Customer Reviews
A lot of money but not much love... - By: Trevor Willsmer, 28 Nov 2008 
Hayley Mills is an appealing young heroinein search of her shipwrecked father but Maurice Chevalier, coming across more like a prospective dirty old man than a guardian, is a distinct embarrassment on the quest that sees them brave fire, flood, earthquake & unfriendly natives. Filming by numbers, this is surprisingly heavy-going.
A lavish but abortive attempt to recreate the success of Swiss Family Robinson & 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea & filmed when Walt himself still ruled the studio with an iron hand, a lot of money has obviously been spent on In Search of the Castaways - Paul Beeson's colour photography & Michael Stringer's art direction are very attractive - but little care. The script is disjointed & uninvolving, with the film looking as if it was heavily re-edited at the last minute, leaving loose ends all over the place as if everyone lost faith halfway through production. Not much faithin the DVD either - a fullframe release with no extras at all.
Waiting to watch - By: Mr. E. Bojesen, 20 Jan 2008 
Just wanted to point out that it isn't a 'Jules Verne' classic - rather a Robert Louis Stevenson classic. It took me a long time to remember the name of this film (I loved it as a kid) & I'm looking forward to watching it again.
This disc IS cropped ! - By: , 06 Mar 2005 I'm afraid that I firmly believe the reviewer (below?), from Blackpool, is mistaken - this film IS cropped at the sides. There are instances of films being "unmasked" on DVD, thus giving more picture information than widescreen, but I'm sorry to say that this isn't the case here. Not only is the framing much too close to allow this, but even a couple of the opening credits disappear off the sides of the screen. The film should bein 1.75:1 ratio, instead of the 1.33:1 full screen version here.
This is a wonderful, old fashioned adventure film - one of Disney's very bestin the genre - but is at least partially ruined by the framing. Apart from the lost picture information, it simply looks "wrong". The print looks fresh but the framing is just ugly. There are far too many instances of classic films being given this treatment & Disney is one of the worst offenders. When will studios treat their classic films (and their customers) with respect?
The film is 94.5 minutes with 10 chapter stops. There are no extras (not even a trailer) & no insert.
Fantastic! - By: , 25 Sep 2004 
First of all i would like to say that this film IS being presentedin it's original aspect ratio. This film was MADEin fullscreen & widescreen prints were made of this film by cropping (inserting black bars at the top & bottom of the picture). Soin actual fact it is the widescreen version that is missing part of the picture & NOT the fullscreen version. Anyway back to the film. This is truly one of disney's best films. It is a classic from the sixties & is a fantastic adaptation of the Jules Verne classic. Full of excitement & adventure throughout. There is also a fantastic performance by Hayley Mills as the daughter desperate to find her missing father. A must for all disney fans!
NOT widescreen - By: Pius, 28 Apr 2004 
This has been one of my all-time favourite Disney live-action films forthe past 20 years...so I know it was originally releasedin 70mm. I wasvery much looking forward to receiving this film on DVD, taking forgranted Disney would release a quality version...how wrong can you be? Iwas really disappointed to find it wasin a FULL SCREEN version - what awaste of money! I have recorded better off the BBC, who always show thisin its full version. Not worth paying forin my opinion, get it off theTV.
