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Mysterious Island; Captain Harding's FABULOUS Adventures
Topic Started: Jan 19 2009, 09:36 PM (4,522 Views)
panzer the great & terrible
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Mouth Breather
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It could, but some things just don't.
Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious...
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Laughing Gravy
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I am as pleased as can be (sort of) to announce that the THIRD THRILL-PACKED (sort of) episode of MYSTERIOUS ISLAND is posted NOW at http://www.inthebalcony.com/cliffhanger/.

Please, hold all applause until after you've read the darn thing. And beyond.
"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
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Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer
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Sapient Balconeer
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I'm speechless.
It's like Rodney King used to say, "Can't we all get a bong."
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toddgault
Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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After having read the latest installment, I have to a startling conclusion. This is without a doubt the most crowded deserted island in existence. I do like how thing's just sort of happen in this serial. Gideon just happened to have a gun, the natives just happened to run into Captain harding laying in the middle of nowhere, the heroes just happen to find a chest full of weapons. And just how advanced are the aliens if they have a space ship but need a specific element to conquer 19th Century Earth? I am beginning to think the aliens didn't build their ship, they must have stolen it.
Todd Gault..........Serial Buff
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panzer the great & terrible
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Mouth Breather
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Welcome to the wonderful world of Jungle Sam Katzman, where I grew up.
Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious...
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mort bakaprevski
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panzer the great & terrible
Jul 10 2009, 08:05 AM
Welcome to the wonderful world of Jungle Sam Katzman, where I grew up.
Me too!!

And to think, Jerry Blake used to complain about the lack of logic in Geroge Plympton's scripts. That silly kid!!!!
"Nov Shmoz Ka Pop."
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KanSmiley
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I think this why we all like serials. If you one that doesn't have enough action you find on that does. Mysterious Island has a pretty girl, aliens, pirates, native savages, hot air ballons...everything a young male could possibly want all in one movie.
http://www.saturday-matinee-memories.com/

intoxicated, adj.: When you feel sophisticated without being able to pronounce it.
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Chandu
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KanSmiley
Jul 10 2009, 09:40 AM
I think this why we all like serials. If you one that doesn't have enough action you find on that does. Mysterious Island has a pretty girl, aliens, pirates, native savages, hot air ballons...everything a young male could possibly want all in one movie.
Plus, it's a hoot!
Not plane, nor bird, nor even frog. It's just little ol' me...
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panzer the great & terrible
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Mouth Breather
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Yeah, but I didn't know that when I was 10. It just completely captivated me as no other serial had done (except Flash of course).
Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious...
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JazzGuyy
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I'm watching this serial now. What chapter is the kitchen sink in? Everything else is in it so I figure the sink has to be there someplace.
TANSTAAFL!
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toddgault
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Probably saving the sink for the big finish in the last chapter, where it all goes down the drain.
Todd Gault..........Serial Buff
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Our story so far: Frankly, so far the only mystery on the island is “Who th’ heck ARE all these people?” and Cap’n Harding’s “fabulous adventures” have consisted of getting captured, playing with a dog, stealing a balloon, nearly drowning, and then disappearing for an episode and a half. One wonders what was in the rejected script “Captain Harding’s Rather Pedestrian Adventures.”

Anyway, while the Cap’n is taking a leave of absence (no doubt on another “fabulous adventure,” maybe cancelling his newspaper subscription while he’s away on vacation in Ligonier, PA), the rest of our motley gang of Union engineers have gotten themselves all blown up by the Volcano People, a tribe that dresses like Mickey Mouse but carries lightning bolt spears and pockets full of fairy dust. The dust, while frankly neither mysterious nor fabulous, is fairly potent, explosives-wise.


This week, Chapter 3: "Savage Justice!"

Well, THIS is odd. Our guys all got blowed up last week, but this week while the explosion is going on, one of them yells, “There’s a way out!” and they escape from the 3-megaton blast by ducking under what appears to be an azalea bush. Had they noticed this exit route last week, we wouldn’t have worried so much, right?

After escaping from the Volcano People, our heroes just stroll off nonchalantly as if they’ve completely forgotten that there’s a bloodthirsty tribe of badly dressed natives trying to kill them. The Volcano People spot our boys and give chase, a-whoopin’ and a-hollerin’ in that strange language of theirs, although they don’t appear to have any words for “Be quiet, boys, and let’s sneak up on ‘em!” Pencroft, who last chapter led his friends into a dead end against a boulder (well, except for the azaleas) has learned from that experience, and this time he leads them into… well, okay, into a dead end against a boulder. When you’re stranded on a mysterious island with killer natives and aliens from outer space, what you need, apparently, is an unwavering consistency. “My only regret is,” the great journalist intones, “I may not live long enough to write this story.” The other guys look at him as if they expected him to say, “My only regret is that I led you fellers into a death-trap twice in ten minutes.”

