Review of The Island at the Top of the World (1974) by Jonathan Y — 07 Oct 2008

The Disney company half-heartedly tried to recapture the success of '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea' in this Jules Vern-esque adventure yarn about a group of explorers who journey to a mysterious, semi-mythical island in the Arctic, where they find all manner of peril.

Lava-spewing volcanoes, glittering ice caverns, churning whirlpools, rampaging killer whales, and a lost tribe of Vikings figure heavily in the plot... so why does 'Island' seem so lackluster? Much of the blame falls on the screenplay, which is not only clumsily paced but also dishes out some truly wooden, uninteresting (and even, in the case of Donald Sinden's unintentionally obnoxious millionaire character, downright loathsome) heroes.

Disney vet Robert Stevenson directs the proceedings with businesslike efficiency, but he fails to give the film much in the way of mystery or wonder - two things a film like this desperately needs. There's also the matter of the special effects, which pale in comparison to some of the live-action films Disney was producing decades earlier (including '20,000 Leagues').

The orca attack is particularly dismal, showcasing little more than oversized rubber bathtub toys being clumsily tossed against a styrofoam iceberg. This is not to say that 'Island' is a total bust.

.. there's a crude throwback charm to some of the proceedings, and Jaques Marin's haughty French balloon captain interestingly provides some of the few moments of genuine poignancy. Still, it's hard to watch 'Island' without a growing sense of disappointment at the thought of the wondrous adventure it could, and should, have been.