Customer Reviews

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916, DVD)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This version of Jules Verne's classic is unique in so far as it concentrates upon the character of Captain Nemo, providing considerable material on his background, most of which has been neglected in subsequent adaptations. The groundbreaking underwater photography is still amongst the best on film. This print is a little scratched in places, but on the whole it's still an excellent copy. The color tinting effectively sets the atmosphere for each scene, and an appropriate musical score in Dolby Digital Stereo adds tremendously to the viewing experience. I highly recommend this DVD to any connoisseur of early cinema.

A special effects laden sci-fi blockbuster in 1916? That's exactly what this film was. It was one of the very first films to make extensive use of underwater photography. Almost too extensive in fact. While long panoramas of coral reefs and sea beds in black and white might have thrilled audiences in 1916, they can start to get a little tedious to modern viewers. Overall, though, this version of the classic Jules Verne tale is very well presented. The acting and visuals are good for that time time period. The film goes beyond the book to present a very unique explaination of Capt. Nemo's origins and motives. This Capt. Nemo is very different from the one in the Disney productions that would follow. It's worth a look for any fan of the Jules Verne classic.

There are many different versions of this classic tale of Captain Nemo and his crew. Some as close as 2006, 1999, etc. This one still holds up even as though it is almost 100 years old! Can you believe that?

The tale is simple, I won't give away the plot. But this is an excellent copy of that tale.

Highly recommend!

With all famous, classic stories which have been remade several times over the decades, it can be difficult not to compare one version with the other, especially when one of them was made in the middle of the silent film era. So it's important to keep in mind that this early 1916 version of Jules Verne's classic was a state-of-the-art superior production at that time, complete with exciting battle scenes, special effects and even the first real underwater photography. The film even opens with a credit to the two inventors of the new underwater camera, as well as a suitable little tribute to Jules Verne's amazing foresight as he described submarines and other futuristic things half a century before they were invented. Keeping all this mind, viewing this silent version of "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" becomes a whole new adventure, and even though the underwater shots, old-fashioned diving suits and short battle scenes are humdrum for us today, they are still of good quality even by today's standards, and must have been an exciting spectacle for audiences back in 1916.

While not entirely faithful to Verne's original, the story is quite interesting and involves far more than just showing off the technology of the period with many underwater and submarine scenes. In fact, for a 1916 production, this film is particularly sophisticated on various levels, and with careful editing the lives of three different groups of people are related, leading to a climax which shows how all their paths cross and how they are connected. There is Captain Nemo with his mysterious quest for revenge, some balloonists who become stranded on an island where a wild girl lives, and then the man plagued by a guilty conscience who returns to this island in search of the girl. Besides some intriguing plots and drama, there is some good action (by 1916 standards, that is) including a diver wrestling a giant octopus. Together with a newly-made musical score of both piano on its own at times, then other instruments, the overall effect is of an interesting film with much variety, quite apart from its historic significance as being a pioneer of underwater photography and other exciting action effects of its time.

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Please note that the rating above might not accurately reflect my thoughts, you will see a rating sentence at the end of the review.

Silent Movies are not the ones that you can review, it's a one to take the experience and only if your patient. I mean, Silent Movies were not made for 2010, they were made for the early 1900's. They can be enjoyed but only on a first person level from a very intelligent being.

There are some key things, but there are key things in every movie, and I am sick so I don't feel like reviewing.

UPDATE: I would like to point out some key areas.

The movie is silent yes, but not all B&W. From what I've seen and understand, several different areas are dipped in color. The inside during the day is yellow, underwater is light blue, night is red, the jungle is yellowish-green, but it's not real techincolor. But if you don't like B&W but do like classics, check this out.

Of course, there is the people who do like B&W and love classics will want to see this movie to.

Night of the Living Dead (Millennium Edition) was a landmark for it's African-American main character. However this movie has some more various main characters as well. It was 1916 so don't expect pure love for them but still. I haven't read the book but I know something in here that wasn't in the book: the back story of Captain Nemo.

This was the very first Special Effects Spectacular, and there is more to talk about, but I'm not gonna today. Maybe tomorrow, or the next day, or the next day, or the next day, or the next day.

The Rating? 3.7/5

I'm commenting on the "A2ZCDs" 2008 DVD release (UPC 882012439951) of this 1916 classic film. It is advertised on Amazon as a "Remastered Edition," and it is - to the detriment of the viewer. It's been subject to so much DNR that it cannot be watched. Apparently this is another early film now in the public domain that anybody can "remaster", repackage, and sell on Amazon. (There's at least one other such edition also being advertised.)

Since it is such an important early film you should purchase the 1999 Image Entertainment edition (UPC 014381466621), which appears to still available via Amazon; it looks the way you'd expect early 20th century films to look (i.e. hasn't been digitally modified to any appreciable extent) and it's watchable.

Perhaps some day some studio really will remaster this film - but the A2ZCD edition isn't the One.

If you are a die hard Jules Verne fan this is a must, however, remember this was made at the dawn of film making, so go in with an open mind. the film maker has taken many liberties with the direction of the original story, also it should be noted this is not as advertised the 1907 version of the film, it the later 1916 version. the earlier one is still unavailable. also this has been remastered from the original, the soundtrack music sounds different the picture quality could have been better, a full restoration should be undertaken on this film.

This was a remarkable production in 1917, well-preserved and intelligently tinted. The story includes Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, Mysterious Island, and plot points not thought of by Jules Verne. There is a music score, alternating between a stereo orchestral accompaniment and choppy monophonic piano. Underwater photography is very impressive with the rest of the photography not far behind.
The DVD provides a satisfying presentation of a ground-breaking film. There are no special features. Very much worthwhile.

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.

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.

Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (Two-Disc Special Edition)