20,000 Leagues under the Sea (1954)
Genre: Adventure / Scifi
Duration: 122 minuten
Alternative titles: Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues under the Sea / 20.000 Mijlen onder Zee / Walt Disney's 20,000 Leagues under the Sea
Country:
United States
Directed by: Richard Fleischer
Stars: Kirk Douglas, James Mason and Paul Lukas
IMDb score:
7,2 (39.962)
Releasedate: 23 December 1954
20,000 Leagues under the Sea plot
"The mightiest motion picture of them all!"
1868. A terrifying creature of unprecedented power attacks and sinks the freighters in the Pacific Ocean. The Abraham Lincoln is sent out by the government to solve the dire problem. It soon turns out that the monster is a submarine, equipped with the most sophisticated technological gadgets. The Lincoln cannot compete and sinks. Ned, Arronax and Conseil are picked up by the mysterious Captain Nemo.
Actors and actresses
Ned Land
Captain Nemo
Prof. Pierre Arronax
Conseil
First Mate of the Nautilus
Capt. Farragut
John Howard
Billy
Coach Driver
Blonde Girlfriend (uncredited)
Reviews & comments
Bobbejaantje
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- 2365 messages
- 2119 votes
"Mr. Land, you saved my life."
Pleasant entertainment from days long gone. I really enjoyed the underwater photography and sumptuous decoration of the Nautilus, in technicolor. In terms of acting, I especially liked James Mason in his role of Captain Nemo. Peter Lorre has a good role and does not make a great impression. Kirk Douglas plays the macho guy Ned Land, in itself not so sympathetic with little substance, but maybe that was the intention. The fact is that a (not present in the book) opening scene was written especially for this film and at the request of Kirk Douglas, in which Kirk walks around with 2 women by the arm and gets involved in a fight. This in order not to jeopardize his then reputation as an action hero.
Furthermore, there are no women in the film, except for the seal Essy. The sea monster was also initially labeled as female haha. Jules Verne's works date from a time when the presence of a woman in a story was not yet 'required'. By the way, I can imagine that in a contemporary adaptation of his book people would approach it differently and still include a female role.
Like Fisico I also had to think about Jaws, explicitly when the shark attacked Peter and Kirk, this shark was a Nurse Shark, by the way, about the most harmless shark there is is.
Besides moments of tension, culminating in the fight with the Octopus, there are also quite a few moments of entertainment. The duet between Kirk and Essy is definitely a (clumsy) highlight, next to the hilarious chase of Kirk and Peter by a tribe of cannibals.
Great work by Disney and director Richard Fleischer who apparently excels in all kinds of genres.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Don Homer
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- 510 messages
- 1297 votes
Old Disney from 1954 and very different from the average Disney. It is not an animation or fairy tale, but to a certain extent quite realistic.
The actors are not the least. I got this movie from a macabre friend and was very surprised to find Peter Lorre and Kirk Douglas in a Disney. The former plays a comical role in which his facial expressions make people laugh. Kirk plays a more annoying type who breathes some life into the boring middle part of the film. The seal also deserves a mention, it could keep up with the level of Lorre and Douglas.
The story is original but not terribly exciting. It starts out intriguingly but after an hour it sinks in to come back to life in the last half hour.
Graphically, the film was impressive, especially before the 1950s, but even now it is still enjoyable. The sets were also beautiful and the music was lovely.
If I read myself back like that, I'll raise my rating by half. 3.5 stars!
Translated from Dutch · View original
Filmkriebel
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- 10321 messages
- 4835 votes
Not really great this film adaptation of Jules Verne's work. Especially liked it a lot of kicking on the spot, has too few adventurous episodes. The mysterious character Nemo gets too much attention. Obviously very visionary of Verne to fantasize about the possibilities of a modern submarine, but there is not much more in this film. Or should I forget the attack by an octopus in full storm, of course the iconic scene of the film. I was a bit hungry at the end. Not a nice feeling.
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