The Volcano People arrive (with murder in their eyes, although their cries sound a lot like “Helloooooo!” to me) but Gideon just happens to have a pistol on him and when he fires it they all scatter except for the Fearless Leader, who frankly appears less “Fearless” than “Too Stupid To Know He’s S’posed to Run.” Giddy (you don’t mind if I call him Giddy, d’ya?) only had one bullet, though, so eventually the other Volcanoites return and we’re about to find out if those stupid-looking spears are actually lethal when WAIT! The strange man in the Cap’n Video Ranger Officially Licensed Space Helmet™ returns atop the hill, and they all run away again. Farther away.

Being bored with this crap, director Spencer Bennet takes us to the mysterious Pretty Lady from Outer Space (“PLfOS”) in her mysterious cave deep within the mysterious bowels of the Mysterious Island. (Hey, I am TRYING to liven things up around here, okay?) Her two badly dressed Spidery henchmen spend interminable minutes fiddling with the dials on the box that doesn’t light up, periodically opening the little drawer, finding it empty, and shaking their heads sadly. The PLfOS, on the other hand, has the big beautiful well-lit box, which goes “Ping! Ping! Ping!” every once in a while. Maybe that’s why the Spider guys are sad; their box only gives off static. Some of our heroes are wandering past the cave (if I described every time the bunch of them just aimlessly paced around the island, we’d run out of bandwidth on this website) and Neb (the black guy) hears the pinging and says, “Sounds like a GHOST playin’ chimes!” We’re just gonna ignore that, though, okay? The PLfOS (and I don’t know about you, but I pronounce that just like it’s spelled) explains to her homies (for our benefit, really) that their task is to find and refine a particular mineral they need so that their leader can attack earth. Oh, THAT'S a relief: after three weeks, the PLOT finally shows up.

Somewhere else, and maybe years later, who can say, our heroes come across a pair of Volcano People in their Mickey Mouse pants guarding a colossal lake. Instead of just walking to the other side of the lake and helping themselves to a cool, refreshing drink, our boys (being Army Engineers, after all) contrive an elaborate plot to distract the pants and the men in them and steal the lake; surprisingly, it works and we even get a few seconds of action, and it sure is nice to break up the monotony of all this monotony.

Filling up their waterbags and resuming their aimless wandering, our heroes suddenly hear a dog barking. “That sounds like a DOG barking!” one of them exclaims, no doubt to help the others differentiate a dog barking from a ghost playing chimes. They investigate, but arrive just in time to see the wild man in the leisure suit (if you missed the previous chapter, don’t ask, and for heaven’s sake, don’t ask about the fat buccaneer and his pirates, either, please) lead the Volcanoites to the fabulous figure of Cap’n Harding, who is lying unconscious in the middle of what appears to be a Mysterious Golf Course. Luckily, however, a couple of ‘em stumble across a footlocker full of weapons and ammunition, which they use to attempt to rescue the Cap’n, who has been trussed up and dunked in the lake they were all just drinking from. “They’re drownin’ my Captain!” Neb screams, which made me really uncomfortable. In any case, our team fights their team while the air bubbles on the lake’s surface slowly vanish. Glub, glub.

Don't fail to see the next peril-packed episode of MYSTERIOUS ISLAND: "Wild Man at Large!"

"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
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Laughing Gravy
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And the fourth episode is now playing at http://www.inthebalcony.com/cliffhanger/. Enjoy, Balconeers!
"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
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toddgault
Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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After rereading all the synopsis again I am struck by how early the serial starts treading water. Usually in a Katzman serial the plot starts to slow down in about chapter Five or Six and everything just kind of meanders along without any real plot developments until about chapter Twelve or Thirteen, where they start ramping things back up to get to the end. But here, this one seems to just stop any forward momentum by Chapter Two, and everybody just seems to be wandering aimlessly from scene to scene waiting for something to happen. As confusing as Captain Africa was, it didn't come off as lackluster as this one does.
Todd Gault..........Serial Buff
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Chandu
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Champeen of Justice and Seeker of Knowledge, but rascal at heart!
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This one's got so much going on, you can barely keep up! One of the most entertaining serials I've yet seen!
Not plane, nor bird, nor even frog. It's just little ol' me...
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