Invention for Destruction (1958) User Reviews

A wonderful adventure movie with a unique look

[Man_With_a_Harmonica · 8/10 · 10 February 2006]

The movie is based on a Jules Verne book I actually have read once, about ten years ago. I remember I liked the book a lot, and this movie does a good job in telling the story. The most important thing in this movie isn't the story, however, but the highly original visual look it has.

The visuals are absolutely beautiful, and they are apparently achieved by a clever combination of animated drawings combined with live actors, stop-motion animation and sets that are painted so that they look much like from an animated movie. Combined by Jules Verne's own unique versions of airplanes and submarines and Karel Zeman's good directing results in a very well done and convincing visual style that manages to effectively hold one's attention until the end of the movie.

There are some problems as well, one of the underwater scenes at the end takes maybe needlessly lot of time for example, as the story in the first part of the movie is rushed through quite quickly. None of this matters much though since the movie is always highly enjoyable. A gem that deserves to be more well known for today's audiences as well. A recommended movie for the whole family.

Attention Steampunk Fans!

[shana-carter · 8/10 · 12 July 2015]

I'd never heard of this film until I saw it scheduled at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens. I'm so glad I saw it -- this movie has everything! Guileless inventors, ruthless pirates, a winsome heroine, hot-air balloons, a villain's lair in a volcano, submarines with duck-foot paddles, roller-skating camels, a giant man-eating octopus, and the most charming production design this side of Edward Gorey's sets for "Dracula." I look forward to the steampunk movement's embrace of this film, assuming they don't already know about it. Even if they have, they should check out this restoration, which is crisp, clear, and gorgeous.

The Fabulous World of Jules Verne

[phubbs · 9/10 · 6 July 2017]

This black and white film is based on several books by Jules Verne but primarily his 1896 book 'Facing the Flag'. The basic hook of this film being the unique approach to the special effects by director Karel Zeman.

The plot sees a gang of pirates kidnapping a professor so they can get their hands on his new invention. Said invention being a powerful new weapon combined with special liquid which they want to use for their piracy. The pirates manage to kidnap the professor and one of his assistants and take them to their hidden base (inside a large remote hollow island). There the pirates provide everything the professor needs to build his weapon. In the meantime the assistant manages to get word to the outside world eventually leading to a British fleet arriving to deal with the pirates.

The combination of live action and various forms of animation and effects were the way Zeman created his vision. Although this was not the first time he had taken this approach for his work. Zeman's 1955 film 'Journey to the Beginning of Time' also used a combination of live action, animation and hand drawn elements. The animation and effects in question for this film were stop motion animation, matte painting, miniatures, three-dimensional props and texture superimposition.

Indeed the visuals in this film are quite astounding to say the least. I reckon most would be amazed to know this film was made back in 1958 as it could easily be a modern movie. Its not too hard to imagine Tim Burton being the director behind this feature with its steampunk imagery. Yes that's right I did say steampunk, this film could well be the first introduction of the popular Victorian steampunk/Gothic subgenre (inspired by 19th century industrialism). If you take the visuals from Disney's 1954 movie '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea', put them in black and white, and then add the artistic style of using parallel lines (almost like cross-hatching with ink) across all props and sets, you have an idea if what to expect here.

The stark parallel line imagery was in fact Zeman's attempt at recreating the old Victorian line engravings that were featured in the original Verne novels. This style actually works wonders in giving everything a very detailed and used appearance. The whole world we see in the film looks worn and weather beaten, as opposed to looking shiny and new. A technique we all know has been used effectively by a few directors and their movies in years since. The technique also gives the imagery depth and a grand old fashioned vibe which admittedly predominantly comes from when the film was made. Altogether it makes the whole affair look like a living comicbook or moving picture book.

To be honest the film does come across as more of a living comicbook than a movie really. All you get is basically one scene after another showcasing a piece of machinery, or a vehicle, or a landscape etc...Its literally like watching panels in a comicbook one after another. There is very little dialog, sometimes narration, and sometimes nothing other than the moving imagery and the noise it makes. At times its almost like a silent picture but with fantastic visuals. I really can't stress enough how stunning this film looks at times. Sure some of the shots look a bit shaky, some look almost too much like an illustration, and in some the stop motion is pretty jerky. On the flip side some shots with live action elements are remarkable because you can't see the joins! The blend of the actors against moving three-dimensional props and background/foreground mattes, or drawings, is flawless. Overall considering the age of this movie what they achieved is incredible.

