The Mysterious Island of Captain Nemo (MIOCN) Blog

"The Mysterious Island of Captain Nemo" Blog
Not updated on a daily basis, but I do try to catch up with new events

November 13, 2006
Yes, it has been quite a while. Sorry about that. Please note that I no longer use the "cultmovies" email; the current one is obscurious@gmail.com.
I've just learned of some further DVD releases from CCI of the extended cut as well as the theatrical version (or rather two different version of the latter). Still no sign of an unedited German tv-series DVD release, though. Speaking of which, apparently the Spanish DVD set, offering the most complete episodic release to date (that I know of) has been reprinted/repackaged recently, but I don't know if it's actually available in shops.

November 20, 2005, 08.05 PM
Um.... The long awaited Promo-Nostalgie-Edition from CCI has arrived. Finally. Long overdue. But sadly there are no longer any extras. The promise of English subtitles is kept though. That's something. Meanwhile a theatrical version DVD (also from CCI) has been out for some time. That DVD does contain extras features. Go figure.
The main body of the extended cut consists of the German TV-series (sans episode credits and 'previously on..." intros), with somescenes from the French TV-series (or possibly German theatrical version) added and lots of stuff from an obscure Spanish condensed (theatrical?) version, compiled froim the fabled early TV-series version. I hazard a guess that the latter is identical to my 118 min Spanish rental video print. Same opening and closing credits, plus I've not been able to spot any footage not in this (or other) version. If CCI had had access to a full TV-series print of theearly version some 'new' footage would have shown up, surely. Well, the good news to most of you is that the DVD includes footage not previously seen... on DVD. The slightly disappointing news to me is that... that's it. No extra, obscure footage unearthed.
I have written some preliminary notes for the 268 min. edition and posted them to a messageboard earlier today. Here's a slightly revised version.

00.29. Missing frames in the opening credits that affect picture as well as music. I wonder why no attempt was made of repairing it.
01.30. The narrative voiceover presentation from the Spanish theatrical version ought to have been omitted..
10:00. Minor audio dropouts in Pencroff's dialogue.
14:05. Audio problems.
28.48-29.09. Bad continuity. The narrative voiceover from the German theatrical version repeating info from 01.30. Don't understand why it was kept.
42.05-43.45. Rather poor audio here - the music is completely out of tune.
44.10. Cyrus Smith originally had a line here that is muted.
44.18. Narrative voiceover from the theatrical version. Ought to have been muted.
42.01. Several dramatic scenes of Nab searching the rocky beach for Smith, present in every other version of the film/tv-series are mysteriously missing here.
54.30. A brief scene of Pencroff and Harbert leaving the riverbank is missing, but the audio is extant.
86.34. Yet another narrative voiceover they failed to remove.
117.53. First of several glimpses of the shoddy Nautilus Mk 1. Big mistake to include this footage.
147.14-147.26. Smith and Nab discussing, but no audio (this is disguised by a piece of soundtrack). Oddly enough the scene is intact in the theatrical version from CCI.
152.38: The missing dialogue incorrectly turning up here
217.03. I'm not sure if Jupiter is actually hit twice or it's an editorial mistake. The scene combines footage from the Spanish theatrical print and the French TV-series DVD.

Scenes in the Spanish theatrical print not used in this cut and therefore still unavailable on DVD:
Slightly more footage of the Bonaventure sailing towards Tabor Island (past 146:03)
Longer discussion between Smith and Pencroff (past 197:32)
Longer scene of the others returning from the hunt (past 197:38)
Also the colonists fire their rifles several times to attract the attention of the pirate ship in the Spanish print and just before Bob Harvey boards the vessel there's a slightly longer quarrel with Captain Nemo about the fate of the Nautilus.

Above: My collection as of today. I've already added another item yet to arrive: An Italian ex-rental VHS of (presumably) the Italian theatrical version. Stay tuned!

July 2, 2005, 01.40 PM
I can now reveal that my contribution to the extras of Die geheimnisvolle Insel is the US theatrical trailer! Running appx 1.30 it's a fun little compilation of action scenes from the feature version.
BTW the alternative cover for the DVD looks like this:

June 24, 2005, 00.30 AM
So exactly what do we get with the 'Promo-Nostalgie Version' of Die geheimnisvolle Insel? Well, it is my understanding that some of the footage will be from the fabled Spanish/Latin American TV-series print. The new stuff includes an even longer scene of Jupiter the Chimp dying than was shown in the French episode 6, Captain Nemo placing contact mines on the hull of the pirate ship, plus more footage of the Nautilus getting blown up. The extended cut (but not the German theatrical version) will be subtitled in English.
I've finally become personally involved in a DVD release of my beloved series, if only in a small way. Yesterday I sent a couple of items to CCI, in the hope that at least one of them will show up in the extras menu.
Bad news about the regular DVD release later this year: It will be the German theatrical version only. No plans for a release of the 6 episodes TV-series.

