DVD : 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Image Entertainment
EAN: 9786305268154
Format: AC-3, Black & White, DVD-Video, Silent, NTSC
ISBN: 6305268150
Label: Image Entertainment
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
Number Of Items: 1
Picture Format: Academy Ratio
Publisher: Image Entertainment
Release Date: January 26, 1999
Running Time: 101 minutes
Sales Rank: 92258
Studio: Image Entertainment
Theatrical Release Date: December 24, 1916
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Editorial Review:
Description:
Released by Universal in 1916, "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" was the first great special effects spectacular of early cinema. Based on the Jules Verne novel, the story concerns a team of scientists investigating a series of naval disturbances who find the culprit is the Nautilus, a submarine piloted by Captain Nemo, a hate-driven renegade seaman. Over a year-and-a-half in production, "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" is a colorful recreation of Verne's science fiction classic.
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
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 ... Read More
Rating: -
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.
Rating:  -
Although there are indeed historical aspects to this picture, on the whole, it's a bit dull and lame. It bears very little resemblance to Jules Verne's story, and later versions were better. Those who grew up with the 1950's Disney version, or later Sci-Fi channel remake, will be disappointed, and will not recognize much of the plot line...such as it is.
Rating: -
The 1916 version of 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA is a perfect example of what can happen when a film relies primarily on special effects. In its day, it was widely celebrated as one of the first feature-length films to make use of underwater photography, and audiences thrilled to its scenes of coral reefs and sharks. But nowadays we're very used to seeing underwater photography, and of a quality that far surpasses that seen here. And the film has little else to offer.
The story, of course, is based on the Jules Verne classic--but "based" is the operative word. About the only thing this film version has in common with the Verne novel is the title, a few character names, and a few basic concepts, so if you're expecting a faithful silent adaptation of the novel you're outta luck. In this version, a scientist (Dan Hanlon) and his party go in search of sea monsters and run afoul of the Nautilus, but they soon discover that Capt. Nemo (Allen Holubar) really isn't such a bad guy after all. There's a subplot about a "child of nature" (Jane Gail) who lives on a "Mysterious Island" and who has some mixed experiences with shipwrecked sailors stranded there--and before the whole thing ends we are flashed back to colonial India for an explanation of just who Capt. Nemo really is and how he got that way. In the process there is underwater photography aplenty, including a faintly hilarious attack on a sailor by a 1916 special-effects-octopus.
The acting is extremely ... Read More
Rating:  -
This is a classic, first of its kind film. The special effects include some of the FIRST underwater motion film ever made. There is no dialoged sound track, a pianist accompanies the black&white (sometimes brown& white) images while occasional subtitles elude to the drama as it unfolds. The image bobs and weaves like a video camera was held in front of a screen showing the celluloid film to make this into DVD. A tripod would have helped.
If you must have any and all submarine movies, or are collecting samples of cutting edge effects before the era of synchronized sound, then this DVD is for you. If you're looking for the "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" where the squid wraps around the sub in full color & sound, then I think the Disney version is the one you want. I'll keep both versions!
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starring: Allen Holubar, Leviticus Jones, Jane Gail, William Welsh, Ole Jansen
directed by: Stuart Paton
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Image Entertainment
EAN: 9786305268154
Format: AC-3, Black & White, DVD-Video, Silent, NTSC
ISBN: 6305268150
Label: Image Entertainment
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
Number Of Items: 1
Picture Format: Academy Ratio
Publisher: Image Entertainment
Release Date: January 26, 1999
Running Time: 101 minutes
Sales Rank: 92258
Studio: Image Entertainment
Theatrical Release Date: December 24, 1916
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