Of course being a film based on Jules Verne you can't not have underwater sequences with the inevitable attacking giant squid. Its these sequences which mainly make up the most impressive and fantastical visual elements of the film. The imagination shown in these sequences is spectacular and have clearly helped inspire other filmmakers. Watching the various oddly shaped submarines (some with flipper-like paddles) and personal underwater pedal bike things, which the deep sea divers use, is glorious. I could feel my mind being cracked open...letting my imagination escape and run free. Apart from the slightly dated stop motion animation these sequences also highlighted some little errors which were amusing. Such as the divers moving perfectly normally underwater using their weapons normally. Also one sequence where a sub manages to find and pick up the hero from the seabed seemed a bit fortuitous and ludicrous. All in all its still impressive how they managed to convey the deep sea with mere sets, hand drawn props and a slightly wavy blur effect across the whole image.

With a story based around pirates, mysterious islands, nautical swashbuckling, Nemo-like machinery and dashing Victorians in uniform, what more could anyone want? Beautifully lavish visuals that have clearly been given tonnes of attention; Zeman seems to have been a perfectionist for sure. The final results are clear to see. The plot may be thin on the ground but for anyone who appreciates the art form of stop motion animation along with ingenious high fantasy imagery, then this is for you.

9/10

Extraordinary film!!

[oigres · 10/10 · 20 December 1999]

An interesting movie based on three of Jules Verne's novels. Considering the special effects and computer enhanced animation of today, this movie stands as an historic marker of cinematic resourcefulness and imagination. Karel Zeman has brought to life the lithographic images of the original Jules Verne texts. this is a must see for classic science fiction and history buffs.

I give this movie 9 out of 10. Enjoy!!

A Wonderful Film

[Sargebri · 9 July 2003]

This is one film that I wish they would start showing on television again. When I was a child, I really was knocked out by the special effects. I'm a sucker for any film that combines live action with animation and this film is no exception. What really made me take notice was how the sets reminded me of the pages of a book and how the characters were almost like the illustrations come to life. This is definitely a lost classic and I hope one day that it will be shown on television once again.

Fantastic in every sense

[horrorfilmx · 10/10 · 5 May 2010]

Few films have ever captured the feel of a fantasy world better than this one. The opening sequence alone (no, I'm not talking about the Hugh Downes intro) is absolutely masterful, presenting us with a seemingly unending series of striking images done using a technique (described at length by other reviewers) I don't think has ever been used again in a feature. Fantastic planes, trains, and airships soar past evoking a sort of "steam-punk" atmosphere of retro technology before that term was ever coined. Film fans, Verne fans, fans of pure hand-crafted cinema artistry and imagination must do themselves a favor and check this movie out.

A must-see for animation enthusiasts

[IndustriousAngel · 7/10 · 14 November 2016]

"The Deadly Invention" showcases Zemans unique approach to movie-making and aesthetics, sometimes maybe in a too strict manner. To keep the mix of animation, stop-motion and real-life actors / sets manageable, the movie is done in black and white - which makes it more similar to the 19th century steel engravings accompanying Verne editions, but loses some atmosphere. I don't know why the whole movie is kept in neutral grey; even early filmmakers coloured their B/W films from scene to scene according to the story to enhance the experience. Seems like an oversight to me.

As mentioned in the title, this is required viewing for animation addicts; for pure enjoyment I'd recommend Zeman's later stuff, like "The Stolen Airship" which came nearly 10 years later and has colours (handcrafted, of course) as well a a more easygoing flow of story.

A Masterpiece

[loufalce · 10/10 · 3 February 2007]

Truly unique and stunning film of Jules Verne's "For The Flag" by the Czech master director Karel Zeman.Although the story is enacted in a rather understated late Victorian style, the visuals are a knockout. Zeman uses animation, graphics, painted sets, model animation combined with live action to create the atmosphere of Verne that the reader associates in his mind. The style resembles the steel engravings of Dore and Bennet and Riou that illustrated these stories with a healthy dose of Georges Melies added.Photographed in beautiful black and white the animation is of the highest order and not of a Saturday morning variety. There are underwater sequences where the fishes swimming about are so accurately drawn they can be used in a field guide.There are images of ships ,submarines, flying craft, castles,and machinery that are drawn in such accurate detail that one must have a freeze frame on his VCR or DVD to pause the scene and study the remarkable detail that went into this production.The late Victorian atmosphere is designed to look like this world that never was and delight us in the magic of science that made Verne the great father of the genre. If this is not enough, there also is the film score that probably is one of the best ever created for a fantasy or sci-fi film.Truly a forgotten classic, this one is worth hunting down and buying. Always one of my favorite films of all times, it is sure to be one of yours too. And remember- this was done decades before CGI or computer animation. Kudos to the great artists who obviously put their heart into it. It shows. Jules Verne himself would be proud of this movie.A film that deserves to be better known, but those who have seen it love it-and treasure it. An outstanding achievement , this remarkable film just gets better every time you watch it. A true cinematic work of art from a visionary director.

First seen on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater in 1980

[kevinolzak · 7/10 · 10 November 2021]

From the Czech Republic comes 1958's "The Fabulous World of Jules Verne" (Vynalez Zkazy or Invention of Destruction), Joseph E. Levine's stateside release of director Karel Zeman's stylized realization of the 19th century author's many works, earning instant acclaim at Expo 58 in Brussels, winning the Grand Prix at the International Film Festival. Though no box office success in the US it was universally heralded by critics, Verne's 1896 novel "Facing the Flag" merely the starting point for a visual feast requiring almost no dialogue, presented in the Victorian style of line engravings used to illustrate his ideas to current readers, filmed with a mixture of stop motion and live action, often done in camera. The actual story is easy to follow and faithfully recreates several fictional characters treated as real people, from Robur the Conqueror (played by Vincent Price in "Master of the World"), Victor Barbicane (played by Joseph Cotten in "From the Earth to the Moon"), and the ever popular Captain Nemo, portrayed in multiple films by such fabled actors as Lionel Barrymore, Herbert Lom, and James Mason. Submarines appear with flippers, airships fly under man made pedal power, a squid oozes black ink when injured, virtually half the picture taking place beneath the waves as a multitude of fish swim by. The narrator reveals himself as the knowing assistant to a scientist researching a new explosive used for evil purposes by a group of pirates, their secret island hideaway inside a dormant volcano whose only entrance is an underwater tunnel. Quaint in its time but relatively undated for that very reason, this entry continues to fascinate unsuspecting viewers lucky enough to encounter it.

19th century-style prophetic science fiction of Jules Verne

[retrocollage · 10/10 · 2 June 2010]

This marvelous film from Czech master animator Karel Zeman is a partial adaptation of the Jules Verne novel "Facing the Flag." The story treads the well-worn path of world domination as attempted by a piratical mastermind, who uses a morally myopic scientist's high explosive.

The animation technique of this film is touted as "Mysti-mation," which is probably a bit of hype on the part of its American distributors and PR people. No animation technique Zeman used was unknown; in fact, probably every physical effect he employed was used on 19th century stages, and all of his photographic effects were known to and put to work by Georges Méliès and early stop-motion animators like Winsor Mackay. But in this film, Zeman combines all the effects in novel and unexpected ways, and literally nothing is off-limits when he needs to create some striking scenario. From the look of some of his sets, it is evident that Zeman was a prime influence on Terry Gilliam, and possibly Jan Svankmajer as well.

Zeman has a wry sense of humor, which frequently goes straight over the heads of most of his critics. For instance, when they complain about the wooden quality of the acting in the film, they're completely missing the point: the performers deliberately use the techniques of farce and burlesque, the "bits of business" familiar to the audiences of one hundred years ago, long before the evolution of the personality cult in acting. The gag, its set-up, and its execution are far more important than the individual actors or their "feelings." Deep involvement between characters is secondary to the plot (a rarity in contemporary films). Which isn't to say that there's no focus on individuals: witness Simon Hart's distress before falling unconscious on the ocean floor, or Professor Roch's guilt-stricken state near the end of the movie. But the main point is still the story and its advancement.

In short, it's a film well worth seeing, if you are willing consciously to suspend your sense of disbelief and lose yourself in the narrative.

Excuse my blasphemy and for being the devil's advocate

[lasttimeisaw · 7/10 · 9 June 2016]

Excuse my blasphemy and for being the devil's advocate, this cutting-edge adventurer made in 1958 by Czech animator, artisan and filmmaker Karel Zeman, often dubbed as the "Czech Méliès" or more aptly, Méliès's successor, is without any doubt technically innovative, which unfortunately doesn't make up for its jejune watch-ability of its hybrid nature for audience in the digital era.

The story is loosely based on Jules Verne's novel FACING THE FLAG, but also draws inspiration from his other works, the film is groundbreaking at its time, simply for its horizontal widening novelty, Zeman and his team flourish with line engraving, cutout animation, stop-motion technique miniatures effects, matte paintings, stock shots and various other sleight-of-hand, to depict the adventure of Simon Hart (Tokos), a young scientist who is kidnapped with Professor Roch (Navrátil) by Count Artigas (Holub) and pirate Captain Spade (Slégr), he is imprisoned in Artigas' headquarter inside a volcano, where Professor Roch is inveigled to invent a super weapon, which the evil Artigas could use to conquer the world. So it is up to Simon to warn the rest of the world, with the help of a young girl Jana (Zatloukalová), and Roch's last-minute awakening to his mother wit, Artigas' plan is heroically forestalled.

According to Godard's maxim - film is truth 24 times a second, and every cut is a lie, a major but innate defect of this arduously-produced labour-of-love, is that, the combination of live-action with animation constantly reminds viewers that what they see is not real, of course, we are aware of that beforehand, but one of the most alluring trick of cinema is that, it conjures up a special realm with meticulous recreation which can deceptively hypnotise its audience to forget about that and immerse oneself to the world of deliberately manufactured verisimilitude and vicissitude. Yet, what we see scenes to scenes here, from the paper-made tableaux vivants, the pristinely edited action pieces (using a submarine like a torpedo to sink other vessels is something just beyond one's imagination), to the bland acting, all exert exactly the opposite force, what we see is just a make-believe of a Sci-Fi burlesque, there is no immediacy for emotional investment, just to be amazed by the calibre of its craftsmanship. It is something so inherent that mars its currency to new audience, and to no one's fault too, just time changes taste and perception, we must admit.

One abiding element of this heritage-worthy picture is Zdenek Liska's invasive score, makes wonder out of harpsichord, and tellingly attests that there is a winner between the immortality of music and film.

Jules Verne + Cinema = Karel Zeman

[Oceans17 · 10/10 · 26 June 2007]

***Spoilers ahead*** My late childhood had two cinematographic icons: Star Wars and this film by Czech genius Karel Zeman. A Jules Verne encyclopedia where XIX century illustrations come to life in exquisite black and white photography, combined with stop motion and conventional animation. Verne's spirit of adventure is fully present throughout the film, as well as a very modern questioning on the moral limits of power and advanced technology. In fact, it brings atomic energy into Verne's universe in a very elliptic and elegant way. Also elliptic and elegant is the demise of the villain, with a (probably nuclear) explosion sending his hat flying over the sea. The resolution of the film is symbolic and very satisfactory, something very rare today, when a lot of films don't seem to know how to end themselves.

I was fortunate to catch this gem in reruns on local TV in the late 70s: it enhanced my enjoyment of Verne's fiction and of cinema.

10 out of 10 for Karel Zeman, under-appreciated master of imagination.

The Invention of Destruction

[henry8-3 · 7/10 · 24 November 2022]

A professor, who has invented a new, powerful explosive and his assistant are kidnapped by the evil Count Artigas who wants to create a weapon so that he can rule the World. The 2 men are taken to Artigas' base deep within a volcanic island, where the assistant begins his plans to escape and save the World.

Charming and rather beautiful mixture of real actors performing within drawings and sometimes almost pythonesque animation (Camels on roller-skates?). It is based on Jules Verne's 'Facing the Flag' and its mixture of imaginative ideas, action, even humour are a joy to watch in what is apparently the most successful Czech film. It would be most suitable for children, albeit presumably the dubbed version would need to be sought out. Great fun.

Hats Off, Gentlemen. A Genius!

[cstotlar-1 · 10/10 · 31 December 2011]

This is even better than Jules Verne (albeit some minor Verne works) with not only the stories and some of the dialogue but period engravings surrounding live actors, animation magic to boot and uncountable other technical tours de force. It is rather cool, perhaps, with the characters rather distant from the viewers but they take second place to the virtuoso special effects. And what effects they are! The drawings are so real they pop off the screen and the music is absolutely wonderful - full Twentieth Century in this case. This is rather like the most elaborate of magic shows: we are willing to sit back and be amused - and amazed. Bravo Karel Zeman and bravo to the whole team! Curtis Stotlar

"Facing the Flag" - the Roche "Fulgarator"

[theowinthrop · 29 April 2004]

Some movies used to be shown so often on television, due to crazy broadcast schedules or rental packages. Back in the 1960s and 1970s (early 1970s) this film popped up usually on Channel 9 in New York City. Sometimes another film like this, THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN, would pop up as well. Both were made in Czechoslavakia in the late 1950s. The director designed the films to look like a 19th Century "moving" picture book (the sort that the reader, usually a child, would move by shifting small paper switches by pulling or pushing them. The film's backgrounds looked like the illustrations in Verne's novels, by illustrators like Edward Riou. Only the actors were real actors. Among moments that remain in my memory are the sinking of a ship by a submarine (a la TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA), and a battle between two submarines. I say moments in my memory because I have not seen any rebroadcast of this film on television since the early 1970s, and it has not come out on Video (or DVD for that matter).

Although it borrows from other novels of Verne's the basis for this film is an 1896 novel, which in English is titled FACING THE FLAG. The only edition of the novel that has appeared in recent years was published by ACE books back in the late 1970s, under the editorship of Verne scholar I.O.E. Evans, and retitled FOR THE FLAG. Evans explains that the novel was influenced by Verne's knowledge of a controvertial French scientist named Turpin who got into legal problems when he could not sell an explosive to the French Government, and then tried to sell it abroad. The anti-hero in the novel, Thomas Roche, has gone mad when his proposed weapon, called "the Fulgarator" is rejected (and he is laughed at) by the French authorities. He is being watched by a government agent, as the government slowly reevaluates it's position. But Roche and the agent are kidnapped by one of the last pirates on the globe (Count Artigas in the story). The Count helps Roche build a working model of the weapon (which is a type of missile, that flies off a track after a rocket fuel is added). The Count intends to use it to blackmail governments around the globe. The crisis at the end of the novel is whether the bitter and mad Roche will be willing to use his weapon against the ships of his homeland, France.

It is not a major Verne tale, but it is readable (not all of his novels are still readable). And the basic plot is followed in this film version. It is a wonderful movie to watch - and one hopes one day to see it on television, video, or DVD again.

Like a dream

[flied001 · 10/10 · 21 April 2016]

I had never heard of this film until earlier this year when a small local revival cinema announced a showing, and being an old fan of Jules Verne I took a strong interest. I thought it was pretty amazing, the effects aren't quite like anything I've ever seen and it just felt like it took place in a kind of dream world! Other reviews say it was based on a Verne story "For the Flag" though the end credits I saw mentioned a different title I thought. I can't remember what that was; in any case I am unfamiliar with it and was obviously a precursor to some of his other better known novels. I found this movie has been issued on DVD.

Let The Rest Of The World Go By

[boblipton · 10/10 · 29 April 2020]

The movie is based on one of Jules Vernes' many voyages extraordinaire. As such, it is not a brilliantly crafted work of writing. It's the basis for every Frank Reade dime novel that appeared in the series' long run. The story is, in a word, silly.

The extraordinary beauty of this film is purely visual. The characters, written as thin as stick figures, are played by actors who move in an animated world; not the cartoon world we are accustomed to, or the world of anime, but the world of book illustration, of steel engravings. These backdrops and set pieces, and even the ocean waves edited through a filter, are designed with intimate detail. They offer us a look at an alternatiive cinema, one in which the grammar begun by George A. Smith, formalized by D.W. Griffith, and elaborated on by tens of thousands of technicians and artists over the past century never existed.

It's a Georges Melies type of cinema, a grammar that vanished in 1914, although bits and pieces remain in film grammar, like trilobite fossils revealed in marble used to face public buildings. Its sensibilities are entirely distinct. It's an amazing, fascinating piece of work.

The first steam-punk movie?

