Krakatoa (1933) Review - Joseph Cotten and a Very Big Bang

Is it worth your time?

If you have twenty minutes and a weird obsession with natural disasters from before CGI ruined everything, then yes. It’s a fast watch.

History nerds will dig it. People who need 4K explosions and Hans Zimmer scores will probably find it boring as hell.

I found this while looking for something else, and honestly, it’s better than most of the stuff they play on the History Channel at 3 AM. It doesn't try to be flashy. It just tells you the world blew up and then shows you some very old film of smoke.

The first thing you notice is the sound. Well, the narration really. Joseph Cotten has this voice that feels like expensive leather left out in the sun.

He’s not yelling at you like modern documentary hosts. He sounds like he’s telling you a secret about the end of the world while sitting in a library. It’s calm, which makes the fact that 36,000 people died feel even more eerie.

The footage is... well, it’s old. It’s from the 1930s, so don't expect much. Grainy doesn't even cover it.

Sometimes the screen gets so dark you can’t tell if you’re looking at a mountain or a smudge on the lens. But there’s a charm to it. It feels like you’re looking at something you aren't supposed to see.

There’s this one part where they show a map of the Sunda Strait. The way the little animated lines move to show the tsunami waves is so simple it’s almost cute. But then you remember those lines represent 100-foot waves hitting wooden villages.

It’s a lot more effective than some $200 million disaster movie. It lets your brain do the scary work. I kept thinking about how nobody back then knew what was happening until the water hit.

The movie talks about the noise too. Apparently, the eruption was heard 3,000 miles away. Cotten says it with such weight that I actually turned my volume up, even though the recording is way too old to capture a real explosion like that.

I like how the film doesn't waste time. It starts, the volcano gets grumpy, the island goes boom, and then it's over. No 40-minute intro about the lives of the scientists.

It’s much more direct than something like Humanity or the drama in Burning Up. It just gives you the facts and some spooky music.

One thing that felt a bit off was the pacing in the middle. It lingers on some shots of waves for way too long. Like, okay, I get it, the ocean is big. You can move on now.

And some of the science is probably wrong. They mention things about the earth's crust that feel a bit 1930s-ish, but I'm not a geologist, so whatever. I’m here for the vibe, not a PhD.

It’s weirdly relaxing to watch? Even though it’s about a massive tragedy. Maybe it’s just Cotten’s voice. I could listen to that guy read a grocery list and I'd be hooked.

The film ends pretty abruptly. It doesn't really have a big "lesson" at the end. It just kind of stops. I liked that. Life doesn't always have a neat ending sentence, so why should a movie about a volcano?

If you're looking for a double feature of old-school tension, maybe pair this with The Bay of Death. Both have that sense of "nature is going to kill us all and we can't do anything about it."

Small things I noticed:

• The way the smoke clouds look like bubbling oatmeal in some shots.
• There is a flicker on the left side of the frame during the map sequence that looks like a ghost.
• The music gets really loud for no reason when they show a boat.
• Joseph Cotten says "Krakatoa" with a very specific emphasis on the 'T' every single time.
• The diagrams look like they were hand-drawn by a very stressed out art student.

Anyway, it’s a solid little piece of history. It’s not going to change your life, but it’ll make you glad you weren't standing on a beach in 1883. 🌋

Is it better than a modern documentary? In some ways, yeah. It doesn't treat the audience like they have the attention span of a goldfish. It just shows you the mountain and lets you feel the dread.