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"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!!!
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Reviews with images
Such a great movie
It's pretty close to the book as you can get,in just a couple hours. It's wild to see Michael Douglas's dad Kirk so young. He played a great Ned Land. Watching this movie made me read the book again. Such a great story.
