of the sequences but that does not deter from my memories of making this the greatest movie of my life.
  
  My only complaint is that I wish they could find a better master copy...
  
  
• The Lost Continent - very good movie, fair special effects
  By A189COFU9UUX2L on 2007-09-12
  This movie has always been a special one for me. I thoroughly enjoy the thought that somewhere still in the pacific there maybe an island that harbors prehistoric life. This is why King Kong is one of my very favorites.
  
  Yet to be realistic, satellites most likely have scanned every spot on the globe and it is likely that some cigar/candy wrapper litter-bug has visited each and every lonely spot.
  
  The acting is quite good and the trek through the lost continent is superb as far as I am concerned. Never mind that the dinosaurs seems wooden and in fact there is one scene that the triceratops looks like some one has made a cardboard model and moved it through the scene. And why do these dinosaurs, Triceratops and Brontosaurus, both of which are primarily vegetarians in nature, attack people on sight? Yet who cares. The story is great, the location is super, and this is a movie well worth having on the self to see now and then.
  
  I would have given this 5 stars if the dinosaurs were a little more true to form and, actually, they are not all that bad, to be honest.
  
  Joe
  
  
• Disappointing Film
  By A126Q2HVTCS9P2 on 2010-08-08
  Despite the cast, this film is disappointing. Normally, I like these scifi pictures and rarely find one I don't care for. I've found this one. The acting is uninspired, the monsters look as phoney as they are, and the sets are contrived and unconvincing.
  
  Give this one a pass.
  
  
• A SURE RESULT OF THE GOLDEN AGE OF HOLLYWOOD
  By A34AH7UXWIFLLV on 2010-02-05
  I FELL FOR THIS MOVIE FROM THE DAY IT CAME OUT..JUST AN ALL AROUND GREAT FILM.
  
  
• The lost continent 1951 version
  By A20EEWWSFMZ1PN on 2009-08-24
  The film title might be a little off as the VHS version and the original title is "Lost Continent". The DVD version is "The Lost Continent".
  
  We are testing a new atomic rocket that is designed to turn back at will. Unfortunately the rocket had a mind of its own. Now we must go find it and retrieve it before the others do. Of course the retrievers are a collection of scientists and explorers. There is a suggestion that one of the scientists is not what he appears to be. This is the sneaky looking Michael Rostov (John Hoyt). All the other scientists seem to be having mysterious accidents. Maj. Joe Nolan (Cesar Romero) not only suspects Rostov but others of duplicity. Is Major Nolan just paranoid let's follow the story and see as we find a mysterious island an escarpment dubbed "The Lost Continent."
  
  I suggest if you're scared of big lizards in radioactivity that you bypass this film. Other than that it can be quite fun but nothing unique.
  
  One thing you might find quite interesting about this film is that when they're on top of the escarpment black-and-white film turns into a green and white film and looks quite eerie.
  
  For those movie goers that are eclectic enough to see Abbot and Costello movies, you are in for a treat as Hillary Brooke shows her bareback.
  
  Invaders from Mars (Special Edition)~ Hillary Brooke
  
  
  
• Found continent
  By A1GGOC9PVDXW7Z on 2009-07-01
  Here's a picture that Channel 5, WNEW-TV in NYC used to show regularly back in the 60s as an early Sunday afternoon matinee. Although not well-regarded by users of imdb, Robert L. Lippert's LOST CONTINENT (1951) is good fun for anyone amenable (or immune) to its cheap interiors and odd claymation critters.
  
  SYNOPSIS--
  When remote control of an experimental rocket fails and it disappears off radar, a small team of scientists and Air Force men are sent to locate the crash site and retrieve any surviving flight data. While duplicating the missing craft's course, Maj. Joe Nolan (Cesar Romero) encounters a magnetic field that forces him to crash-land his plummeting transport plane on an uncharted island.
  