[jamesrupert2014 · 8/10 · 9 April 2018]

The film is based more on Verne's vision of the future world than on a particular Verne story. There are pedal powered aerial-bicycles, aeronefs (including Robur's "Clipper of the Clouds"), formidable steam locomotives, massive canons, and, of course, submersibles. The plot follows the kidnaping of a scientist on the verge of a breakthrough in explosive technology (hint: it involves heavy water), who is taken to an aristocratic pirate's secret volcanic lair, and the attempts by his heroic assistant to escape, or at least to warn the outside world of the pirates' infamous plans. The film is a fascinating and surreal mélange of live action and animation, with much of the imagery based on the 19th century engravings that illustrated the original books. At times the animation resembles Georges Méliès' pioneering science fiction shorts (such as "Conquest of the Pole", 1912) and likely inspired the iconic Terry Gilliam images seen a decade later in "Monty Python's Flying Circus" (1969). "The Fabulous World of Jules Verne" is well worth viewing, both for its imaginative self as well as for its cinematographic novelty. I watched a fairly low-res version on You-tube but there may be a digital version available that would do justice to the intricate imagery.

This is indeed a fabulous adventure!

[mark.waltz · 10/10 · 20 January 2021]

Having the look of an early animated film or even a silent movie of the early German or Italian expressionalism, this has to be seen to be believed. Color wouldn't have made it better so be prepared for what at first seems crude and jerky, but once you get the gist of what its Czech filmmakers were trying to do, you'll be pulled in and will not want to turn your head away.

While the story surrounds a mad count intending on taking over the world through his undersea operation, that's inconsequential when the film stops in its tracks to show the various animated drawings and various live action special effects that will surely have you mesmerized. The underwater world and it's magnificent fictional creatures are both frightening and breathtaking, and when sharks or huge octopus try to attack humans, it becomes very frightening.

Some of the shots look like someone filmed through a huge microscope as many of these creatures look like enormous amoebas or various types of bacteria, squirming around and added into the animation or live action. Then there's the various man-made vehicles that even Jules Verne himself would have been thrilled to see on screen, basically looking like the original illustrations from his first edition books.

The mixture of animation and whatever kind of equipment was utilized to make these effects with the live action couldn't have been done any better, and in a sense, it looks like it's a parallel version of our own planet. Dublin to English with an excellent narration, the American version truly draws you in, and it's obvious that the children who saw this in its first release must have been mesmerized. It really is one of the greatest fantasy films ever made.

All time favorite

[vawlkee_2000 · 23 March 2009]

I first saw this film I think about 1963 as a 12 year old on KHJ TV in Los Angeles and was totally hooked on it. years later I realized that it was pretty much based on a combination of Verne tales....The Czech title being "A Dangerous Weapon"....I love it!

I was a graduate of Occidental College in LA...Terry Gilliam proceeded me by some 12 years......Why do I comment on this? - Well, if you watch this film it has Gilliam's shtick written all over it....I only wish I'd had the chance to question him at the college bicentennial in 1986.....I have little doubt that he'd deny that Zeman's films had had any influence on him, but it's a obvious as the nose on your face! Anyone notice that?

I love the Professor Serke, the Count's number one quiz kid. If I didn't know better, I'd swear that he was a character right out of the much later "Wild Wild West"...Couldn't you see him as yet another evil genius out to take over the world?. Victorian gadgets galore!

This film makes me feel as thought I'm part of that era, it makes all of it seem so alive!

Oh yeah, the film would not have had nearly the impact that it's had on me were if not for Lisko's fabulous musical score...It emotes the charm of the Victorian era in a manner I've not seen before or since. It's also interesting that his music has certain synthesizer-Esq qualities as used for sound effects.

Has anyone ever noticed the obvious similarities in the small reconnaissance submarine to Professor Fates' craft in the much later "The Great Race"?.......I doubt it!

Captain Spade........Were he and Bluto twin brothers separated at birth?

Jules Verne brought alive in style and character

[clanciai · 10/10 · 22 September 2021]

This incredible film inspired by Jules Verne's incredible novels and using a number of them for piling incredible effects on top of each ortther to achieve the incredible result of a combination of George Méliès thoroughly modernized but in style, the authentic Jules Verne illustrations turned alive by animation, the Nautilus adventure and many other adventures as well - even the engineer Robur with his flying ship "Albatross" is included in this humorous but still serious dramatization of one of Jules Verne's best and most sinister novels - "Face au drapeau", which he himself considered one of his most significant. But what really sets this film off in all its crude and primitive but extremely original and clever techniques is the music and the splendid sense of humor. This is all ingeniously humorous all the way, while at the same time, like Chaplin's "The Great Dictator", it is dead serious. The creative imagination behind all this matches that of Jules Verne, and this is perhaps the one film out of many on Jules Verne's books that comes closest to the original character of his books. This is indeed an adventure you will never forget but enjoy refreshing every now and then.

