Reviews & Ratings for
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea More at IMDbPro »20000 lieues sous les mers (original title)

1 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
The First Film Adaptation Of The Jules Verne Sci-fi Classic, 22 July 2011

Author: IPreferEvidence from Finland

Its looks awesome as many other Melies' films do but its hardly very true to the book.

Obviously you can't go that deep into the book in such a short time but as some other films like Frankenstein(1910) managed to do it so I don't see why Melies couldn't other than the fact that this is from a time when title cards were not used yet.

Basically what we get is a montage of Melies style painted backgrounds and creatures which keeps you interested for a few minutes.

Recommended for fans of OLD sci-fi and fans Melies or Verne, or if you just have a few minutes to spare

0 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
A misleading French title..., 20 September 2011

Author: planktonrules from Bradenton, Florida

Oddly, the English title for this is "Under the Seas"--even though the French title is translated as "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" ("Deux Cent Milles Sous les Mers"). However, when you see the film, you see that it really has nothing to do with the Verne novel--and the English title was more appropriate and less misleading.

When the film begins, it's obvious that this one is in among the worst condition of any of the films from this Georges Méliès DVD collection. It's very fuzzy and bleached out--and it's a real shame. As the rest of the films looked like they'd been restored, perhaps this one was beyond their ability to repair.

Like some of the shorts on the "Georges Méliès Encore" DVD, this one has optional narration in order to explain what is occurring. While normally I don't recommend it, in this case it's worth using (at least in the beginning). A man enters a sub and the submarine slowly descends as the crowd watches. Then, you see what is supposed to be an underwater scene. It's done using stop-motion, real fish and painted images. It must have been pretty cool back in 1907--but it looks pretty dated today. Then, things get weird. Starfish turn into dancing girls--yes, dancing girls! Sadly, the ship scares them off! But, at least the guy in the boat gets to see some mermaids--and leaves the boat (and seems to be breathing just fine!). Then, he wanders about the set--acting as if he's seeing a magical underwater garden. A bit later, he's attacked by octopi--who also turn into women. How can all this be?! Not a bad film by 1907's standards, but the underwater scenes when seen today are amazingly cheesy and a bit quaint. Worth seeing, but not exactly among Georges Méliès best.

0 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Melies Take on the Novel, 27 August 2011
Author: Michael_Elliott from Louisville, KY

20000 lieues sous les mers (1907)

*** (out of 4)

aka 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

There's no question that this adaptation if more Melies than Jules Verne so fans of the classic novel really shouldn't come here expecting some sort of faithful version. What we see is the maker of a submarine who takes it to the bottom of the ocean where he witnesses various things ranging from mermaids to giant fish to sea horses. While at the bottom of the sea the man must figure out a way to reach land again. At just over 10-minutes there's obviously not enough time to be faithful to the novel but at the same time I don't think Melies would have been faithful had the film ran for two-hours. It's pretty clear that Melies is just wanting to use his bag of tricks at the bottom of the ocean and for the most part this makes for some entertainment. One scene that isn't very entertaining is a rather long sequence where we see some females doing a dance at the bottom of the ocean. I think the film is at its best when the director shows off the creations including the giant fish and a giant crab who attacks our hero. It should go without saying but these creatures certainly don't look real by today's standards but I think they contain a certain charm that really adds some value to the movie. The film never becomes too long, which is certainly a good thing and fans of science fiction should be entertained throughout.

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