20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

I missed reading this classic in my younger days, so I have been trying to catch up on classics. This one was delightful! It was a page turner for me. I was awestruck by the ocean adventures. However, I tried watching the Disney movie and was greatly disappointed. The book is way better!

"20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" is, IMHO, one of the greatest Science Fantasy's ever brought to the silver screen, and the one true unquestionable masterpiece from the "House of Mouse!" Being the wrong side of 40, "20,000 Leagues" is one of my earliest cinematic memories, and watching this superb Disney DVD - in wide screen for only the first time since I saw it as a child! - brought the magic of those long ago years flooding back in an instant! The Amazon review above will give you the bare bones of the story; a terrible "sea monster" - all glowing eyes and "breath like a furnace!" - is sinking ships just after the end of the American Civil War. Things have gotten so bad that maritime trade is being crippled; ships can't sail without a crew, the crews themselves having deserted in fear of the "monster." Almost in desperation, the authorities organize a hunt for the creature, and invite the famed oceanographer, "Professor Arronax," and his research assistant "Conseil," along, on a US warship, to lend the expedition scientific gravitas. Also along for the ride is a fearless harpooner, "Ned Land," looking for adventure, and the rewards of being the man who kills the "monster." After more than a month at sea, and with no sighting of anything unusual, they are about to head for home when they see a ship, some miles distant, explode with enormous force. They race to the spot and arrive in time to see the vessel slipping beneath the waves with all hands. A lookout sees the creature in the distance, moving away from the area; they fire on it and it turns towards them. Slicing through the waves, the creature races towards its attackers with a hellish shriek, its eyes alight, just as the stories said, with an unearthly glow. Panic ensues on the ship, the gunner's fire repeatedly, but cannot find their range; the creature is covering the distance between them at incredible speed! The resulting impact is shattering; Arronax, Conseil, and Land, are hurled into the sea, where they are separated. Arronax and Conseil watch helplessly as the crippled warship limps away into the distance, listing badly. After hours in the water, and completely lost in a fogbank, Arronax and Conseil come across the "monster" floating on the surface. They soon discover that what they thought was a supernatural beast, is, in fact, a fantastic vessel, a "sub-marine boat," capable of travel beneath the surface of the sea. Seemingly deserted, they enter the ship and start to explore, soon to be joined by Ned Land, who paddles into view on an upturned skiff. From a massive view port, they see the crew outside the ship working on the seabed; once the crew returns, the three friends are quickly apprehended... now their adventure, and ours, is about to REALLY begin! The ship they are on is called the "Nautilus," a technological wonderland, it's commanded by "Captain Nemo;" his crew, all of them to a man, absolutely loyal. The Captain has scant time for Conseil, and even less for Land, but he is pleased to meet the renowned Pierre Arronax, a man he sees, at least as far as their mutual fascination for the sea is concerned, as a kindred spirit. Nemo takes Arronax under his wing, slowly revealing to him the secrets of the deep through which they travel, and the fantastical secrets of the Nautilus itself. Nemo also shares his own terrible secrets with the oceanographer, experiences that have shaped him, and driven both him, and his crew, to disown any allegiances to any and all terrestrial governments and flags. Nemo is portrayed by James Mason in a magnificently layered, complex performance. At first cold, austere, dark, and brooding, Mason slowly reveals the tortured soul of the man, driven by his own demons to do what he knows are terrible things, for, he hopes, the betterment of mankind. Neither hero nor villain, Mason's performance is beautifully nuanced, and his final scenes are especially moving. The three other central characters are also played to perfection, Kirk Douglas, especially, has a blast with Ned Land, one moment slap-sticking his way through his song, "A Whale of a Tale," the next butting heads with Nemo, and plotting escape. Peter Lorre, as Conseil, is the perfect foil to Douglas' larger than life character, and the two of them seemed to have formed a genuine friendship on the set, something which shows through in the "hair" scenes... you'll know them when you see them! Paul Lukas is pitch perfect as Professor Arronax, all at once in thrall to Nemo's genius, but at the same time horrified by the terrible deeds he's capable of. And a final word has to go to the `biggest' character of all, the Nautilus itself; a gothic masterpiece, it's quite simply the greatest fantasy vehicle ever created for the silver screen... EVER! The Nautilus departs quite extensively from Verne's description, but, just like the film itself, it's completely within the spirit of the original story, more so than just about any film adaptation of classic Science Fantasy that I can think of! One minor gripe, Nemo, as I have said before, is an incredibly complex character, so I was saddened to see on the back of the DVD case, the following; "...can the captive crew (Arronax etc) expose his (Nemo's) evil plan before he destroys the world?" After all that Disney has done to make this a landmark release, with hours of extras, including an incredible 90 minute(!) "making of" featurette, it's such a shame that Nemo is misrepresented so crudely. Almost half a century(!) later, this is still Disney's crowning glory, and a glowing testament to visionary film making... HIGHLY recommended!!!