Facing the Flag.

[morrison-dylan-fan · 9/10 · 10 June 2019]

After watching the animated The Ant Bully (2006-also reviewed)with a visiting former school friend,I decided to search for a Czech flick to view for the ICM Eastern European challenge. Having found Ukradena vzducholod (1967-also reviewed) very memorable, and in the mood of seeing another feature involving animation, I turned on the deadly invention.

View on the film:

Inspired by the sight of woodcut illustrations in the original publication of Jules Verne's novels, co-writer/(with Frantisek Hrubin and Milan Vácha) directing auteur Karel Zeman continues his seamless blending of live action,in-camera tricks and quirky animation. Backed by composer Zdenek Liska's early dip into a electronic and classical blended score, Zeman boils up a decades ahead of its time Steam Punk atmosphere with a "mysti-mation" method of animation, which give the drawn backdrops a almost handmade Victorian era touch, by them creating a eye-catching depth of field on the submarine and the volcano. Travelling from Verne's lesser-known novel Facing the Flag, the writers continue to superbly explore the line between magic and live action that runs across Zeman's work, via Artigas idea to use a super-explosive device slyly flying close to the threat of nukes in the Cold War, which is perfectly balanced with the Fantasy Steam Punk delight of Artigas's proto-007 volcanic lair and displaying Professor Roche (played by a fantastic Ernest Navara) array of Victorian inventions which sparkle as attempts are made to stop the deadly invention.

You've never seen anything like it

[spetersen-79-962044 · 10/10 · 25 July 2023]

A bizarre combination of animation, live-action, and what seem to be cardboard cutouts is this incredible Czech creation.

It has Jules Verne as its theme but the weird vehicles and engines are a treat to see. The plot is simple and straightforward but serviceable while the work as a whole is a strange trip into a universe that it alone inhabits.

Something wild was happening in old Czechoslovakia, what with this and the film "Fantastic Planet" (from the 60s)

I showed it to a pack of jaded movie fans, and they watched in awe. They discussed nothing but it for hours. Its style is unparalleled in film history, though the comical website Wondermarch is plainly influenced.

Watch it at least once - you owe it to yourself.

Gorgeous

[BandSAboutMovies · 8/10 · 30 October 2023]

Vynález zkázy (Invention for Destruction) was brought to the United States in 1961 by Joseph E. Levine. He had it dubbed into English and changed the title to The Fabulous World of Jules Verne, releasing it with Warner Bros. Pictures as a double feature with Bimbo the Great. There's also a new introduction with narration by Hugh Downs.

Based on several works by Verne, including Facing the Flag, this movie combines the original illustrations from his books with live action. For all that people compare about effects heavy movies that were made on green screen, this film - made in 1958 - has a major effect in almost every shot.

Director Karel Zeman had already made one movie, Journey to the Beginning of Time, based on Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth and made two more movies afterward in this series, The Stolen Airship (based on Two Years' Vacation) and On the Comet (which is taken from Hector Servadac). This movie also has references to Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Robur the Conqueror and The Mysterious Island.

There are also parts of the work of Georges Méliès, Metropolis, Battleship Potemkin and the 1916 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea in this.

The artwork comes to life in a variety of styles of animation, including traditional, stop-motion and cut-outs, as well as miniature effects and matte paintings. Actors appear directly within this line art and this movie looks like nothing I've ever seen.

The story is about a gang of pirates working for the evil Count Artigas who want to get a scientist to give them his most futuristic weapon. As simple as that is, the film looks incredibly complicated and filled with incredible visuals. Known as Mysti-Mation, this movie looks like woodcut illustrations that can move and house human beings.

Fanciful and entertaining

[Woodyanders · 9/10 · 18 November 2021]

Evil rich guy Artigas concocts a wicked plot to use a super explosive device to conquer the world from his headquarters inside a volcano.

Director/co-writer Karel Zeiman relates the hugely enjoyable story at a fitful pace and maintains a winningly sincere tone throughout while also presenting a wondrous wealth of eye-popping imaginative imagery that includes assorted exotic sea life, air ships, submarines, and even an underwater city. Moreover, the dazzling stylized look gives this picture the aura of a vividly realized dream come true while the practical f/x possess a lovely hands-on homemade charm. A true delight.