June 23, 2005, 01.00 AM
Great news! There's a German DVD set coming from CCI. The initial version released is a 'Promo-Nostalgie Version' limited to 500 copies. After having some problems yesterday ordering I finally managed to place a preorder at D&T Mailorder.

Here's some info on the content, taken from this thread at the DTM messageboard: 2 disc set with two different frontsleeves; The German theatrical version, the German Super-8 version; the 'Spanish Extended Cut' (appx. 160 minutes longer); Soundtrack. Furthermore, the version on disc 2 will be a super feature version combining lots of footage and omitting the individual episode credits and summaries.
There will be a regular DVD version released later this year. No info on the content yet.

Update, 11.50 AM
I've just learned that CCI have decided to add English language subtitles to the 'Extended cut' of Die geheimnisvolle Insel!!!!!

June 9, 2005, 12.05 PM
I have now received my copy of L'ile mystérieuse. It's a 3-disc release that comes in a handsome cardboard box and some very nice pictures and stuff. As to the TV-series itself, the six episodes are spread over the first two discs. Each episode starts with a 8 second Studio Canal logo as a separate chapter. The episodes proper have four chapters, no other language options than French and no subtitles at all. The menu system sucks. You cannot stop it with the remote, but have to enter one of the episodes first. There are no chapter selections and no "run all episodes" option - by the end of each you're back at the menu screen, which I find rather annoying.
With the running time things get a bit odd: episodes 1-4 are the shorter versions shown on French TV in repeat and released to secam video, with episode 6 the long 52 min. version as it has always appeared; however here episode 5 is actually the longer variant.
Running times (Studio Canal logo subtracted): Episode 1: 44m31s. Episode 2: 46m55s. Episode 3: 44m47s. Episode 4: 43m38s. Episode 5: 52m37s. Episode 6: 52m22s. (Total: 285m00s)
The extras on disc three are a mixed bag and frankly too little to justify an entire extra disc. There's a Jules Verne bibliography (pure text, no detailed info or pictures) and a quizz (in French, so I'm out of the competition, I'm afraid), which are sort of nice, but not very exciting. The best bit is a 10m04s contemporary interview with Omar Sharif who looks in pretty good shape and enthusiastic about the TV-series. Unfortunately I don't understand French and... yup, no subtitles, of course. A brief Omar Sharif filmography wraps it up.
The bitrate for the TV-series episode has a healthy avarage about 7 to 7.5. Picture quality is slightly blurred sometimes, with colors somewhat faded. I noticed a sort of, for lack of better word, jerkiness to the picture, specially in movements, like someone did a poor conversion job. Movements in the Spanish DVD print are much more fluid. No major damages to the print, although some scratches and (not too intrusive) tramlines do appear from time to time.
I'll add some comparison screen captures of the French and Spanish DVDs later.

June 7, 2005, 09.25 AM
L'ile mystérieuse can now be ordered from amazon.fr by following this link. I'll let you know what I think of the package as soon as my copy arrives.

May 23, 2005, 10.00 PM
According to Hannu Riihimäki there has been a viewing of The Mysterious Island of Captain Nemo (35mm print, 106 min. version) at a theatre in Helsinki, Finland! The print was a bit scratched, but in generally good condition. Language was English, with Finnish and Swedish subtitles. So at least one English language print of the (uncut) theatrical version does exist! That's very encouraging news. I really hope one day to learn that such a print has been released to DVD. And of course, it must have been a very cool experience for those who attended...

May 10, 2005, 11.30 AM
I recently bought a DVD harddisc recorder and plan to make security copies of all my Mysterious Island VHS material. Here are a couple of screen captures from the old Spanish VHS of the Spanish theatrical version that I copied yesterday. In case you don't recognize it, it's the Nautilus Mark 1!

May 8, 2005, 01.15 PM
I've just won an auction on www.ebay.fr for episode 1 on French secam video. While I do own good quality copies of all the French TV/video episodes, I only have colour sleeves for episodes 3 and 4. Yes, I am a mad collector...