Although somewhat changed from the book (changing sensibilities would make this inevitable), it is a lively interpretation of the classic tale. The Blu-ray is out of print, so the price i too high except for the Serious collector, but the DVD version is of very good quality and highly recommended, both the regular and Special Edition.

As a boy I use to read everything I could on Walt Disney's work, hoping to one day work at the Disney studios as an animator. Well, even though that dream never happened, I was quite saddened by Walt's death when I saw a stand up poster of Mickey Mouse on a street corner one day as a boy, my mother and I passed with the stand up A-frame showing Mickey Mouse, with tears falling from his eyes, holding up a sheet of paper in his right hand saying"My father has died!". Walt was a great man and a visionery in my book. I especially enjoyed reading Diane Disney's book; telling her father's life story when I was going through high school and how Walt went through three bancrupcies, as I recall, before drawing Mickey Mouse on a subway one day, while his wife looked on viewing over his shoulder what he had drawn. He had named the character "Mortimer" but his wife proposed "Mickey" as a name, which Walt liked better; so goes Diane's account. This film was, however, I think, his most ambitious, if not most costly; price wise. What a gambler he was! But he caught us kids with this one and boy how we lined up at the theatre's to see this one! I wasn't a real big Kirk Douglass fan back then. However I did enjoy Kirk Douglass in the motion picture film entitled "The Final Countdown" where he plays Captain Yelland aboard the aircraft carrier Nemitz which travels back into time a day before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Another great film worth viewing I might add. Anyway, in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, I saw myself more as Captain Nemo throughout the film; played by James Mason. Mason struck me as the perfect Captain Nemo, if there ever was going to be one on the silver screen. Douglass's character struck me more as a guy who was a jerk, out for profit and gain, as well as a good time, while not being a visionary of what Nemo was trying to accomplish as a peace ruler. So I don't know if it was his character or Douglass himself that turned me off. While we all had our own imagination working for each of us, when we read the book, I think Walt came the closest anyone could in bringing it to the silver screen. Even if the subject was remade today, those my age would still be comparing it to the fabulous achievement Walt Disney and his people did with this production master while we waited in theatre lines to see the film again and again. I even remember they had the giant squid on display at Disneyland, as a boy, in a giant "aquariam tank"; for lack of a better word. The tank was not real, but the lighting and the glass going around the display made it look real as you viewed the giant squid. It was well done for the viewing populace. Wish I had pictures, but then I was only a boy back then and my parents didn't take any picture of the display that I know of to this day. Anyway, I gave this four stars, simply because I didn't think the role Kirk Douglass played was the right part for him, but the film itself is worth five stars. I've also been a long time fan of Peter Lorre, who I loved in the Humphrey Bogart film "The Maltese Falcon" and other old Hollywood classic films that graces my library collection. The behind the scenes DVD is also well worth the money that comes with the product. The case and DVD were in excellent condtion and I have no complaints about the DVD quality. Purchase price was good too and delivery was on time.

The hubris and hypocrisy of humans is brilliantly displayed in this wonderful film based on Jules Verne’ 1870 science fiction book. Those that decry war instead make war on the supposed oppressors. The role of science as a liberating force is used to make better weapons. Revenge justifies taking revenge. Money which creates marvelous new wonders for humanity at the same time threatens to enslave the world. Wrapped up in a gripping conflict story, the steam-punk vision of Walt Disney from the 1950’s is gripping. It’s so great to see Kirk Douglas in his prime, the cheerful wild card enlivening the whole story. Truly, the blu-ray anniversary edition provides a still-mesmerizing spectacle, particularly when projected onto a large wall screen with full surround sound turned up. This is a “blast from the past” that I didn’t fully appreciate when I was six years old back in 1954 but enjoy its spectacle and subtleties even more today. Bravo!

