Cheap 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Video) (Michael Anderson) Price

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Customer Reviews of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Not all bad.
The Jules Verne classic book is copied again on tape. The stars are Richard Crenna, Ben Cross, and the eccentric Julie Cox. It is not the worst version, and I am sure the Crayola Kids version is a lot worse than this. Arronax joins an expedition to find the thing that has been attacking many ships. The daughter beseeches the guy to have her go, and she disguises herself as a boy to get on. Okay, you have to act like a normal cool teenager to do that, not talk about sex as the main subject. The rest is mostly like the book, except there is some kind of other beast instead of a squid. The subplot ain't alienish, but "she" sure doesn't act normal in the submarine. So, try to enjoy the sea theme and ignore the subplot.

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Voyage to the Bottom of the Ratings
1997 saw two, count 'em, two TV versions of the classic Jules Verne adventure "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea." The least literate, this version tosses out much of Verne's loftier discussions of Victorian science and philosophy and replaces them with watered-down romance of the drugstore bookrack variety. Ben Cross is a stone-cold Nemo (how sadly far we've come from James Mason's tortured nobleman in the 1954 Disney version), skulking about his steel-plated creation, the Nautilus, with a seemingly nameless and faceless crew. Into his nomadic existence comes a group of castaways, led by the sympathetic, if tired-looking Richard Crenna as marine biologist Pierre Arronax. There's also a joyless love-story between Nemo and Arronax's outspoken daughter (not featured in the book) that struggles to add emotional fireworks, but simply results in a lurching distraction from the main plot about Nemo's quest for an end to war and human strife. Hammy acting by the supporting cast will make you feel like this is a movie aimed at kids, even with the story's darker overtones. About the only aspects of the film that rise above mediocrity are the production values and special effects. Though this Nautilus is nowhere near as imaginative as the Disney version, it is more faithful to the submarine described in the book, and overall, the look of the film is suitably impressive. Still, fans of Jules Verne will likely appreciate the 1954 film version more, even if poor Kirk Douglas is forced to sing. (The other TV version, by the way, with the usually likeable Michael Caine isn't much better; dark and murky, it bogs down under the weight of its pychobabble script.)