THE ISLAND AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD (1974)

[Xenorama ™]

David Hartman .... Prof. Ivarsson
Donald Sinden .... Sir Anthony Ross
Jacques Marin .... Captain Brieux
Mako .... Oomiak
David Gwillim .... Donald Ross
Agneta Eckemyr .... Freyja
Gunnar Öhlund .... The Godi (as Gunnar Ohlund)
Lasse Kolstad .... Erik
Erik Silju .... Torvald
Rolf Søder .... The Lawspeaker
Torsten Wahlund .... Sven
Sverre Anker Ousdal .... Gunnar (as Sverre Ousdal)
Niels Hinrichsen .... Sigurd
Denny Miller .... Town Guard
Brendan Dillon .... The Factor

this was probably the last of Disney's great live action fantasies,
and while it suffers from a pedestrian script (TOO realistic, no
monsters at all, just some rather rubbery orcas) the acting is good
and the effects are wonderful, plus the natives don't ever speak
English, except Freyja, of course (it was explained in the movie why).

Donald Ross disappears looking for the fabled place where whales go to die. his imperious father builds the Hyperion, a huge airship to go find him in the Arctic region. he talks Prof Ivarsson into going with him, and they find a lost settlement of Vikings.

then they have to figure out how to leave!

i saw this in the theater in 1974, and then just the other night.
lots of fun- not really great, but i prefer it over most anything made in the last 20 years. a monster or two sure would have helped out, though!

[Gwangi]

When I was in elementary school, on the last day, they gathered everyone to the auditorium to watch Disney movies . Over the end of those school years, I saw the likes of “The Absent Minded-Professor”, “Treasure Island” and “Gus”. And of course, “Island at the Top of the World”. I enjoyed what I saw back then. I did not see this movie again, however, until only last year. And I mostly concur with David’s review. Good miniatures, great matte paintings, and good performances (and surprisingly from a pre-Good Morning America David Hartman!). As for the orcas, they actually did scare me when I first saw this (obviously this was from the after effects of “Jaws”).