20000 Leagues Under the Sea | | Cast : | Kirk Douglas, James Mason | | Director : | Richard Fleischer | | Studio : | Walt Disney Home Video | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | December 23, 1954 | | DVD Released Date : | March 02, 2004 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), English (Original Language), English (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | G (General Audience) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | June 11, 2005 | | Summary | A great movie, though not a great adaption of Verne. | Content
 | First of all, as entertainment this movie is wonderful. Whatever else you say about Disney in their heyday, they KNEW how to entertain people. This movie is great escapist fun!
The single caveat I have is that, like nearly all other Verne adaptions, they strip Nemo of his ethnic trappings. This makes no sense to me, as a true Hindu Nemo would have added an even more exotic flavor to the film. This in no way detracts from the white-guy Mason performance here, understand. As best I can tell, the otherwise mediocre League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is the ONLY significant film to accurately portray Nemo as Jules Verne wrote him! Otherwise, he's been your basic "white guy" in every version of "20,00 Leagues" and "Mysterious Island" that I've seen. Oh, well... |
| Rating | | | Date | February 26, 2005 | | Summary | A Must-See! | Content
| I'm (...), and this is one of my most favorite movies ever!!! I would rate this movie PG because some scenes may be disturbing to young children, but kids 8+ (especially little boys) could probably handle it. The giant squid scene, for example, is quite dramatic; featuring a HUGE black squid attacking the submarine and Captain Nemo narrowly escaping death. Also, an island scene features a tribe of armed natives chasing Ned Land to the sea. Still, it's certainly a thriller; be sure to watch it at night. :) The main actors (Peter Lorre, Paul Lucas, James Mason, and of course, Kirk Douglas) were terrific and "cut out" for the parts of Conseil, Professor Aronnax, Captain Nemo, and Ned Land. The movie is a bit long, but no matter; an audience would have a hard time getting bored.
A few quotes:
(at dinner table in the submarine with the Captain)
Captain Nemo: Ah, gentlemen! Be seated, please. Your clothes are being dried and will be returned to you shortly; in the mean time resort yourselves to my humble hospitality.
Ned Land: Humble you call it! Yeah, you do quite well for yourself, mate!
Captain Nemo: You may call me "Captain Nemo."
Professor: I'd like to express our gratitude, Captain. We are grateful to be alive.
Captain: I want none of your gratitude. You're all under the strictest probation. And I advise you not to attempt an escape. You understand your position?
Ned: Well, I don't know, Captain. A prisoner has a right to escape, hasn't he?
Captain: That is correct.
Ned: And a guest don't need to! Say, I guess that makes us a little bit of both, huh? (laughs)
(A little later)
Conseil: This food is delicious, isn't it, Professor?
Professor: Oh, very good! Never tasted better!
Captain: We flavor the sea-taste. That is fille of seasnake.
Conseil puts down fork: I suppose, this is not lamb then?
Captain: That is bisquit of blowfish with seasquirt dressing, basted in barnacles
(Ned stops eating)
Anyway, an extremely enjoyable movie. :) |
| Rating | | | Date | October 15, 2004 | | Summary | "Wonders that defy my powers of description..." | Content
| Just after the Civil War,a ship is sent to investigate mysterious sinkings by a "Sea Monster(in reality, an advanced submarine)". The ship is attacked by the submarine Nautilus, commanded by Capt. Nemo. The redoubtable Capt. Nemo destroys ammunition cargo ships to satisfy his anti-war agenda. Capt. Nemo: "Think of it. On the surface there is hunger and fear. Men still exercise unjust laws. They fight, tear one another to pieces. A mere few feet beneath the waves their reign ceases, their evil drowns. Here on the ocean floor is the only independence. Here I am free!" Based on Jules Verne's 1870 novel, 2-time Academy-Award-winner "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" is Walt Disney's 1954 Technicolor Cinemascope triumph. Directed by Richard Fleischer, "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" was filmed in Jamaica, the Bahamas, and Hollywood. It features an international cast of screen legends including Oscar winner Paul Lukas, Kirk Douglas, James Mason, and Peter Lorre. This dual-disc DVD is a rich anamorphic transfer, with an eye-popping 2.55:1 aspect ratio and a newly remastered, THX-enhanced Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. The movie has commentary featuring film historian Rudy Behlmer, and a 97-minute documentary with interviews with 88-year-old Kirk Douglas. There's more! There are five more featurettes, a Donald Duck cartoon, two galleries of production stills, unused undersea animation, audio clips, bio/filmographies, and literally an entire sea-chest more of extras and goodies. The documentary contains one error. Disney's true first all-live-action feature was 1950's "Treasure Island". In "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", James Mason is simply electric as the enigmatic anti-hero Nemo; a lonely madman whose only cause is vengance. Curiously, the Greek word for Nemo is "no one". They don't make movies like this anymore. Maybe they never did... |
| Rating | | | Date | October 02, 2004 | | Summary | An amazing special edition of a great classic! | Content
| Ever since I was a child, no other Disney film has captivated me quite like this classic. In my opinion this is one of James Mason's best performances (along with "Odd Man Out") & Kirk Douglas, Peter Lorre, & Paul Lukas are perfectly cast. Even after 50 years, the special effects are wonderful. I was so excited when this dvd was released because my old vhs copy was worn out. The special features on this dvd are amazing & I've never seen so many documentaries on a special edition before. This is like a "Criterion Collection" dvd of "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" at half the cost! The movie has been beautifully restored & you simply won't find a better Disney classic anywhere. I recommend you buy this soon before Disney puts it in their freekin' vault! |
| Rating | | | Date | May 28, 2004 | | Summary | A Great DVD of a Great Film | Content
| Like many of the other reviewers of this movie, I'm a pre-boomer who was dazzled by the film as a child. Somewhere in my aging mom's attic, I have a few bolts (painted wood) from the movie set of the Nautilus, which I "borrowed" from one of the Disney properties as a kid nearly a half century ago. I remember taking a bus from LA to Burbank to stare through the slats of the fence in the back lot of the Disney Studios and seeing a partial model of the Nautilus, perhaps 1/3 scale, tossed in a corner like so much debris. What I would have given to be able to drag that model home. When I viewed the VHS version of this film a couple of years ago, I was bitterly disappointed by the poor quality which made the watching experience actually painful to a fan like me. But, let me tell you, this DVD is as thrilling as the VHS was painful. This fully-restored version of the film comes roaring back to life in all of its glory and then some. It's the best film restoration these old eyes have ever beheld. Watched on a state-of-the-art widescreen TV, this is every bit the experience it was in the '50's and I think it's wonderful that this great film is now preserved for the ages, just as it was when it was first released. Is this a perfect movie? No. Even as a kid, I noticed that the background music was too cheesy, that Kirk Douglas's songs seemed gratuitous, that the fish swimming outside the large porthole were cartoonish, and that the electrically-illuminated eye of the Giant Squid made an otherwise perfect special effect look a bit fake. I'm just as puzzled by those weaknesses today as I was then, especially since all other aspects of the film, including the numerous, Oscar-winning special effects involving the Nautilus, are masterful. But no movie is perfect and this movie, minor warts and all, is nothing less than a memorial to the genius of Disney, the acting of James Mason, the passion of the Disney staff, and the vision of Jules Verne. |
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