Best movie of this year hands down!

Sadly Over-hyped

Redundant and unnecessary.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

NOTES: Won prestigious Hollywood awards for Special Effects (defeating Hell and High Water and Them!); and Best Color Sets (defeating Brigadoon, Desiree, Red Garters, A Star Is Born). Was also nominated for Film Editing, but Elmo Williams lost to Gene Milford of On the Waterfront. Negative cost: $5 million. With a domestic rentals gross of $8 million, number 4 at U.S./Canadian ticket windows for 1955. (Only Cinerama Holiday, Mister Roberts and Battle Cry took more money). The movie also did particularly well in Great Britain, scoring 11th place for 1955's highest box-office receipts. In Australia, if the movie's release had not been delayed by a year, it would also have taken solid coin (thanks to the CinemaScope boom). City seasons were a resounding success, but the film disappointed in its suburban and rural engagements.Underwater scenes were shot off the coast of Nassau in the Bahamas. Disney assigned a second unit to make a film of the filming. This documentary, "Operation Undersea", was aired on Disney's TV show and won an Emmy Award as the year's best television documentary!COMMENT: Starts excitingly enough, but the juvenile script and high- school dialogue cannot sustain audience interest once the heavy- handedly brooding James Mason comes on the scene. Paul Lukas is also a bore, but Kirk Douglas manages exactly the right, jolly tongue-in- cheek approach. We enjoyed his sprightly song too. Peter Lorre takes his cue from Mason and is likewise a bit too glum, though he does make an occasionally effective stooge for Douglas. It looks like Bob Wilke is going to be wasted in a minor, colorless role; but fortunately he comes into his own in a thrilling climactic fight with Douglas, no holds barred, — and no doubles either!At least director Fleischer makes a game try to fill up the CinemaScope screen, particularly in the first twenty minutes or so (which, oddly enough, turn out to be the most entertaining in the film). For all the hype, the submarine itself proves to be a disappointment. Though the fight with the giant squid is effectively staged, other special effects are both obvious and tedious, especially the drawn-out underwater water scenes which look fake. But thanks mainly to Kirk Douglas and his companionable seal (name of "Jackie Horner", would you believe, though the credits say "Esmerelda"), "20,000 Leagues..." turns out to be nowhere near the fidgety bore I'd expected.

