Invention for Destruction (1958)

Very Cool!!!

That was an excellent one.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

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.

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.

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.

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?