Having viewed "The Lost World" today for the first time, the predominant thing that struck me was the number of scenes that bore a similarity to ones in the original screen version of "King Kong". However Kong was released almost eight years later in 1933, which makes me curious as to how much an influence "The Lost World" might have been on one of my favorite movies of all time.<br /><br />For starters, you've got the principal character Professor Challenger (Wallace Beery), who's convinced prehistoric dinosaurs exist in a section of the Amazon based on a notebook left behind by another adventurer, Maple White. White's daughter Paula (Bessie Love) survived an expedition there, though her father never returned. Challenger seeks funding to locate the missing White and prove that such creatures exist, but it would help if he wasn't such a nut. He goes completely berserk while making a presentation at the university when Edward Malone (Lloyd Hughes) reveals his identity as a newspaper reporter. Later he engages Malone in fisticuffs when the young man appears at his home to inquire about joining the expedition. Fortunately Malone has an agenda that appeals to Challenger, offering the financial backing of the London Record Journal in return for exclusive rights to the story.<br /><br />Other members of the Amazon bound group include Miss White, Sir John Roxton (Lewis Stone), and Professor Summerlee (Arthur Hoyt). Roxton fancies himself a love match for Miss Paula, but the age disparity makes that more than a long shot as the young lady's reaction suggests.<br /><br />The early stages of the trip offer a nice look at Amazonian wildlife, ranging from a jaguar and boa to a tree traveling sloth and a pair of adult spectacle bears that look more like cubs than the full grown animals they're said to be. Soon enough though upon arrival at the plateau where the original expedition traveled, dinosaurs make their appearance in quick succession. Heralded by a pterodactyl's appearance first, we're soon treated to brontosaurus, allosaurus and triceratops. For it's early use in movie history, the stop motion photography employed offers surprisingly adequate results. Considering that the film is eighty years old, it earns my appreciation for pioneering such a landmark technology.<br /><br />For me, the movie offers what I'm sure are some unintentionally funny moments. There's a scene when a brontosaurus prepares to do battle with an allosaur, and curls it's upper lip in a manner that would do Elvis Presley proud. Somewhat later, one of the camp orderlies throws a flaming branch at an allosaur making a night time raid, catching it in his mouth to resemble it's smoking a cigar. And is it just me, or did reporter Malone bear an uncanny resemblance to Charlie Sheen? <br /><br />It's my understanding that versions of the movie exist in varying lengths; the one I saw came in at just under an hour. As other posters have noted, there is a disjointed feel between scenes that cut quickly from expedition members to those of dinosaurs. My copy also offered an incessant upbeat piano soundtrack that didn't change tempo throughout the entire movie, somewhat disconcerting for those intervals of intense drama requiring a more somber or even a threatening tone.<br /><br />King Kong fans will sit up and take notice of some amazing similarities between the films. A log bridge connecting sections of the Amazon plateau is knocked down, this time by a brontosaurus. Later, when another bronto falls off a cliff into a mud pool, Professor Challenger has the bright idea of capturing it and bringing it back to London. Once there, the animal escapes to create havoc in the city as fleeing crowds run for their lives. Too big and bulky to climb anything resembling the Empire State Building, it does the next best thing by falling through and collapsing the Tower Bridge.