Jules Verne is my second best favorite classical science fiction author behind H G Wells. I've seen this movie on older media a few times. Excellent. Disney did a great job putting this superb classic on DVD. The color and audio were great. The acting by James Mason as Captain Nemo of the Nautilus and Kurk Douglas as Ned the harpooner, Peter Lorre as the professor's assistant and Paul Lucas as the professor is great. Many say this was a pefect cast and no one could act the 4 main parts better. The special effects are fantastic and won an academy award. There is a second DVD with lots of bonus information like the making of the movie, the Humbolt squid, monsters of the deep and much more. Jules Verne had the Nautilus powered by electricity. Disney had Captain Nemo discovering atomic energy in the late 1800s... the age of sail/coal burning ships, and using an atomic reactor to power the Nautilus. He has a base of operations on the island called Volcaneo where with the help of his crew and the huge powerful, metal Nautilus submarine, prey and sink warships that traffic slaves and spread the sale of phosphates and nitrates used for building explosives of weapons of war. There are a number of ships sunk. Ned, the Professor and his assistant are shipwrecked after the Nautilus severely damages a warship Captain Farragut sails to destroy the sea monster ( Nautilus submarine). Captain Nemo tests their loyalty to each other and allows them to remain on the Nautilus ( for now). We see a scene where Ned and the assistant go to an Island and are attacked by cannibals that also attack the Nautilus. We see great underwater scenes of a underwater funeral, hunting/farming, finding treasure in a sunken ship, killing a threatening shark, and a giant squid attaching itself to the Nautilus. The Nautilus must surface and the crew and Captain fight the horrible beast. Ned saves Captain Nemo from being killed and eaten by a giant squid. The giant squid scene (many say the highlight of the movie) had to be completely done over. They first used a reddish sky and the scene was a flop as it looked totally phony.The squid looked phony and the arms rapidly became water logged and didn't move so good. The second scene which they used was at night in a multi machine generated giant storm. Lots more action using different materials for the squid and pneumatic technology to give it life like realism. The arms of the squid were much lighter and more mobile. But this new scene cost a lot. Disney was running out of money and had to get a bank to lend 1 1/2 million dollars to complete this movie. This 1954 movie was the most expensive to produce up to that time...about 9 million dollars in 1954 dollars. Walt Disney was a stickler for perfection and wanted the movie as real looking and perfect as possible. It sure was. The movie became a classic and was a financial success and propelled the small Disney studio to greatness. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea won two academy awards. More great action. I won't ruin the movie for you. There is a great ending with a tear jerking quote from Captain Nemo. I loved this movie. Disney did it right as there have been other movies made of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea that were not as good. Here is a movie the whole family can enjoy. There is some fighting but no sex or nudity or four letter words. After all its Disney. Rated 5 stars and proudly in our family DVD library.

Finally! The definitive edition of a Jules Verne classic brought back in all its pomp and glory. The price, for once, is right. I remember it when it first was released in Europe, and I can safely say that this version beats even that showing back then. Extremely clear image, stupendous surround sound, make this a must have in the most absolute way. Forget all the other versions ever made. This remains THE classic of them all! Forget the dated special effects which, by the way, you may not even notice, since the story is so gripping and fast paced, that you may not even realize they are. James Mason gives a wonderful portrayal of Captain Nemo. One of his best roles, together with Fieldmarshal Rommel in "The Desert Fox", Cicero in "Five Fingers" and Professor Arronax in "Journey to the Center of the Earth" of about the same period. Kirk Douglas and Peter Lorre form a perfect if not odd comical duo, to ease the tension of the story. The score is beautifully remastered and brings you immediately back to those long bygone days of great moviemaking. I won't be long reviewing this movie, since many others before me, have already praised it and described it in detail. I can only say, buy it, buy it, buy it! Oh, and by the way, don't forget about another Jules Verne classic coming out soon on DVD and in Widescreen: "Around the World in 80 Days". That's another "absolutely must have". In the meanwhile, have you checked on "Journey to the Center of the Earth". Do you have it on your DVD shelf? No? Shame on you... Go and get it fast. It's been remastered and it's a worthy companion to the other two Jules Verne movies. So, what are you waiting for?

Classic movie with classic songs… “Got a whale of a tale to tell ya lads…”

It's a great movie

この作品のノーティラス号（喧しい事を言えば厳密にはナウティルス なのでしょうが）の造形は素晴らしいの一言に尽きます。 PAL形式のDVDでランタイムは122分なので（劇場上映時間は127分） VLCメディアプレイヤーの再生速度をx0.96（122÷0.96≒127)にして 視聴しています。

Saw this for the first time when I was 9 years old and had to wait 25 years before it came on TV and was made available on video. The UK DVD is very good but only has a few special features. If you want a complete package you need to buy the US 2-disk region 1 only version. The special features are legion and amazing, especially the lengthy "making of" programme. The film itself is well photographed, well scripted, well cast and well acted. Not entirely true to the book but enjoyable nevertheless. James Mason is amazing as Captain Nemo. Other actors have tried to play this part (Herbert Lom, Robert Ryan, Jose Ferrer, Michael Caine, Ben Cross and Patrick Stewart amongst others) but have never come close to James Mason's brilliant potrayal. For 1954 the special effects were pretty good and Walt Disney had another success on his hands. Most people will remember the film for the submarine, a beautiful interpretation by designer Harper Goff of Jules Verne's Nautilus. As a child I thought it was real and not a series of models and a full size mock up of the deck. No other film version has a Nautilus as striking as Harper Goff's and it's a pity the submarine was restricted to one film only as it was the real star of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea!

Producto perfectamente recibido. Con el doblaje original al Castellano y calidad es la de la época, se disfruta perfectamente. Muy aconsejable. Si te gusta el género de aventura no puede faltar en tu colección esta gran película.

Excelente presentación. Gran imágen y calidad en el vídeo y el Audio ! Para todos los amantes del cine fantástico creado en los años 50's éste artículo no los desepcionará.