Reviewer's Rating 5 out of 5
The Lost World DVD (1925)

The background to "The Lost World" is as fascinating as the movie itself. It's taken eight different prints to put together the exciting new DVD release of this remarkable film. If you were thrilled by "King Kong", "Godzilla", or the "Jurassic Park" movies, this is a DVD that you must own. It's fascinating.

PICTURE

Picture quality is excellent. Of course, there are scratches galore, but as all prints were destroyed bar a few lucky exceptions, we're lucky to get to see it at all. The image has been tinted, as the original film would have been to represent night or day, and it works very well.

SOUND

You get two orchestral choices. Either you can have Robert Israel's slightly whimsical traditional score, or the horrible new synthesiser creation of the Alloy Orchestra. Both make good use of the speakers though, with surround sound throughout.

SPECIAL FEATURES

There's a commentary track by "The Lost World" expert, Roy Pilot. As his comments are few and far between, it's possible to have occasional interesting points in the background without it spoiling the film too much.

Other extra features include a stills gallery, an Arthur Conan Doyle biography and, best of all, 12 minutes of animation outtakes. In these excerpts you can actually see technical genius Willis O'Brien appear in some frames, as he adjusts the 50 model dinosaurs that populate the film.

Chapters: 18
Region: 2
Ratio: 1.33:1
Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 (surround)
Extra Features: Scene selection, animated menus.

End Credits

Director: Harry O Hoyt, Willis O'Brien

Writer: Marion Fairfax

Stars: Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone, Bessie Love, Lloyd Hughes, Arthur Hoyt, Alma Bennett, Virginia Brown Fairei, Bull Montana, Jules Cowles

Genre: Adventure, Fantasy

Length: 93 minutes

Original: 1925

DVD: 03 June 2002

Country: USA