Captain Nemo and the Underwater City (1970)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Wonderful Movie

Thanks for the memories!

Best movie of this year hands down!

This is a film that I saw, among many, at a special summer-long 'film festival' for children at my local theater....in 1981. Now, I would have reviewed this title long before today but in all honesty...I had not seen it since then (until this week) and couldn't recall the story or what it was about. Same is true not long after I saw it at the movies.Well, fate has stepped in and I finally bought a (reasonably) priced DVD from Ebay. (Some sellers acting like this is SO rare, it's within their right to charge $50.00 or more.) I watched the film and now I can say this much about it. Special effects, sets and wardrobe & basically making all look appropriate (circa 1969) are first rate here. True, some actresses look 1960s in what is supposed to be the early '1860s' but given this is a fantasy, it doesn't really matter. In Nemo's undersea city, nothing of the world above has much meaning there. Robert Ryan's Nemo is a far cry from the one most know in Disney's "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea". In fact while his views are made clear to us, his Nemo is not as seemingly insane as 'that' Captain Nemo. He's (somehow) with all others under his rule/following, made a paradise for people to (on the one hand) live freely in...but on the other hand, under 'his' laws. I'll say this much, while the swimming pools looked like a lot of fun...was there nothing else fun for these people to do there? The survivors of the shipwreck at the start are saved by him and crew but the only reason the Captain gives for saving them is 'the only other option was to let you drown.' (??) Makes you wonder why he bothered at all, as now he's going to hold them there the rest of their lives, so they can't go home and tell everyone about his Mecca beneath the waves. (Now really...who in 1860-1865 would believe them?) Chuck Conners (TV's "The Rifleman") as Senator Robert Fraser, gives Nemo his honest, gentleman's word that if he let's them all go, his secret is safe. Nemo's jaded trust in his fellow man & politicians will not let him believe this. So as will happen, the plotting starts. The character Lomax wants out the most and makes 2 attempts. His second attempt almost wrecks the place.The brothers Barnaby & Swallow Bath (yes..his name really is 'swallow') make efforts to not only get out but steal a great amount of gold & treasures as well. Conners & the brothers finally come up with an idea to get out. Of course, I'll leave off there, as not to ruin the rest of it. Now, I'll validate my reason for only giving a 4 star rating. The acting. With the minor exception of Robert Ryan's Nemo, which was convincing enough, the rest of the actors, for me, all seem flat. Yes...even Chuck Conners.They give the indications of emotion but overall, I just didn't feel from them, the true urgency of their situation. These people are being held hostage. Which should make them scared and angry at their captor (or should we say kidnapper?). The rest of them could at least try harder to escape. It seems more like, "Well were here now and gee, isn't this an amusing little underwater city?" Bland also (which goes hand in hand with acting) is the direction. The more serious acting needed should have prompted the director to ask more from the actors than what we finally are given here. Only Lomax and the two brothers & Nemo were memorable. Of course, being a G rated film from 1969, I guess it's not surprising. Despite Conners one 'damn' and 3 acts of violence plus 3 characters actually meeting their end, the film while good enough to watch, when you feel like watching a movie ...overall just could have been so much better. Four stars. Not 'all' movies from child-hood are as good as we remember but since I didn't recall much of this for a long time, I recalled it just right. (END)

A Lavish and Ultra-Fanciful Production full of Fantastical Costuming and Gaudy Psychedelic Colored Sets, this Captain Nemo Story is about as Preposterous as could be. Far-Fetched even for the most Goofy of Sci-Fi, it still manages to be Entertaining and is Decidedly Marketed for the Kids.But by 1969 the Kids who were Weaned on Saturday Matinees of this sort in the 50's and 60's and Perhaps the Youngins at the Time of Release were more Sophisticated than this Disney-Like Fluff Piece.It can be Viewed Today with some Camp Appeal but Audiences back in the Day were not having any of it. It Flopped and was Forgotten. Robert Ryan and Chuck Connors were both Miscast but do Their Solemn Best and Play it Perfectly Straight.There is an Abundance of Eye-Candy and the Story Kicks into gear a few times with some Action and Attempts at Adventure. But the Movie is Insufferable sometimes with Awful Comedy Relief and a way Over the Top emphasis on the Lust for Gold.Worth a Watch with the right approach. The Sets and the Silly Costumes seem Inspired by the Flash Gordon Serials and are quite a Surreal Treat. The Monster's Part is Underwritten and is Filmed so Murky it comes off as a bit Lifeless.

Casual viewers could be forgiven for believing that this is an Irwin Allen production even though he had nothing to do with it. It bears a lot of his 1960's hallmarks such as a simplistic approach to story-line, showy-yet-tacky production design, name brand stars and unfunny comic relief. Connors plays a US Senator during The Civil War who is shipwrecked and picked up (along with five others) by Ryan, a gifted, but rather despotic inventor who has created an incredible underwater metropolis. Newman and her young son Hartstone, claustrophobe Cuthbertson and gold-obsessed brothers Fraser and Connor round out the "guests" of Ryan, who soon find that they aren't permitted to leave the underwater city. Ever. Most of the castaways greet this news with despair, but Newman and Hartstone actually discover they like the place. Where else could one enjoy an endless supply of gourmet seafood, live in rooms that are accented with pure gold and swim in the plant and rock accented community pool run by curvy Italian bombshell Paluzzi? Of course there is that pesky giant manta ray that occasionally swipes by for a bite of human flesh! Connors is his usual square-jawed self and, though not particularly well-cast, he does an adequate job. Ryan plays his role with an overdose of dourness, robbing the part of any irony, flair, camp or flavor. Newman is appealing (and even attempts a small bid at women's lib!), but isn't given much to do. Paluzzi (who is given one really ugly ball gown and an even worse hairdo to go with it in one scene) has a crazed musical number in which she opens a box and "plays" a golden stick with leaves on it as the camera attempts to focus on her through the cheesecloth. She and Newman go scuba diving and inexplicably have their hair fully exposed and unrestrained so that it floats everywhere including over their face masks! Fraser and Connor are presented as bumbling idiots and they only cease to be annoying when they finally begin to forgo their pointless buffoonery. Turner appears as Ryan's faithful first officer and has one of the few roles with more than one dimension. The film is packed with bright, colorful, eye-popping imagery along with many goofy costumes and props. Check out those scuba suits with the gold-plated tank holders and the clear "wings" on the shoulders! The alarms in the city have lobster claws on them! Some of the underwater photography is far too murky and under lit to enjoy fully. It isn't a bad time killer and fantasy fans will enjoy some of the model work, gadgetry and hilarious "science". Irwin Allen would actually tackle this material for television a few years later with Jose Ferrar as Nemo. Also, some of the elements seem to have inspired Ross Hunter's dreadful 1973 remake of "Lost Horizon".

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