20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Rating:
Summary: An authentic 1916 film, collectable, video taped to DVD.
Review: 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!

Rating:
Summary: Classic Jules Verne
Review: 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.