UNKNOWN WORLD isn't so much a badly made film as it is a very boring one.
The story is essentially a riff on Jules Verne's JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH with a 1951 spin: a group of scientists become convinced that nuclear holocaust is inevitable and seek to locate a safe haven for mankind inside the earth itself. They develop a machine they call a "cyclotram," which might be described as a strangely art deco-styled drill bit with seating for six, descend into an extinct volcano, and work hard to put you to sleep within the first twenty minutes of the film.
Considering that you still have fifty-four minutes to go, it might be just as well if you did doze off at that point, for the film doesn't get any better. If you stay awake for the rest of it, you will find that they don't do much actual drilling; apparently the interior of the earth is riddled with dandy tubes ideal for cyclotram travel. Now and then they pause to argue needlessly, kill off a character or two, argue needlessly, look for water, and then argue needlessly some more. Eventually they do reach a space that might be used as a sanctuary from nuclear war; when they do, they all argue needlessly some more.
The cast is not actually bad enough to make fun of but neither are they actually adequate, so there's no joy to be had in either direction; the visual effects are much the same. The Millard Kaufman script is a clunker if ever there was one, but director Terry Morse--a Hollywood workhorse if ever there was one--manages to give the thing enough cohesion to keep it going, so once again it's not quite bad enough to laugh at nor is it entertaining on its own merits.
The absolute best that can be said for UNKNOWN WORLD is that it is tiresome, and indeed I had to play this DVD no less than four times before I could get through it without falling asleep. If that sounds like a joke, I assure you that it is not. The movie is so dull that you will feel you are settling to the bottom of a subterranean sea. Bon Voyage.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
The story is essentially a riff on Jules Verne's JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH with a 1951 spin: a group of scientists become convinced that nuclear holocaust is inevitable and seek to locate a safe haven for mankind inside the earth itself. They develop a machine they call a "cyclotram," which might be described as a strangely art deco-styled drill bit with seating for six, descend into an extinct volcano, and work hard to put you to sleep within the first twenty minutes of the film.
Considering that you still have fifty-four minutes to go, it might be just as well if you did doze off at that point, for the film doesn't get any better. If you stay awake for the rest of it, you will find that they don't do much actual drilling; apparently the interior of the earth is riddled with dandy tubes ideal for cyclotram travel. Now and then they pause to argue needlessly, kill off a character or two, argue needlessly, look for water, and then argue needlessly some more. Eventually they do reach a space that might be used as a sanctuary from nuclear war; when they do, they all argue needlessly some more.
The cast is not actually bad enough to make fun of but neither are they actually adequate, so there's no joy to be had in either direction; the visual effects are much the same. The Millard Kaufman script is a clunker if ever there was one, but director Terry Morse--a Hollywood workhorse if ever there was one--manages to give the thing enough cohesion to keep it going, so once again it's not quite bad enough to laugh at nor is it entertaining on its own merits.
The absolute best that can be said for UNKNOWN WORLD is that it is tiresome, and indeed I had to play this DVD no less than four times before I could get through it without falling asleep. If that sounds like a joke, I assure you that it is not. The movie is so dull that you will feel you are settling to the bottom of a subterranean sea. Bon Voyage.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer