20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (1954)

Good Clean entertainment!

A classic tale, not as good as i remember it to be as a child but still good clean entertainment for the the whole family, better than commercial TV has to offer. June 19, 2008

The nutty mastermind aquatic reclusive adventure

Disney's presentation of Jules Verne's 20,000 leagues under the sea is solid family entertainment. Shipping routes are under attack by a mysterious monster. The navy is sent out to find if the monster exists and their ship is blown up by the mysterious monster. Ned Land (Kirk Douglas), Prof. Pierre Arronax (Paul Lukas) and Conseil (Peter Lorre) survive only to find themselves taken prisoners by the mad but genius Captain Nemo (James Mason).

While there is lots of adventure, including a battle with a Kraken, the story is about madness, revenge, science, slavery, exploration and the uncharted depths of the ocean. Sea lovers will enjoy every aquatic moment of it but Captain Nemo is one of the saddest and most bitter characters ever to grace the screens. It has an ominous depressing tone for a lot of it but the Nautilus ship set design is a work of art and much of the cinematography and underwater scenes are cutting edge for their time. If you are in for this one then you will probably want to see Mason in Verne's Journey to the centre of the earth also. June 1, 2008

We will never have a 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea Like This

In this horrible 21st century full of mankind's awful things and with no more talent for creativity and quality,This movie is a treasure and legacy about what once was golden times for Disney and movies.
Not anymore.Walt Disney Corporation has to be ashame of themselves now.
This is a timeless movie.
We will never make a movie like this. May 21, 2008

Disney's 20000 Leagues Under the Sea

Disney's 20000 Leagues Under the Sea was one of the most influential film experiences of my youth. I definitely rate it as a five star film with good special effects, which though dated, were very good for the time. The best of the special effects scenes was the giant squid and I have read that this scene required many retakes and changes in mechanical approach to satisfy Disney who would not agree that it was done until it looked credible. In fact, improving the giant squid scene nearly ended the film and financially broke the studio. Fortunately, additional funding of well over a million dollars was obtained from bankers after their inspection of film efforts to date, with favorable results.

The design of the submarine Nautilus is regarded as something which was almost as beautiful as it was functional. Hundreds of models of this design by Disney studios continue to be made which are commercially available in almost all scales. Some absolutely amazing very large scale working submersible models of this original design may be found on the web using Google.

Based on the excellent documentary the origin of Disney's 20,000 Leagues was the work of a single visionary staff member who, unauthorized, story boarded his grand vision while Disney was away from the office. Fortunately, Disney immediately recognized that this film had to be made and his studio would be the one to make it.

I was only eight when I remember my mother taking me into the LUXOR Theater in the old Bronx one sunny Saturday afternoon. She bought me a good supply of candy and sat back expecting to relax while we took in another movie together. I suppose even at eight I had heard about submarines and known in some abstract way that people had experienced the ocean depths. Disney was able to make it very real and magical for me at the same time. The idea that people could walk on the ocean floor in a medium that I considered absolutely hostile was new to me.

I loved this movie and ruined the film for my mother by asking question after question about what I was seeing on the screen. I remember asking her "Can we do that?" and several other questions. Naturally, I had to get the Disney book on the making of the film and remember staying up late into the night and early morning looking at inboard profiles of the Nautilus with a flashlight under the covers reading the book too excited to sleep.

This film has remained one of my all time favorites and I credit Disney for this experience which I rank up there with several other Disney films (I don't mean Mickey). I also blame this film which, for better or worse, encouraged me to become an engineer working in marine engineering.
March 27, 2008

Stop war at all costs!

Captain Nemo pilots the Nautilus in the 19th century, a sci-fi submarine which is perceived as a huge sea monster by warships of various nations which have encountered it... and then they are subsequently sunk.

Nemo's objective is to end all wars between nations and slavery as well, but he faces the ultimate dillemma to which such activities always lead: Do the means justify the ends? Nemo is ethically forced to take on reluctant passengers (including the great Peter Lorre!) who each employ different methods to attempt to get Nemo to stop sinking ships.

This is a superb color film of swashbuckling adventure. The locations, sets, scenes and cast are all as brilliant as is the cinematography. This is a wonderful older family film that anyone should enjoy.

Compare it to yet another fine adventure film, "Mysterious Island".

Mysterious Island (Widescreen)

Happy viewing! March 23, 2008

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