Captain Nemo and the Underwater City

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.

'Captain Nemo and the Underwater City' is a film about a crew who is shipwrecked and then picked up by Captain Nemo in an underwater city where they must remain and never tell anyone about the underwater city. The film explores the underwater city and the way that the people live here. It's like a utopia, and the underwater life is quite imaginative. I was hoping for a little more scenes about the city and the way that people live here, but the story is taken over by a few of the crew who try to escape with gained knowledge.

The special effects are a little to be desired. In fact, some of the acting itself is also a little laughable. It's got its flaws, and it is one of those films where you can sit back and poke some fun at the characters and events in the film.

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!

Despite having Captain Nemo and the Nautilus, this does not appear to be a sequel or prequel to "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea". Instead, it takes a few story elements and weaves an all-new tale--one where Nemo seems like a pretty cool guy and all the people from the Earth's surface are total jerks! Talk about role reversals!

The film begins during the US Civil War. A ship from America to England is foundering in a storm. Eventually, when it sinks, six of the passengers are rescued by a passing submarine--Nemo and his Nautilus. At first Nemo is very brusque and gloomy, but soon he warms up to the passengers--announcing they are on their way to Nemo's underwater paradise. And the place IS terrific--like Heaven on Earth. Yet despite the people being kind and the city being paradise, most of the rescued people behave like boorish jerks. Two only see ways to exploit the city and cannot appreciate anything of its beauty. One is an angry claustrophobe who tries to destroy the city simply because he will not be allowed to return home since Nemo wants to keep the city a secret. Another is a Senator who is on a diplomatic mission and he insists on completing his mission--even though his country is in the middle of annihilating itself. And the final two are a mother and child who don't seem like total jerks! There is quite a bit to like about this fantasy film. I much prefer seeing a kinder, gentler Nemo and his hopeful vision for the future. Plus for 1969, the special effects and underwater scenes are pretty nice (aside from the silly monster). And, the story and acting are pretty good. My biggest complaint about the film are the characters from the surface. While it is hard to believe that they would not love this wonderful kingdom, the fact that they seem so unreal--like caricatures--that bothered me. Again and again, they were offered kindness and friendship yet they acted horribly--and for little discernible reason. Greed alone did not explain all this, though the film does amply illustrate that humans suck. I which these people had been more complex--it might have made the film a lot more enjoyable. However, despite this, the movie is a nice adventure--well worth seeing.

By the way, at one point in the film, Nemo tells the guests that they are 10,000 leagues under the surface. Judging by the types of fish you see and the few scenes where you can see light from the surface, the city (if it were real) is about 100 feet or less from the surface.

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? :)