20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)

Plot Outline: A professor and his assistant set out to seek the truth about a supposed sea monster which has been sinking ships in the Atlantic. When their ship is sunk they find themselves, along with a harpoonist who survived the attack, taken aboard the Nautilus, a metal submarine run by Captain Nemo. It is the Nautilus which has been sinking the ships and the 3 men realise that the captain is a brilliant scientist with knowledge that could change the world. But Nemo bears a grudge against humanity and is intent on keeping his discoveries secret.

The Review: Disney really came up trumps with this classic film based on the novel by Jules Verne. There's hardly a thing wrong with it. The special effects haven't dated as badly as one would expect from such an old film. The fight with the octopus is still a classic scene despite rubbery tentacles flying across the screen and the Nautilus still looks quite eerie with its green light on, flying towards the steam ship at full speed. The underwater photography is amazing and is documentary-style, with plenty of stunning shots of fish swimming, plants underwater, etc. It just proves though that you don't need flashy special effects to create a good film. You can really believe that Nemo would be able to create an entire underwater world where crops are harvested and men live. Combined with the thoughtful story with plenty of scope we have some quality acting. James Mason is great as Captain Nemo and you can understand the position he comes from. Rarely showing true anger like some crazy scientist, he manages to turn the character into a very ruthless man when he wants to yet he also manages to convey his human side too. Kirk Douglas' harpoonist is just a gung-ho type of character and he manages to annoy just about everyone (including the audience) with his antics. All in all everything about the film fits together so well and it's quite hard to pick a major fault with it.

Final Verdict: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is perfect family entertainment which has stood the test of time and continues to do so. They don't make them like this anymore!

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