The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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The Island at the Top of the World
Adventure · Family · Fantasy · 1974
A Victorian gentleman hopes to find his long-lost son, who vanished while searching for a mysterious Viking community in a volcanic valley somewhere in uncharted Arctic regions. The gentleman puts together an expedition team to go on the search, but when they reach their destination they must escape from some Viking descendants who will kill to keep their existence a secret.
Movie details
The Island at the Top of the World
“Adventure beyond imagination”
1974 Adventure · Family · Fantasy 1h 34m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.5 / 10
Community rating
A Victorian gentleman hopes to find his long-lost son, who vanished while searching for a mysterious Viking community in a volcanic valley somewhere in uncharted Arctic regions. The gentleman puts together an expedition team to go on the search, but when they reach their destination they must escape from some Viking descendants who will kill to keep their existence a secret.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The Island at the Top of the World?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
The Secret Kingdom
Adventure · 2023
Verity and Peter’s trip to the old family mansion takes a turn when the floor of their room suddenly gives way and they fall into an underground chamber where they are met by a civilization of creatures. The leader tells them that Peter's arrival was foretold as he’s the one who can use Great Clock of the Citadel to restart time and destroy the Shroud, a malevolent creature who feeds on fear itself...
The Magic Faraway Tree
Adventure · 2026
A modern family relocates to the countryside where the children discover a magical tree with eccentric residents. They're transported to fantastical lands, rekindling their family bond through adventures.
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Adventure · 1959
An Edinburgh professor and assorted colleagues follow an explorer's trail down an extinct Icelandic volcano to the earth's center.
Inkheart
Adventure · 2008
The adventures of a father and his young daughter, in their search for a long lost book that will help reunite a missing, close relative.
Atlantis: Milo's Return
Fantasy · 2003
Milo and Kida reunite with their friends to investigate strange occurances around the world that seem to have links to the secrets of Atlantis.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Adventure · 2010
This time around Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, along with their pesky cousin Eustace Scrubb find themselves swallowed into a painting and on to a fantastic Narnian ship headed for the very edges of the world.
Anastasia: Once Upon a Time
Family · 2020
Anastasia Romanov escapes through a portal when her family is threatened by Vladimir Lenin, and she finds herself in the year 1988, befriended by a young American girl.
Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home
Family · 1995
Jesse becomes reunited with Willy three years after the whale's jump to freedom as the teenager tries to rescue the killer whale and other orcas from an oil spill.
Snow Queen
Adventure · 2002
Since a bitter winter storm stole the life of Gerda's mother, she and her father have sadly continued to run the remote hotel they call home. Lonely and isolated, Gerda's only joy is Kai, the handsome bellboy. A mysterious guest with an icy stare arrives at the hotel one night, wrapped in fur and diamonds. By daybreak, the "Snow Queen" has vanished with Kai! Gerda embarks on a journey of morphing seasons, fantastical creatures, and long-frozen mysteries in a desperate quest to find her stolen love.
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Fantasy · 2014
Five years after uniting the dragons and Vikings of Berk, Hiccup and Toothless soar beyond their homeland, charting the vast unknown. During one of their adventures, the pair discover a secret cave that houses hundreds of wild dragons -- and a mysterious dragon rider with a startling connection to Hiccup. And as the ruthless dragon conqueror Drago Bludvist rises to seize control of both dragons and people alike, Hiccup must step into his role as a true leader and, alongside his friends and Toothless, protect Berk from a devastating war.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Robert Stevenson
Written by
John Whedon
Donald Sinden
Sir Anthony Ross
David Hartman
Prof. John Ivarsson
Jacques Marin
Captain Brieux
Mako
Oomiak
David Gwillim
Donald Ross
Agneta Eckemyr
Freyja
Sverre Anker Ousdal
Gunnar
Court is in session
Put The Island at the Top of the World on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.