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Krakatoa, East of Java | 
 enlarge | Director: Bernard L. Kowalski
Actors: Maximilian Schell, Diane Baker, Brian Keith, Barbara Werle, John Leyton
Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
New (3) Used (7) Collectible (1) from $3.69
Format: Color, Dvd, Full Screen, Letterboxed, Widescreen, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: G (General Audience)
Region: 0
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
DVD Layers: 1
DVD Sides: 2
Picture Format: Array
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 131 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
ISBN: 6305650497
UPC: 013131098396
EAN: 9786305650492
Theatrical Release Date: May 14, 1969
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Let's leave aside the small problem of Krakatoa actually being west of Java. This 1969 epic adventure about treasure hunters who encounter the volcanic island just as it blows apart and who then get bounced around in the ensuing tidal wave is technically impressive if narratively lame. An interesting cast of familiar actors portray the mixed group of adventurers, but the script and dialogue are so weak one just wants to get past all their drama on the high seas (the group is seeking sunken fortunes on the ocean floor) and watch the geological fireworks. Fortunately, they make for quite a show. --Tom Keogh
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| Customer Reviews: Read 27 more reviews...
 Krakatoa delivers !!! March 11, 2009
Roger D. Castleberg (WI)
I was originally interested in this movie because my 5 year old son has a very active
interest in anything that has to do with volcanoes. I bought it on Ebay from a seller in S. Korea after reading several other reviews , including comments about various versions. I bought the version with the balloon on the front cover of the dvd. It's wide screen. I found the quality of the dvd to be excellent. The sound and the picture quality were great with no flaws that I could detect. It was great watching it on our wide screen tv.
The movie itself is great and the effects were superior for a movie filmed in 1969. The volcano and resulting tsunami did not disappoint. The story was good, the characters were interesting. If someone were doing it today they would hopefully develop the characters and the plot more, but it was still a great movie. It's the kind of movie that captured my imagination when I was a kid. My son was thrilled and the whole family enjoyed it.
 Krakatoa East of Java - February 21, 2009
Becky
Krakatoa East of Java, is fine for what it is...an older movie. It wasn't exactly what I expected, but still somewhat entertaining. This DVD will more than likely sit on our shelf and collect dust, unlike others in our collection.
 High, Wide and Handsome Hokum - if you get the MGM/UA or Anchor Bay issues January 22, 2009
Trevor Willsmer (London, England)
With lines like "Don't explode, Chris!" and that famously geographically mistaken title, it's clear that no-one on the set was taking Krakatoa, East of Java too seriously. Rather than a historically accurate account of the biggest volcanic eruption in recorded history (for that you need to see the BBC's Krakatoa: The Last Day), it's pure hokum that knows it's hokum and shows you where all the money's been spent. High, wide and handsome hokum at that, designed to fill the wide Cinerama screen
The disaster movie formula was already well enough established for the stock characters to be present: Brian Keith's diver with a busted lung and a bottle of laudanum, Rossano Brazzi and Sal Mineo as father and son balloonists, John Leyton's claustrophobic diving bell designer, Barbara Werle's photographer and `soprano', Diane Baker as treasure hunting skipper Maximilian Schell's just-out-of-the-asylum lover, Jacqui Chan's pearl diver... Throw in a cargo of convicts (replaced by orphans and singing nuns for the return voyage) and you can pretty much fill in the blanks in the plot yourself. Subtle it ain't - after Barbara Werle does a striptease for Brian Keith while singing An Old-Fashioned Girl Like Me, the camera cuts to engine pistons hammering away - and Schell might just be Dr Who in an earlier regeneration - his ship's interior is so much larger than its exterior it might as well be called the TARDIS instead of the Batavia Queen - but it's a lot more entertaining than something this silly and cliched should be.
True, it's a long voyage as it sets the scene for the big eruption with mysterious fogs and fireballs, with some of Eugene Lourie's special effects reminiscent of the early scenes of his monster movie Gorgo. They only arrive at Krakatoa just in time for the intermission (or what used to be the intermission), the island volcano revealed through the mist in a scene Ridley Scott would borrow for 1492. Once there, there's only time for one big setpiece - Cinerama films always had a `rollercoaster' scene putting the audience in the driving seat of some runaway vehicle, be it a wagon careering down a mountain track in Custer of the West or on a runaway train in How the West Was Won, and here it's a runaway balloon drawn through narrow canyons into the crater - and a quick mutiny of their convict cargo before the volcano blows and the resulting tidal wave threatens to drown the ship as well as the surrounding ports. It may not be exactly photo-realistic or bear much resemblance to what actually happened, but for lovers of classic special effects and pyromaniacs alike the model explosions at least provide plenty of colourful fun that even John Leyton's Charlie Chaplin impersonation or the singing nuns can't dampen. It's the kind of film that can be easily filed under `guilty pleasure,' but it's certainly a lot more spectacular and entertaining than When Time Ran Out in the volcanic eruption stakes.
MGM/UA's DVD is a fine 2.35:1 transfer with rich colour and good detail. Sadly there are no extras and the overture and intermission are missing, but other than that it is the full-length roadshow version rather than the 105-minute reissue version available on extremely poor quality public domain DVDs. The Anchor Bay DVD also offers a fullscreen version. The other current Region 1 transfers should be avoided at all costs.
"KRAKATOA-East of Java" November 8, 2007
L. Dequesada (JAMAICA,, NY United States)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This 1969 version special effects are far better than an early 1950's version,also in color, starring Fred McMurray and Vera Ralston. The original movie version plot was perhaps better, not the special effects, since it offers a more up to date version of this genre. The Mega-Tsunami produced by the explosion of the volcanic island in the 1969 version is awesome and convincing.
Do not miss it.
Karatoa East of Java April 21, 2007
PonceGQ (Horseshoe Bend, AR)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I saw this movie when it first came out in 1969 at The Cinenarama dome in Hollywood California with some friends of mine. Best place to see it the sound and the picture were excellent I really enjoyed the movie the plot was good so was the all star cast you don't find very many movies like that these days. If you must buy it get a really good copy of it and if you have a home thearter set up even better the sound will take you away it will feel like you are in the movie it self. It doesn't matter if it is east or west of Java it's a worth while film. I loved it
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