20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Blu-ray (1954)

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

Directed by Richard Fleischer
USA 1954

Just after the end of the American Civil War a terrifying "Sea Monster" is destroying shipping at will, and a military expedition is created to track and kill the beast before more lives are lost. Famed oceanographer Professor Arronax and his assistant Conseil are on board when they are attacked by the creature far out at sea, it races towards them with a howling shriek, glowing eyes, and "breath like a furnace," tearing open their warship and sending it to the bottom with almost all hands. Adrift on the open ocean Arronax, Conseil, and a lone sailor, Ned Land, discover the "monster" at rest, but instead of a living creature they find a fantastical vessel, the Nautilus, its dedicated crew, and its commander, the driven and enigmatic Captain Nemo... now their adventure REALLY begins!

***

As fabulous and fantastic as anything he has ever done in cartoons is Walt Disney's "live action" movie made from Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea." Turned out in CinemaScope and color, it is as broad, fictitiously, as it is long (128 minutes), and should prove a sensation—at least with the kids. For the corps of Disney mechanics that worked on this wild adventure film, which opened yesterday at the Astor, were wholly unrestrained in picturing Verne's old pseudo-science thriller about voyaging in a fanciful submarine; they have climaxed it all with the explosion of what appears to be an atomic energy plant to rival Los Alamos. This familiarly modern contrivance has been worked into the nineteenth century yarn as the secret base of operations of Captain Nemo, the misanthropic genius who commands the submarine.

Excerpt from the NYTimes located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: June 29th,1954 (Berlin International Film Festival)

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Review: Disney - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Box Cover		CLICK to order from: Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Disney - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime	2:07:01.947
Video	2.55:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 36,280,380,186 bytes Feature: 35,978,035,200 bytes Video Bitrate: 33.00 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Audio	DTS-HD Master Audio English 2843 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 2843 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit / DN -4dB)
Subtitles	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Disney 2.55:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 36,280,380,186 bytes Feature: 35,978,035,200 bytes Video Bitrate: 33.00 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • None Blu-ray Release Date: July 2019 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 12

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Disney Blu-ray (March 2021): Disney transferred Richard Fleischer's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea to Blu-ray. in an "Anniversary Edition" celebrating its 65th year back in 2019. Both made in Technicolor and 2.55:1 Cinemascope this Disney Blu-ray is... handsome to say the least. The image leans a shade blue and looks like it may be slightly vertically squished (CinemaScope 'mumps' ?) but the source is in excellent shape and the resulting image, on a dual-layered disc with a very high bitrate, looks just scrumptious on my system. Colors are rich and deep, grain is consistent and contrast superb. Fans will love this HD appearance.

NOTE: We have added 74 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Disney use a DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround track (24-bit) in the original English language. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea actually had a 4-track stereo theatrically. There are sea-faring-related audio effects that get some deft separation and a score by Paul J. Smith (many Disney Features are cartoons including Pinocchio and later the Leave it to Beaver TV series.) Disney offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Disney Blu-ray offers no extras at all - which is surprising as there are some for this film including an audio commentary with director Richard Fleischer and Rudy Behlmer that didn't get ported over from the DVD. What a shame.

Richard Fleischer's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a gem of the genre. We continue to fill out our 50's and 60's sci-fi listing page and this gets notation. It's a wonderful boyhood favorite with a stellar cast; Kirk Douglas, James Mason, Paul Lukas, Peter Lorre and almost no icky girls. The bare-bones Disney Blu-ray will appeal for nostalgic value and its strong a/v transfer. The only trouble is that it's rare and pretty pricey. Hopefully an edition - with and equally desirable transfer and bountiful extras - will surface soon.