Subject: Retrospective: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)

From: [email-masked] (Mike Turton)
Date: 30 Jul 1998 23:11:34 GMT

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Produced by Walt Disney.  Directed by Richard Fleischer.  Starring Kirk
Douglas, James Mason, Paul Lukas, and Peter Lorre.  Runtime: 127.  Reviewed
by Michael A. Turton

This cinema classic still moves the heart and stirs the imagination even after
so many years have passed.

It is the middle of the 19th century.  A strange creature, perhaps a ship,
has been preying on the shipping of the world.	Sent to find and fight it,
three men, Ned Land (kirk Douglas), Professor Aronax (Paul Lukas) and his
faithful servant, Conseil (Peter Lorre) accidently find themselves aboard the
submarine of Captain Nemo (James Mason), who is moved by powerful, mysterious
passions which cause him to terrorize the world. A stirring adventure story
which everyone has read,  _20,000 Leagues Under the Sea_ remains a classic of
high ... er... low adventure.

Disney spent a bundle on sets, models and special effects, and all have held
up well over the years.  The scenes of the men moving underwater, the
submarine ramming the ships, the ships exploding undersea, and other effects
still excite, while the sets of the submarine, outre to begin with, have
become appropriately outlandishly age-of-iron over the years. Sadly, the
acting is spotty.  Mason handles the smolder of Nemo well, but his
impassioned outbursts sound forced. Lukas' monotone efficiently packs the
maximum of incomprehensibility into the minimum of emotion.  Peter Lorre is
badly miscast, sounding conspiratorial rather than timid.  Contrariwise, Kirk
Douglas is so full of vim and vigor, he sticks out like Sinbad at a garden
party.	Though the story too often depends on cliches, like the use of an
undiscovered island in the S. Pacific where Nemo has his base, its great
reach and stunning vision compel respect even in an age of technological
miracles.

Despite its flaws this film remains a great favorite of young males, many of
whom fondly remember it into adulthood.  A good offbeat choice for those
nights when the video store offers nothing but frustration.  4 out of 5.

Copyright 1998 by Michael A. Turton

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