Before there was Bio Shock. Before Steampunk became cool. There was this movie. The year is 1868, a number of sea monsters attacks in the Pacific, has cause fear among sailors. Professor Pierre M. Arrnoax (Paul Lakas) and his assistant, Conseil (Peter Lorre) were invited by the US government to find. They were attacked by the 'so called' monster, and found themselves shipwreck with Ned Land (Kirk Douglas) a sailor. Captured by the monster, they found out, it's not a monster at all, but a submarine the Naultius, captain by the mysterious Nemo. (James Mason) explorer of the ocean bottom, '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea'. What Pierre and the survivors doesn't know at first, is that Captain Nemo is border-lining between genius and madness. A man who is at war at the surface world, while being tired of war. Arrnoax knows of this, but due to his lust of knowledge, he continue to take the side of the captain, while Ned Land tries to escape. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is based on the science fiction novel by French writer Jules Verne with the same name. There are some big differences between the film, and the novel. The film tends to cut outs or combinded such in case-- the treasure scene and the shark. Much praise for keeping much of Captain Nemo's reasons to attack the surface world and keeping the violence and death in, for a PG movie. Without it, it wouldn't be much of a adventure. The film can be a bit outdated, thus some action scenes with the limited special effects might be a bit cheesy, but at the time, well made. It's far superior to the majority of genre efforts from the period (or any period, for that matter), with production design and technical effects that have dated hardly at all. The soundtrack is spellbinding, mysterious, and glam. The haunting classic organ music plays well into the film. |'A Whale of a Tale' by Al Hoffman and Norman Gimbel as sung by Kirk Douglas sound as real as a sailor's hymn. Kirk Douglas is the perfect fit for Ned Land. Land is everything that Nemo hates about the surface, self-centered, greedy, and ego driven. While all of the actors did great in their respectable roles, it was James Mason, that got singled out for his performance of Captain Nemo. Even the point, that Nemo's last words to Aronnax echo: is a strong message. There is hope for the future. And when the world is ready for a new and better life, all this will someday come to pass, in God's good time." It's a great adventure, so give it a try.
Review of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
