20,000 Leagues Under the Sea 1954
I remember liking this movie as a kid, loving the high tech, menacing Nautilus and the genius who made it run. At Disneyworld, I remember being excited to get to go on the ride based on the movie, even if it was a little disappointing. Researching this movie along with a few other older Disney titles at the same $4.99 price that I could get with a gift certificate, I was surprised how much critical acclaim it had at the time and still. It was a big budget movie and also scored big at the box office, with the third highest totals in 1954. Even the date was a little surprising since it seemed like a more modern production. So I went ahead and got it over The Absent Minded Professor and watched it not much later.
The cast is surprisingly good, with James Mason, Kirk Douglas, and Peter Lorre. Mason and Douglas already had strong careers going and would continue that for some time. While Douglas gets to have fun as blowhard hero, Mason has a more nuanced role as a conflicted genius. Both do a good job with a talented sea lion co-star. Also the special effects are surprisingly good, especially for this time period, with a ton of shots on the water and under water. They aren't perfect and even in HD, things are a little grainy, but they do a good job layering in mattes and graphics. The underwater scenes are unrealistically clear and well-lit, but it is challenging presenting underwater scenes. Of course the source material is also good, coming from Jules Verne, though there isn't much of a plot given its serialized origins. Still, there are so many interesting things going on and Captain Nemo is such a great character that an intricate plot isn't required. In a lot of ways, this is kind of a template for Marvel movies that would come later, with sci-fi roots, big special effects, big budget, and big box office. I was disappointed by the fate of the Nautilus, though they weren't thinking sequels.
Written: 04 Sep 2023
Owned on: Digital