Captain Nemo and the Underwater City

A very enjoyable movie for young and old; a bit sci-fi, a bit fantasy, a bit action and a joke here and there. This movie isn't a groundbreaking masterpiece, but who cares? If you want to have yourself a very nice evening with a feel-good movie ... this might be the movie for you!

This prequel to 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea takes place during the American Civil War and before Jules Verne's Captain Nemo embarked on a policy of aggression against warmaking sea power nations. The Nautilus is just doing scouting expeditions and comes across some survivors of a sea wreck and takes them to Nemo's undersea domain of Temple Meer.

Robert Ryan plays a dedicated and fanatical Nemo who has built an underwater Shangri-La which is surviving a whole lot of water pressure from the ocean. Among the survivors are a US Senator played by Chuck Connors, and British people Allan Cuthberson who has claustrophobia and doesn't deal well with the atmosphere, two brothers who are petty crooks, Bill Fraser and Kenneth Connor from the Carry On series and Nannette Newman and her young son Christopher Hartshorne.

As the High Lama of Shangri-La was, Ryan is looking for good people to help with his underwater paradise. He marks Connors as talent, but Connor who is on a mission from Abe Lincoln to European powers does not want to be the Robert Conway of Temple Meer. He's resolved to escape and all the men want out, each for their own reasons.

Among other things Temple Meer has is electric lights before Edison and alchemy. For water and electricity they have a machine which produces gold as a waste product. That really interests Fraser and Connor. In fact gold has no monetary value in Temple Meer. It's used for various drinking cups etc. because it is the most malleable of metals and doesn't corrode. Of course it's a got of value where Connor and Fraser hail from.

There are some nice underwater action sequences when the Nautilus tangles with a giant stingray all in the Jules Verne tradition. Captain Nemo And The Underwater City combines the best of both Verne and Hilton, two of the most popular authors around.

I saw this in the theater as a kid and loved it. The story about people living a Utopian existence in a domed city underwater sticks with me today. I'm not sure how I'd feel seeing it again, when the so-called 'good guys' in the movie are so anxious to get back to their own world that they endanger the underwater city and steal a submarine. But it's a fun movie with good sets, great miniature work on the subs, the cities, and the giant sea monster. I wish this was released on DVD as the sets and sub were quite neat looking.

A neat aspect of this movie is that they tried for a bit of science "fact". For example, the most common material in the undersea city was gold, because they used a process to pull gold out of sea water.

I wonder if those people are still living down there to this day? :)

Shipwreck survivors are rescued by an authoritarian ruler of a secret underwater city during the 19th century. Nice underwater photography, enough action and special effects to offset wooden acting and less-than-sublime script. (Rating B+)

Exciting and thrilling submarine movie dealing with the Nautilus captained by Nemo well played by Robert Ryan who along with his crew save some survivors of a drowning from a shipwrecked . When a ship is sunk , some passengers (Chuck Connors , Nanette Newman , Luciana Paluzzi , Alan Cuthbertson..) are rescued by a submarine and they are taken and get thoroughly involved with power-hungry captain Nemo (Robert Ryan) and take an extraordinary adventure underseas in an advanced city ; however they may be trapped for the rest of their lives. Prisoners at first, they are now treated as guests to view the underwater world and to hunt under the waves. Nemo will also tells them about the riveting underwater city of the future .

Silly but agreeable adventure with action , thrills , love story , full of fun and amusement , including some spectacular sets . Surprise-filled entertainment and with plenty of action on middling scale with acceptable though Naif special effects and some submarines by maquette or scale model . The underwater scenes , pyrotechnics, flood , flamboyant FX to make large-size Squid seem like horrible monster , all of them are spectacular and the film is another acceptable British product . Edge-of-the seat thrilling scenes as when happens an exciting pursuit among two submarines : Nautilus 1 and Nautilus 2 . Director James Hill renewed his acquaintance for little boys with this enjoyable and amusing movie . Our heroes incarnated by a throughly believable casting of the first-rate character players get stuck in the underwater city and Nautilus , undergoing numerous adventures and suffering innumerable perils . Memorable and great cast as Robert Ryan , Chuck Connors as a senator , both of whom have to grit their teeth and play it for real . English's Kenneth Connor and Bill Fraser provide light and brief relief and some laughters as a couple of not-too-intelligent greedy men . They were a pair who worked as a comical duo in various films . Gaudy camera work by excellent cameraman Alan Hume , the cinematography results to be clear and glimmer . Atmospheric and vivid score by Walter Stott .

The motion picture made at Metro Goldwyn Mayer British studios was middling directed by James Hill . He was an expert on children films and serials for showing at schoolboy cinema . Hill designed his acquaintance with amusements for the young generation and costume adventures blending with Lions (Born free , The lions are free , The lion at world's end) , Horses (Black Beauty) , Foxes (The Belstone Fox) , Elephants ( An Elephant called Slowly) and sea animals as Sharks and Squid like this ¨Captain Nemo and underwater city¨. ¨Born Free¨ remains his triumph in which the way the protagonists romp with three lionesses who play Elsa at several stages of growth is near-miraculous . Forever in search of a similar movie to equal this hit , he never quite found it . James Hill best movie turned out to be ¨Studio in terror¨ a Sherlock versus Jack Ripper terror thriller with lurid killings . Other films dealing with Jules Verne's Captain Nemo and his Nautilus are the following : the vintage story are an old mute (1916) by Stuart Paton . The classic movie marvelously directed by Richard Fleischer starred by Kirk Douglas , James Mason , Peter Lorre , Paul Lukas . And for TV directed by Rod Hardy with Michael Caine , Mia Sara and Patrick Dempsey ; and directed by Michael Anderson with Ben Cross and Richard Crenna ; furthermore a cartoon movie directed by Arthur Rankin. The motion picture will appeal to fantasy-adventure buffs and it's a wonderful popcorn story . Rating : 5, 5 . Acceptable and passable .