  Using a geiger counter supplied by Dr. Phillips (Hugh Beaumont), the expedition traces the rocket's whereabouts to a steep mountain. One man dies during their ascent and when the group reaches the peak's crest, the air (and our film) is suddenly green-tinged. This is explained as a concentration of atmospheric chlorophyll caused by dense vegetation.
  
  Soon the men see various prehistoric creatures, and this is where much criticism gets heaped. An elephant-trumpeting brontosaurus (supposedly vegetarian) hunts the men. Two triceratops that sound like tigers do battle. A pteradactyl (with another pachyderm voice) is shot for its meat but the previous three monsters converge for some dino-sushi.
  
  Stock footage gets sprinkled throughout, including scenes from another Lippert "classic," ROCKETSHIP X-M (1950). More men die, but it's up to the patient viewer to find out who and how.
  
  Comic relief (such as it is) provided by Sid Melton. Also here are Hugh Beaumont (LEAVE IT TO BEAVER) and in a totally superfluous early scene, Hillary Brooke (THE ABBOTT & COSTELLO SHOW). The cast is rounded out by Chick Chandler, John Hoyt and Whit Bissell.
  
  
• Very Pleased...
  By AG2HZ82H9F5LZ on 2008-08-16
  Unexpected. An interesting film. A little too much rock climbing for my taste; but, all in all, very enjoyable. Best scenes of dinosaurs in combat I've seen.
  
  
• Still a great movie
  By A2VUWNPUKS8INM on 2008-07-12
  A bit dated, but well acted. Better than I remembered from what was shown back in the 1950's on TV. Good cast and moves along well. Special effects were some of the best for the 1950's.
  
  
• This is not a correction, not a review. (SEE BELOW.)
  By on 1999-07-23
  This is to alert you that you are mixing reviews and info on two unrelated (but identically-titled) movies here. The 1951 American film THE LOST CONTINENT is not the 1968 British film of the same title.
  
  
• Excellent for its time (1951)
  By on 1999-05-23
  Considering the time in which this movie was made (1951) and considering the limitations on budget, actors, special effects, etc., this film is probably one of the best science fiction films per cost that has ever been made.
  
  
• Good stop motion includes Pterodactyl!!
  By A23LCEFE2BWE5F on 2001-03-02
  Surprised to see a stop motion Pterodactyl in this one. Great scenes of attacking dinosaurs killed violently by bloodletting gunfire. I found the story to be boring but the dinosaur scenes were green tinted, exciting and also greatly scored. Not sure who did the music but it was first rate!! Better than 'Unknown Island' but I still prefer 'The Land Unknown' or 'The Land That Time Forgot' for a good, cheap dino-adventure. Gee Wally, that Eddie is such a creep...
  
  
• worth a laugh
  By A1EU8N6JXC3ED7 on 2009-06-29
  remembered this movie from when I was a kid. Obviously it did not stand up over the years. I'll probably save it for the grandkids who might get a kick out of it when they get a little older.
  
  
• Hand me the pop corn,will ya!
  By AF2LA2FV1FEZ5 on 2009-03-10
  This flic really brings back the memories of Saturday afternoon Movie matinees. The premise of the picture is good....but thats about it. Mr. Romero must have really needed the money or he was at the end of a contract.....I was waiting for the "Beaver" and/or Wally to come out and smack Hugh Beaumont in the chops! Then I remembered niether on of them had been born yet or they were still in the cradle whent this movie was made. A thorough restoration would have been good but I guess you can only spread the bucks so far. This is MST 3000 bound for sure(if it hasnt been on already).
  
  
• a lost classic from the early years.
  By A2GLJLYZYKOOXB on 2007-12-21
  A classic "Lost fill in the blank" movie, with a plot and good acting, given the script they had to work with. The effects were not too bad for the time and the stars went on to better opportunities.
  
  

• The Land That Time Forgot/The People That Time Forgot
• The Lost World (Special Edition) - 1960 & 1925 versions
• Unknown Island
• Two Lost Worlds
• Watch the Skies! (The Cosmic Man / The Flying Saucer / Stranger From Venus)