‘You did some very interesting work in Greenland.’
1907: A rich industrialist looking for his son bankrolls an Arctic expedition in a giant airship. After braving many dangers, they discover a volcanic island at the pole, which turns out to be occupied by a lost tribe of Vikings. Unfortunately, their high priest is not that keen on visitors…
Big budget, high concept, boys’ own drama from Walt Disney studios that attempts to tap into the long tradition of family friendly ‘lost world’ adventures. Wealthy blowhard Sir Anthony Ross (Donald Sinden) has driven son David Gwillim away with unreasonable expectations and the lad is now missing in the frozen wastes near the North Pole. Sir Anthony finances a rescue mission using the airship of eccentric Frenchman Jacques Marin, recruits archaeologist David Hartmann to help, and picks up native guide Mako along the way.
lt’s a potentially interesting setup, with the unusual location providing a welcome break from the more familiar jungle setting usually encountered in this sort of enterprise, although it does mean the film bears a passing resemblance to the ‘The Land That Time Forgot’ (1974) from the same year. Unfortunately, we’re aware only too soon that we’re in the bland, safe territory of a Disney production (nothing changes there, eh?) with airship captain Marin the stereotypical, ‘wacky’ Frenchman, who brings his dog along for the ride. What breed of dog is it? A poodle, of course, because obviously Frenchmen don’t own any other kind of dog. What’s it’s called? Why, Josephine, of course, what else?
Sadly, the plot develops on the same, predictable lines, with no real surprises in store at any stage. What the film does have going for it is the production design and sets, which were nominated for an Academy Award. Yes, the backgrounds often resemble the matte paintings that they are, but they still display a degree of creativity and invention that is sorely lacking elsewhere. Having said that, it’s painfully obvious that most of the time we’re in the studio, rather than the great outdoors. The SFX are a seriously mixed bag by today’s standards, although things have moved on a bit since Vincent Price took to the skies in his giant airship in ‘Master of the World’ (1961).
‘I wondered why this budget airline was so cheap…’
Perhaps the most disappointing aspect is the Vikings themselves. They do little but throw a few spears and scowl, and there is little interaction between our heroes and the villainous old priest. Instead of speaking Old Norse, they converse in a variety of Scandinavian languages, depending on where the individual actors came from!
Even worse, this involves endless translating of what they say, which really bogs the film down in the middle third. Ok, it would have required a major suspension of disbelief to accept them all speaking English, but it would probably have been preferable in terms of pacing and entertainment value.
The film was based on a novel by James Vance Marshall (writing as Ian Cameron) called ‘The Lost Ones’ but the action was switched from modern times to Victorian, and the mode of the expedition’s transportation from helicopter to dirigible. The reason is pretty obvious; after big box office success with ‘20,000 Leagues Under The Sea’ (1954) and ‘In Search of the Castaways’ (1962), Disney were going for that ‘Jules Verne‘ vibe again. The screenplay was actually the last by veteran scribe John Whedon, whose grandson Josh reached a marginally higher level of notoriety with his work on TV’s ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and Marvel’s ‘Avengers’ franchise.
A sequel was planned, but rapidly abandoned after the poor box office returns of this effort. However, a replica of the airship is on display at Disneyland Paris so it wasn’t a complete washout.
Completely disposable, but an adequate time passer if you’re in the mood.
Mark David Welsh 