20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

An extremely loyal adaptation of Jules Verne's sci-fi classic, personally produced by Walt Disney and released as one of his studio's first live-action features. It's an uneven film. The effects work has aged very well and the subject matter seems ripe for the screen, but the pace is often ponderously slow and the story's prevailing themes are awfully complex and subdued for the intended audience. The scenery is wonderful, the moments of undersea exploration remain fresh and unique, the action scenes are mesmerizing (the crew's struggle against a giant squid amidst a blinding gale is especially unforgettable) but it does love to belabor a point and lingers endlessly on hollow in-between moments where it often feels like there's more meat elsewhere on the bone. Kirk Douglas probably draws the most eyeballs, thoroughly adorned in gaudy sailor gear and strumming merry melodies on a turtle shell guitar, but James Mason delivers the more interesting performance as the stern, enigmatic Captain Nemo; a bitter, broken man who still finds time to dream about the potential of a utopian society beneath the waves. I like the ideas simmering beneath the surface more than I like the film itself.