Krakatoa, East of Java
by Bernard L. Kowalski
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Actor: Barbara Werle, Brian Keith, Diane Baker, Maximilian Schell, Sal MineoDirector: Bernard L. Kowalski
Brand: Sony
Cinematographer: Manuel Berenguer
Editor: Maurice Rootes
Producer: Lester A. Sansom
Producer: Philip Yordan
Producer: William R. Forman
Writer: Bernard Gordon
Writer: Cliff Gould
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Letterboxed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 131 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-03-22
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: Cinerama Releasing Corporation
DVD Reviews of Krakatoa, East of Java
DVD Review: High, Wide and Handsome Hokum - if you get the MGM/UA or Anchor Bay issues
Summary: 4 Stars
With lines like "Don't explode, Chris!" and that famously geographically mistaken title, it's clear that no-one on the set was taking Krakatoa, East of Java too seriously. Rather than a historically accurate account of the biggest volcanic eruption in recorded history (for that you need to see the BBC's Krakatoa: The Last Day), it's pure hokum that knows it's hokum and shows you where all the money's been spent. High, wide and handsome hokum at that, designed to fill the wide Cinerama screen
The disaster movie formula was already well enough established for the stock characters to be present: Brian Keith's diver with a busted lung and a bottle of laudanum, Rossano Brazzi and Sal Mineo as father and son balloonists, John Leyton's claustrophobic diving bell designer, Barbara Werle's photographer and `soprano', Diane Baker as treasure hunting skipper Maximilian Schell's just-out-of-the-asylum lover, Jacqui Chan's pearl diver... Throw in a cargo of convicts (replaced by orphans and singing nuns for the return voyage) and you can pretty much fill in the blanks in the plot yourself. Subtle it ain't - after Barbara Werle does a striptease for Brian Keith while singing An Old-Fashioned Girl Like Me, the camera cuts to engine pistons hammering away - and Schell might just be Dr Who in an earlier regeneration - his ship's interior is so much larger than its exterior it might as well be called the TARDIS instead of the Batavia Queen - but it's a lot more entertaining than something this silly and clichéd should be.
True, it's a long voyage as it sets the scene for the big eruption with mysterious fogs and fireballs, with some of Eugene Lourie's special effects reminiscent of the early scenes of his monster movie Gorgo. They only arrive at Krakatoa just in time for the intermission (or what used to be the intermission), the island volcano revealed through the mist in a scene Ridley Scott would borrow for 1492. Once there, there's only time for one big setpiece - Cinerama films always had a `rollercoaster' scene putting the audience in the driving seat of some runaway vehicle, be it a wagon careering down a mountain track in Custer of the West or on a runaway train in How the West Was Won, and here it's a runaway balloon drawn through narrow canyons into the crater - and a quick mutiny of their convict cargo before the volcano blows and the resulting tidal wave threatens to drown the ship as well as the surrounding ports. It may not be exactly photo-realistic or bear much resemblance to what actually happened, but for lovers of classic special effects and pyromaniacs alike the model explosions at least provide plenty of colourful fun that even John Leyton's Charlie Chaplin impersonation or the singing nuns can't dampen. It's the kind of film that can be easily filed under `guilty pleasure,' but it's certainly a lot more spectacular and entertaining than When Time Ran Out in the volcanic eruption stakes.
MGM/UA's DVD is a fine 2.35:1 transfer with rich colour and good detail. Sadly there are no extras and the overture and intermission are missing, but other than that it is the full-length roadshow version rather than the 105-minute reissue version available on extremely poor quality public domain DVDs. The Anchor Bay DVD also offers a fullscreen version. The other current Region 1 transfers should be avoided at all costs.
Description of Krakatoa, East of Java
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