May 7, 2005, 09.25 PM
My deepest apologies for not following up on private emails, not updating the website etc. I've had various personal problems to deal with in the past year. But now: finally some news. That is, good news... and bad news.
The TV-series is being released to French DVD on June 6, 2005! It's a 3 disc set, including various bonus features; most promising an interview with star Omar Sharif. That is of course fantastic. But then there's the bad news: The company releasing the set, Studio Canal, in their infinite wisdom have decided to not include any foreign language subtitles (or subtitles at all).
Speaking as a life long fan of the series, and one who has spent a lot of energy on tracking down various versions of both the TV-series and the theatrical version, I feel hugely disappointed once again being denied a version in English or with English subtitles. The last year Spanish DVD release was one thing: a limited edition for a Spanish movie magazine, never intended for wider sale. But this looks a little more, shall we say official. I have no idea whether Studio Canal are aware of this, but there are fans of the TV-series all over the world and the most common question I receive in mails from fans is this: When will "The Mysterious Island of Captain Nemo" be available uncut and in English (and preferably on DVD)?
Well, not this time, I'm afraid. Perhaps never.

Update, 10.47 PM
I have now mailed StudioCanal, expressing my disappointment with the lack of subtitles. Maybe not very polite, but then again, I am a life long fan. This is what I wrote (somewhat paraphrasing the news text above):

Hello,
I have just learned that StudioCanal intends to release "The Mysterious Island of Captain Nemo" ("L'île Mystérieuse") to DVD in June, according to this website: http://www.dvdfr.com/dvd/dvd.php?id=17781.
As a life long fan of the TV-series I obviously am very pleased with the news. What I'm not so pleased with, and here I feel confident that I speak for many other fans from all over the world, is that there appears to be no optional foreign language subtitles. Or subtitles at all, for that matter. This is a huge disappointment.
I own possibly the largest collection in the world of different versions of both the theatrical feature version and the six-part TV-series, including videos and DVDs from Holland, Greece, Great Britain, Italy, Germany, Spain and indeed France. My collection even includes a 35 mm film trailer. I also run a modest and not terribly up-to-date website for the series, at www.cultmovies.dk/nemo/
The theatrical version (105 min apprx) exists in English language prints, as numerous old video releases, as well as a French DVD: http://www.cultmovies.dk/nemo/pics/fdvd.jpg (obviously in French). There are also variant prints in Spanish (video) and Italian (DVD). However, the full, six-part TV-series appears to never have been shown or released anywhere in English language. An English dub of the full series probably was never even made. Last year, a full-length six disc Spanish DVD of the series was released, with no alternative dialogue or subtitle options: http://www.cultmovies.dk/nemo/pics/sdvd.jpg (Rather interestingly, the Spanish TV-version as well as a version broadcast on German TV, has a longer running time per episode than the French as broadcast and later released to secam video.)
The Spanish DVD set was released through a movie magazine and as such a limited affair. I had hoped for an eventual French DVD release being a bit more, shall we say "international".
There are many fans in the English speaking part of the world (or where the first foreign language is English, like in Scandinavia) who dearly wish for a release of the TV-series, where they can actually understand the dialogue for a change.
Well, not this time.
Henrik Larsen, Denmark

August 31, 2004, 10.59 PM
Hmmm. I have now received and watched the secam video copies of the French TV-series. And am quite puzzled, frankly. The episodes are identical to the trimmed versions on the commercial videos from INA i.e. apprx 45 minutes each, except the 6th and final episode, running 52 min. and apparently identical to the Spanish/German TV-prints. (Sadly I'm missing episode 6 of the INA 6 tape set).
Does that mean the 'complete' version wasn't shown on French TV? I can't tell. My copies are from a repeat run in the 80s, not the original in 1973/74.
At least, during all the trouble comparing various versions back and forth tonight I spotted one minor scene (possibly more, but of this one I'm certain) missing from the Spanish/German TV-prints, but present in almost all other prints known to me, included the edited French series. More about that later.

August 10, 2004, 06:58 PM
Sorry for not replying to mails the past weeks - I've been on holiday.
I've been contacted by a French fan of the series, who's offered me a video copy of the French TV-series as originally broadcast. Fantastic!
The Goofs of Captain Nemo: I expect at some point to upload a page of technical bloopers, print errors and continuity problems that I've spotted in the series (well, someone has to do it!). Two of the most obvious:

1. How did Top survive the jump in episode one? Nemo didn't put him in the coffin with Cyrus Smith. And, well, he's a small dog and those waters are deep and not exactly quiet. Not to mention some nasty rocks.
2. I'm sorry, but that ending is still rather poorly done. There's simply no reason why The Duncan should happen to visit the island just then.

