Master of the World (1961)

Calificación de los usuarios:

5.9/10   

Director:

William Witney

Escritores:

Richard Matheson (writer) and
Jules Verne (novels)

Fecha de Lanzamiento:

mayo 1961 (USA)

Género:

Ciencia-Ficción | Aventura

Frase comercial:

The fabulous adventures of the man who conquered the earth to save it!

Plot:

The world in the late 19th century: A scientist and his team are held as "guests" of Robur on his airship...

Plot Keywords:

19th Century | Foreign Language Adaptation | Ultimatum | Inventor | Flying Machine

Comentarios de los usuarios:

A Pretty Good Action Sleeper

Reparto

Vincent Price	...	Robur
Charles Bronson	...	John Strock
Henry Hull	...	Prudent
Mary Webster	...	Dorothy Prudent
David Frankham	...	Philip Evans
Richard Harrison	...	Alistair, the helmsman
Vito Scotti	...	Topage, the cook (as Vitto Scotti)
Wally Campo	...	First Mate Turner
Peter Besbas	...	Wilson, a crewman
Steve Masino	...	Weaver, a crewman
Gordon Jones	...	Talkative Morgantown Townsman
Ken Terrell	...	Shanks, a crewman

También conocida como:

El amo del mundo (Spain) [es]

Duración:

102 min | USA:99 min (including prologue)

País:

USA

Idioma:

Inglés

Color:

Color

Relación de Aspecto:

1.85 : 1

Sonido:

4-Track Stereo (StereoSonic Sound)

Clasificación:

West Germany:6 (nf) | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:11

Locaciones de Filmación:

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Compañía:

American International Pictures (AIP)

Trivialidades:

Screenwriter Richard Matheson has said in interviews that he thought Charles Bronson was badly miscast.

Errores:

Errores que Revelan: While doing repairs after a bombing run and removing the damaged "lifting" blades, one of the crew members is being handed the removed blades. One blade clearly has no hole in it. Previous shots of the top of the Albatross show that the blades are mounted on top of shafts. How could the blade be attached without a hole?

Citas:

Dorothy Prudent: [after Prudent has hit his already injured head on the top of his bunk] Did you hurt yourself?
Prudent: Of course I hurt myself!

Conexiones de Película:

Referenced in Schlock! The Secret History of American Movies (2001)

Banda de Sonido:

Master of the World

A Pretty Good Action Sleeper

I caught this one on cable recently, seeing it for the first time as an adult. I must admit to a slight bias toward this film: when I was growing up in the dreaded BC (before cable) days, it was standard Saturday afternoon TV fare on our local indie channels. I was surprised at how well it's held up after all this time.

Master of the World is actually based on two little-remembered Jules Verne novels. Price is his usual hammy self as the standard Verne not-quite-villain, Robur (read: Nemo in the air) who, like Nemo, seeks to end war through technology. The young Bronson, as a sympathizer who then rebels against Robur's violent methods, is far less wooden than in his later years. But the real star of this movie is its production design. The rendering of what an aircraft might have looked like in Victorian days (had such a thing been possible) is dead-on, and the special effects are pretty impressive for 1961. The script, by Richard Matheson, is a little overwrought, but true to Verne's spirit while eliminating the blatant racism of the original stories. This time around though, I found the sweeping, melodramatic score to be a bit overpowering.

In short, not a perfect film or even a great film, but Master of the World remains a well made, entertaining action fantasy. I'm surprised it isn't better remembered by fans of the genre.