This Mysterious Island is Jules Verne's sequel to “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” in an altered state that nevertheless retains much of Verne's original idea. Captain Nemo, in a “mad” attempt to end world famine and war, creates a monster or three, much to the dismay of a group of Confederate-prison escapees whose balloon has deposited them at sea. The balloon sequence and Nemo's submarine are highlights of the film, second only to the monsters themselves: a big (very big) crab; a “giant nautiloid cephalopod”; and a “prehistoric Phororhacos” whose “awkward movements turned it into a ‘comedian'....” All are the brilliant creations of Ray Harryhausen, here given a better than usual plot construction from which to work, and the inventive music of a Bernard Herrmann score to counterpoint the action.