There are films that not only stand the test of time but become icons in their own right. They are films that define a genre, sometimes without meaning to. This 1954 Disney film of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea is one such film. It is so thanks to an unlikely combination that has managed to help it pass the test of time beautifully despite the passing of more than sixty years since its original release.One of the biggest factors lies in its casting, especially of Captain Nemo. James Mason had already established his career in films like Odd Man out and The Desert Fox but it was with the role of Nemo that he earned cinematic immortality. Mason's Nemo is an incredible character: a man who is equal parts genius and haunted by a past that hinted at but never quite revealed. There's a maverick nature to Mason in the role and he plays all of these elements beautifully. Yet there's a softer, more human side to his performance where he's almost a poet laureate of the deep, such as in a scene about half-way through the film where Nemo explains why he won't share his technology. It's a wonderful performance and a measured one that rises above the potential clichés of the genre.The rest of the cast is solid, if not always up to Mason's level. There's Kirk Douglas as harpooner Ned Land in a performance that varies from comic foil to action hero, a combination that's unlikely but that works for the most part though the comic elements stand up well for a film made six decades ago. Paul Lukas as Professor Aronnax and Peter Lorre as Conseil round off the four main characters and both do decently though it's perhaps Lorre, cast against type as an academic rather than as a villain, who comes across the better of the two. With the addition of the crew of the submarine Nautilus who have a few lines here and there, it's a solid cast all around.What stands out more than even Mason's Nemo is the production design. Decades before the steampunk genre had been founded, this film established much of the feel of that genre with its design of the Nautilus both inside and out. While Verne described something that was quite akin to the modern submarine, the production design of Harper Goff came up with something that was far more cinematic that combined Victorian style with more futuristic technology. Combined with some excellent costume design for the Nautilus crew, especially the diving suits, it's something that gives the film not only one of its biggest strengths but also perhaps its most iconic element.Outside of these elements, there's plenty of other things to recommend the film for. There's the Oscar winning special effects that bring Goff's visions to life for example. Using a combination of old- school techniques including some incredibly effective model shots, the film beautifully brings to life some great moments and visuals. The effects are perfect though as can be seen in some of the back projection shots used to illustrate what characters are looking at are a bit dodgy at times. Those instances are rare and, on the whole, the effects stand up very well for a film of this age.Then there's the combination of the script by Elmer Fenton and the direction of Richard Fleischer. Anyone who has ever read the original novel will know that, by virtue of it having been written as a serial originally, it's quite episodic with little in terms of an actual plot. Fenton's script manages to bring many of the incidents from Verne's tale together while also adding new elements here and there as well as changing the occasional piece of detail such as Nemo's hinted background. With this in hand, Fleischer's direction helps to keep the film moving throughout while also adding an occasionally campy tone that sometimes works and sometimes doesn't.Elsewhere, the film shows some strong production values that illustrate some of the finest big-budget Hollywood work of the era. The cinematography for the film is fantastic throughout, highlighted perhaps by the sequences inside the Nautilus which are a sight to behold. There's also the excellently filmed underwater sequences which expertly mix together shots with doubles and inserts with the actors to bring sequences to life. The film's score by Paul Smith, while definitely a product of the era with a sound that only classic Hollywood could produce, serves the film well throughout, creating a strong sense of atmosphere from the early scenes aboard the US Navy warship the Abraham Lincoln to the underwater sequences which portray both the extreme beauty and the mystery of the deep.Nowhere though does this all of these elements come together better than in the film's signature sequence: the fight with the giant squid. Combining performances from the actors, effects ranging from model shots to a full sized attacking squid as well as practical rain and lightning, excellent cinematography and the music of Paul Smith, the results were gripping for audiences both then and now as man battles beast with not only their lives at stake but the fate of the Nautilus as well. It's something that gives the film it's best sequence as well as presenting one of the most incredible action sequences ever produced for the screen.The term "classic" can be thrown around quite easily but there's little doubt that it can be applied here. From Mason's Nemo to iconic production design that continues to influence the steampunk genre, it's a film that has become iconic in ways that Disney and his filmmakers could never have imagined. As well as remaining one of the best adaptations of a classic into a film, it also remains as watchable today as it was then. If that doesn't make this a classic, I'm not sure what does.

Disney's take on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Natural historian Prof. Pierre Arronax (Paul Lukas), his assistant Conseil (Peter Lorre) and harpooner Ned Land (Kirk Douglas) set out on a government funded ship, in search of a rumored sea monster. The three of them get separated from the ship and stumble across the supposed "monster", which is in fact a highly advanced submarine called Nautilus. It is led by the enigmatic Captain Nemo (James Mason). He and his devoted crew have shunned civilization and adopted to the aquatic way of life. The visitors are not allowed to go back as Nemo does not want his secret to get out. Prof. Arronax has no objection as he is deeply fascinated by the underwater world and wants to study it. But as Captain Nemo starts showing his brutal side, Land is desperate to escape.This movie is dated, be it its political incorrectness, the science depicted in it, Prof. Arronax's method of study, or its special effects. A sautéed unborn octopus would be an environmentalist's nightmare today, yet it was a delicacy in its time. Similarly, no present-day natural historian would want to kill a rare species and place it in a natural history museum, but that is exactly what Prof, Arronax intended to do with the sea monster. It also depicts American natives as cannibals. The Nautilus defends itself by passing electric current over its surface when we now know that electricity and water should not be mixed. Disney made quite a few changes to the original material and ironically, the novel, written more than eighty years before the movie came out, has aged better.However, the movie has its own charm. Its heart is in the right place. We find yourselves smiling at its quirks as they remind us of the time when it was made. Kirk Douglas is the life of the movie; he is winningly riotous, effervescent and his energy pervades the entire movie. Another highlight of the movie is Captain Nemo and Prof. Annorax's stately friendship.Good to watch once.