Now that I've watched the entire Spanish DVD set, what do I conclude? Well, this is not the expected super long version. Interestingly this version is practically identical to my multigenerational bootleg of (what appears to be) the original German TV-series which run slightly longer than it's counterpart released in the 80s on French secam tape (by 4-5 minutes per episode). Previously I regarded the German print as an "extended" or "alternative" version and the version released to French secam tape as the original French TV version. Imagine my surprise that the Spanish DVD actually carry the French version opening and closing credits!!! It even got the French theme (w/vocals, titled L'ile Bleue and performed by Monique Pianéa - no idea whether it's available on CD), but of course the actual dialogue is dubbed in Spanish..
It seems fairly obvious then that the new DVD contains the original French TV-series as broadcast (only dubbed in Spanish) and for some strange reason the later secam release was trimmed.
This still leaves my Spanish rental video of the Spanish theatrical version and to a lesser degree the Italian DVD, both containing additional and/or alternative footage not encountered elsewhere. I am convinced that the roughly assembled Spanish version offers us a glimpse of the fabled "primeval version" broadcast in Spain and various Latin American countries. The mind boggles at what goodies these 6 hours of TV, probably lost forever, contained.
I am, alas, now convinced that there never was an English language version of the TV-series, only of the 104min. theatrical version (the one later released to video in the UK, Holland, Greece, Denmark, Iceland et. al.)

Running time of each DVD: Episode 1: 52m41s, Episode 2: 52m42s, Episode 3: 52m43s, Episode 4: 52m40s, Episode 5: 52m41s, Episode 6: 52m41s.

July 8, 2004, 6:13 PM
I GOT THE DVDS!!!! In fact I've just finished watching the first of them. Well... the running time is 52m41s, and it looks more or less like my German TV-series episode 1. Except that the opening and closing credits are those of the French TV-series, complete with the French version of the theme (i.e. the one with female vocals).
Ok, the bad (but not wholly unexpected) news: NO other language option than Spanish and NO subtitles at all. And no extras, for that matter, except a choice of four chapters. The good news: The picture quality is decent, if not exactly perfect. Lots of the occasional nicks and scratches; obviously this is an old TV print or perhaps a video master (the darker scenes look somewhat soft and slightly blurred). A few frames are missing from the end credits; otherwise it appears complete.
To be continued......................................

June 14, 2004
VERY, VERY HOT NEWS: My friends - there is a limited edition six-DVD box set available in Spain, for sale through the film magazine El Cinéfilo only. Even more promisingly, the total running time supposedly is 360 min., considerably more than the German TV-series version at 318 min. or the French at 270 min. respectively (both apprx).
I learned this through a mail from a friend of mine in Spain, Ferran Giménez (who runs his own website at http://www.geocities.com/fmannaja/). He's going to order the set for me and send it to Denmark, hopefully arriving within the next ten days or so.
There's no word on extras if any, and it's very possibly that the DVDs don't include any English language track or subtitles. Still, in the absence (to my knowledge) of the previously rumoured French DVD set, this is fantastic news. For the first time EVER the complete series will be available to DVD and if enough fans outside of Spain learns about the set hopefully there WILL eventually be a release for the English language public. So please, please, PLEASE spread this story!
The possibility of a Spanish "super edition" is mind boggling. In fact I'm beginning to suspect that there is no such thing as one master print or edition, but instead there exists at least four different edits or versions of the series: The Spanish, Italian, French and German. For the moment I'm only able to compare the complete French and German TV-serials (sadly I'm missing the final French episode) and it's not merely a question credit sequences; the German version does contain extra footage, fleshing out (or padding!) each episode. Nothing of major importance as far as I can see - for example the extra footage in the German episode 4 consists mostly of further exploration of Tabor Island by the castaways. Truth is, I tend to prefer the somewhat tighter edit of the French episodes! On the other hand I'm very curious about the possibility of even more details; evidently tons of footage was shot in the first place. This was evident from the Spanish feature version (ex-rental video, no pictures available) that contained numerous alternative shots. So did the Italian DVD for that matter - like the curious home video of Captain Nemo (in all other versions Nemo is showing Spilett a slideshow of drawings from the original French editions of 20.000 Leagues under the Sea and The Mysterious Island respectively). One wonders what extra scenes might show up in those additional 5-6 minutes of material per episode.
Something to worry about: We've had French and Italian language DVD releases of the feature version and now a Spanish language DVD release of the TV-series. Why no English language release of either? Do no matching audio tracks exist any longer? Or for that matter, was there ever an English language version of the TV-series? I'm fairly sure that what I watched on Swedish TV as child was the French language version. The German TV-version was in, well, German, and the one in Spain and various Latin American countries Spanish. As to the versions elsewhere, including various (former) Eastern European countries I have no idea. But the point is, although English language prints of the 104min International feature version do survive on video, I've never head of an English language TV-series!