- Directed by Richard Fleischer
- December 23, 1954
- Adapted from Jules Verne’s 1870 novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
A ship sent to investigate the stories of a sea creature encounters an advanced submarine and its charismatic captain.
How much does the film version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea adhere to the Jules Verne original inspiration is not is not known to me. I’m not sure if I ever read the book or even the Great Illustrated Classics version (which I owned). As a story it straddles being family and just a somewhat serious adventure.
As undersea adventures go this one’s considered a cinematic classic. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea has some fantastic technical sequences that are quite the achievement but beyond that it’s also a very good movie. For the time it was a rather lavish production, but mercifully because of limitations of that very time this is not an overproduced film. I dare say there’s a realistic look to much of what we get. Everything from the costumes to the sets looks plausible with a very steampunk aesthetic.
Kirk Douglas as Ned Land was probably the bigger/biggest name in the film but is more a supporting character than the lead. Land is the affable asshole. He’s not a manly man nor the kindly rogue. He’s quite a dick but he’s not wrong either. As a character and the individual who does his share of action for all the ‘good’ guys, he only shows up sparingly which is kinda weird.
For me Peter Lorre as Conseil steals the show. He doesn’t have a big part, but it’s not small either. He’s more of a mid-tier character only slightly less important to the story than Ned. But Peter Lorre, with his voice and his look and his just general performance, was always interesting. There is something weird and off kilter about the way he played a part no matter how ultimately milquetoast (like this one) they were.
Captain Nemo (James Mason) and Professor Pierre Aronnax (Paul Lukas) are the main characters though they don’t do too much in the overall narrative. Kirk Douglas was clearly the star, but he was not the main. Nemo and Aronnax spend a lot of time talking and philosophizing and that’s really about it. Again I’m not familiar with the original work, but I would think a little more happens than this even if it’s not by too much for either character.
For what he was Nemo was interesting. A man tired of the ways of the human world and seeking to live apart while also exacting a bit of justice as he saw it. Nemo had a tough yet clear code of ethics and conduct. James Mason creates a character that you can see people following. He inspires loyalty.
Aronnax on the other hand was just a scientist. He didn’t grow much beyond being curious with his curiosity overriding his better judgment. Lukas does not do too badly but Aronnax is supposed to be French and Paul Lukas was Hungarian and during the course of the movie a bit of a Hungarian accent slips in more and more frequently.
The finale came too quickly for my tastes. There was almost no build to it. While there were mentions of dropping letters in a bottle the arrival of help was after this action was mentioned. Without a clear idea of the passage of time it feels like a day or two later. When you think too long about it, it makes less and less sense. Drop the bottles and then the ships show up. It seems a little bit like the cavalry suddenly coming over the hill in the nick of time which it essentially was.
And for me that is the main strike against this movie. The ending of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea just shows up. There is talk of injustices of the world and a better way and the bounty the sea can provide. There is also the theme that strictly using science can solve all our problems. Just when we get really into those areas though the story concludes.
But does that ruin the movie? No. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a great throwback adventure film with good performances and a visual style all its own-even different than what was supposedly described in the book. It’s a nice bit of family entertainment that adults could watch too.
If you are by yourself or you have kids 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is not a bad choice to make when watching. You’ll have a good time and not feel like you watched something stupid.
Warren Watched A Movie 