- Actors: Allen Holubar, Lois Alexander, Curtis Benton, Wallace Clarke, Howard Crampton
- Directors: Stuart Paton
- Writers: Stuart Paton, Jules Verne
- Producers: Stuart Paton, Carl Laemmle
- Format: AC-3, Black & White, DVD-Video, NTSC, Silent
- Language English
- Region: All Regions
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3 - 1.33:1
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: Unrated (US MPAA rating. See details.)
- Studio: Image Entertainment
- DVD Release Date: 26 Jan 1999
- Run Time: 105 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- ASIN: 6305268150
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 113,548 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
An interesting piece of film history but not a great film,
By
This review is from: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea [DVD] [2016] [US Import] [NTSC] (DVD)
The 1916 version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was a landmark in special effects in its day, but 90 years on it's a mere historical curiosity. It's not that it's particularly bad, more that it's very flatly directed even for its day and the passage of time has dealt it some particularly low blows. Although in the first draft of the novel Nemo was clearly identified as a Pole waging a private war with Russia before Verne's publishers and the French censors objected, the film goes off on its own to make him a wronged Indian Prince (Allen Holubar) with a penchant for wearing Santa Claus suits: the fact that his crew alternately seem to be dressed as elves or pastry chefs does not help matters much. Then there's his long-lost daughter, introduced as a `child of nature' skipping and dancing through the jungle in so insipid a manner that she even scares off the cheetahs. Looking like a cross between a young Bette Midler playing Elmo Lincoln in blackface and Spike Milligan playing Little Eva while being poked with a cattle prod, Jane Gail's performance is every negative clich? about silent movie acting incarnate. Little of Verne's episodic plot remains: having introduced Professor Aronnax and Ned Land, the hunting trip aside, the film promptly ignores them for the rest of its running time in favor of a plot drawn loosely from Verne's other Nemo novel, Mysterious Island. Still, it's watchable enough even if it doesn't give Richard Fleischer's 1954 version much of a run for its money.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A story within a story within a story,
By
This review is from: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea [DVD] [2016] [US Import] [NTSC] (DVD)
Prince Daaker AKA Captain Nemo has searched 20,000 leagues under the sea for revenge. The daughter of Prince Daaker (Lois Alexander) was abducted. Prof. Aronnax (Dan Hanlon) is invited by the US navy to track sown a sea monster that is interrupting shopping. He takes his daughter (Edna Pendleton). A balloon is blown off course and carries four men to the south pacific. An evil yacht owner looks for a girl from his past. All of these stories and the story of a Child of Nature in a chic leopard skin outfit will converge on a mysterious island for the final scenario.We find this version of 20000 Leagues Under the Sea quite different from the Disney version. The special effects are more vantage and they spend more time explaining how the physics of the underwater suits, crystal “magic window”, and underwater guns, work. There are a few things that one must take in account for the times. Nemo looks like a goat herder. The giant octopus looks much more like the octopus in the John Wayne move Wake of the Red Witch. The underwater guns look like Winchester lever action. Where did the Child of Nature get her leopard skin? How did Nemo obtain his technology? Not the most plausible story. There is also a long long under water filler scene. However there is excellent underwater photography by the brothers George and Ernest Williamson. Other than that is fun to watch.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Better than expected!,
By Dr Caligari "ejm533" (Nottingham, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea [DVD] [2016] [US Import] [NTSC] (DVD)
Having read a number of lukewarm reviews of this film I hadn't expected to find it especially good. As it happens I enjoyed it much more than I had expected to. The plot line whilst employing a number of unlikely coincidences holds the viewer's attention and the switching between shots at sea and on land avoids monotony as too does the flashback scene at the end. The acting is of the overblown style to be expected in a film of this age.
The underwater shots and special effects are particularly impressive considering how early this film was made. The quality of the print is variable but in the main very good. Some of the underwater scenes though show quite a bit of wear and tear. The ending is somewhat abrupt. The END intertitle flashes up very briefly and you are back in the DVD menu before the music has time to fade. The music score is excellent. It is varied in style and instrumentation and faithfully follows and enhances the action on screen. As a final bonus the original 10 minute intermission intertitle is still present in the print and makes for a good opportunity to pause the DVD and fetch another beer... Overall highly recommended to those who like films from the silent era.
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