20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Rating:
Summary: This movie sinks taking Ben Cross and the Nautalis with it!
Review: Wow! Did this movie stink!!! The writers for this movie should be shot it's so bad! It took real talent to write a screen play so bad that even the fine actor Ben Cross not only couldn't save it but it manages to make him look bad. This movie was schmaltzy and silly and is an insult to Jules Verne's great classic. Don't waste the money to buy this or any of your precious time to watch it. If you do you'll regret it. You'll have more fun spending the night filing your nails.



Rating:
Summary: Decent interpretation, great family film, visually superb
Review: Any interpretation of Jules Verne's novel will have limitations. Mostly, this is due to the fact that our images of his fantastic technologies are colored by our own experience with what would be his future. Thus, the inside of the Nautilus becomes cheesy (the 1950s Disney version), or too close to reality (League of Extraordinary Gentlemen). This film, however, does a good job of tempering Verne's own time with ours. The ships in the film look very period - including the Nautilus.

Moreover, the story line itself, while modified, does a good job of portraying the complexity of Nemo's character, leaving the viewer (like Professor Aronnax) torn between admiration and disdain. Yet, this is a television version - thus we see romance and jealousy introduced into the story. Instead of a faithful servent, the Professor is accompanied by his beautiful daughter (Julie Cox), leading to contention between Nemo and the whaler Ned Land. If you are a purist, the story changes may be aggravating.

Where this film excels is in the visuals. Aside from the previously mentioned ships, the underwater shots are great. My kids really enjoyed the shots of the sea life - cuttlefish, tangs, rays - and were drawn into Nemo's underwater world.

While aspects of the movie were not true to Verne's original tale (and how many are), I found it an entertaining movie. Moreover, my kids really liked the movie, and wanted to read about Captain Nemo after the movie was over. I would recommend this DVD. While my rating is 3 stars, I would give it 3.5 if I could.