Jules Verne's classic novel is brought to the big screen here in probably the most well-known and best adaption of the novel. The film notably comes from Disney, which is surprising when you think about it because of how dialogue driven and character driven the film really is. It is impressive how well the film still holds up to this day and that it manages to remain constantly interesting despite little action. The film is still somewhat under-appreciated, whether that is because of Disney's title is unsure because the film still grips and entertains with ease.The story sees the oceans assumed unsafe during the late 1800s as a number of ships have been destroyed by what people are calling a monster. A naturalist professor, his assistant and a whaler join an expedition to unravel the mystery. But when they're vessel is destroyed and they are the only three who survive, the come aboard the 'monster' and realise it is a high-tech submarine run by the highly intelligent Captain Nemo. Nemo is distant to them at first, but slowly allows them to into his ideology. The story is very interesting, the mystery of Nemo's views on life are presented and left for the audience to make judgement on. I really like how the film portrays the four ideologies of these men and lets their views on warfare bounce around, as this is what forms the plots backbone. The film is very story driven so that fact that the plot is this good really helps make the film standout.The four lead actors are what really make the film memorable. All four create engaging people and get their personality traits down perfectly. James Mason is simply superb as the complex and tragic Nemo. He displays Nemo as a man that was far ahead of his time and wounded by how harmful man's actions can be. The fact that he has retired to the sea shows how much he wants to get away from the actions of his fellow humans. Paul Lukas is equally as brilliant in his very calming and touching portrayal of Professor Aronnax. He is one of a few who believes that he can convince Nemo to change his views on humanity and see that there is some good left. Both Mason and Lukas give wonderfully intelligent performances.Kirk Douglas puts his gruff persona and chiselled looks to good use as the vigorous everyday sailor Ned Land. Land's more bombastic attitude and hands on approach brilliantly corresponds those of Nemo and the professor. Peter Lorre is also excellent support as the professor's easily panicked assistant Conseil. Lorre's agitated expressions and nervous delivery are just perfect for the character, as Lorre makes what could have been a forgotten role extremely notable.It is striking at just how well the film holds up and how the visual aspects have hardly dated thanks to expert techniques used. The claustrophobic nature of the Nautilus is the perfect metaphor for how trapped the three men feel at first, whilst the submarine itself is a stunning creation thanks to its Gothic design and colourful scenery. The scenes filmed out at sea and under the oceans waves look very authentic, even the use of blue screen is difficult to notice at times. When the action set pieces do turn up they are very well shot and full of tension. The famous giant squid attack looks very good, thanks to shooting the scene in a storm, and has a lot of excitement. The scene were Ned enters the natives land is also very good thanks to the excellently crafted suspense, you can even forgive the dodgy electricity effects.The dialogue and interactions are another highlight. This is an extremely character driven film after all, the main thing that the film does is to try and have the views of the four leads bounce of each other in order to place them in an interesting dilemma. The three men have difficulty accepting Nemo's views and have trouble working out reasons for his motives. While Ned and Conseil dismiss him as a madman, the professor notes that Nemo does have his reasons as him becomes a confident for the captain. Nemo turns into more of a tragic character as we learn his true motives and this creates a great anti-hero for the audience to decide to agree with or turn away. The more that the professor gets sucked into Nemo's ideology creates the perfect conflict as Ned and Conseil cannot decide what action to take.As said the dialogue is brilliant. I really like how smart it is and how the conversations of the men are always interesting. It also allows us to see through the characters eyes and find out what they are feeling, like with the professor's journal. There are some funny quips such as Lorre claiming that messages in bottles when out with Robinson Crusoe that are well placed throughout. The score from Paul Smith fits in soundly as well. It does sound rather grand and manages to convey the elements of suspense very well. Even Kirk Douglas tune 'Whale of a Tale' is a very enjoyable number.20,000 Leagues might very well be one of the best adventure movies ever made, it is certainly one of Disney's best live action pieces. For such a reserved and dialogue driven film it is amazing how interesting and entertaining it manages to be. That in part is down to the four lead actors who, as said, are all absolutely fantastic jobs. It is also in part to an excellent script and some truly outstanding production design that also help to make the film a masterpiece. 20,000 Leagues is always entertaining, filled with interesting ideas, superb acting and wonderful visuals it is impossible not to find something to enjoy.