When I was about 8 or 9 I had this on a Castle Film 200' sound edition and never saw it until it was on TNT many years later.
Kino turned out this beautiful Blu-ray edition a couple of years ago, and I finally got a chance to pick it up, and I was not disappointed.
Vincent Price stars as Robur, a man who has invented and built a huge flying ship call the Albatross. With this weapon he hopes to stop all wars around the world circa 1868.
He shoots down a hotair balloon with four people on it and takes them aboard his ship. They are a government agent named John Strock (Charles Bronson), arms dealer Prudent (Henry Hull) , his daughter Dorothy (Mary Lambert) and her boyfriend Phillip (Dave Frankham).
Robur has a strong dislike for Prudent as he deals in weapons of war. Strock is more conservative and tries to understand Robur. In the meantime Robur bombs and sinks several war ships as well as dropping bombs on warring factions in Africa.
The tour that the characters and we get of the Albatross is both fascinating and fun. It's really a marvel of science, and one can easily believe it's real if you get into the movie.
As the story progesses Robur becomes more and more obsessed with his mission which can only end in disaster. The movie is well shot and moves along at a great pace. Price and Bronson steal the show.
The script was written by Richard Matheson from a novel by jules Verne. If this is your cup of tea, check it out.
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