Category: Underwater
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The Mystery of the Eternal Night
A Russian scientist has three months to live after falling victim for strange radiation from the bottom of the sea in this maritime 1956 Soviet SF. For friends of low-key hard SF, this sympathetic submarine effort is well worth a watch. 7/10
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The Mystery of Two Oceans
Jules Verne meets James Bond in this 1957 Soviet spy-fi film. The two-part colour movie concerns the hunt for spy aboard a Russian super-submarine. It’s not bad, but at 145 minutes it’s simply too long and sluggish for its own good. 5/10
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The Creature Walks Among Us
The third and final Gill-man film from 1956 toys with interesting fish-out-of-water themes. Despite competent direction and good acting, the low budget and aimless script fail to give this movie buoyance. 5/10
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20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
a star cast, this 1954 Disney blockbuster is regularly seen as the best Jules Verne adaptation of all time. Shot in majestic Technicolor, it is a magnificent adventure film with groundbreaking special effects, despite a so-so script. 8/10
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Monster from the Ocean Floor
The film that kickstarted B-movie legend Roger Corman’s career in 1954 is a surprisingly well-made no-budget schlocker about a young woman investigating claims of a sea monster off the coast of Mexico. 5/10
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Creature from the Black Lagoon
Universal’s 1954 aquatic take on King Kong inspired an entire subgenre. Jack Arnold superbly directs this atmospheric story of an Amazon expedition in search of a prehistoric monster merman. But the clichéd script is the real missing link here. 7/10
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Tainstvennyy ostrov
The most accurate adaptation of Jules Verne’s novel Mysterious Island that has ever been put on screen was made in Soviet Ukraine in 1941. This doesn’t necessarily work in the film’s favour, as it is rather talky and static. Look out for Robert Ross, long-time leader of the African American…
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Undersea Kingdom
Inspired by Flash Gordon and The Phantom Empire, the young Republic Studios launched their own sci-fi serial in 1936, and the result was an action-packed, but rather brainless concoction. Occasional good design and an energetic Crash Corrigan can’t save this badly scripted Atlantis-themed hodgepodge. 3/10
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Gold
This smart, well filmed and very successful 1934 film marked the beginning of the end for German science fiction before the Nazis banned the genre. Best remembered for its impressive futuristic sets and superb effects, this film is on the talkier side. It’s secret weapons are German superstars Hans Albers…
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20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗ (5/10) The first actual adaptation of Jules Verne’s classic novel is in fact two novels in one. This American 1916 film has impressive early underwater photography and great props and sets, but unfortunately they don’t make up for a messy script that tries too hard break out of the…
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The Extraordinary Adventures of Saturnino Farandola
∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗ (7/10) A milestone between two cinematic eras, Marcel Perez’ 1913 adventure epic is a loving pastiche on Jules Verne and George Méliès. Based on Albert Robida’s novel, it anticipates the retro-futuristic work of Karel Zeman and Terry Gilliam. A forerunner in feminism, but problematic in its laissez-faire racism, it…
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The Automatic Motorist
∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗ (4/10) In 1911 British film pioneer Walter R. Booth updated his five years old film The ‘?’ Motorist with better effects, more outer space madness and a robot. Technically brilliant, the six minute short still feels anachronistic in an age where feature films were making their entrance. The Automatic…
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The Aerial Submarine
∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗ (4/10) A man and his daughter are kidnapped by pirates in a flying submarine in this 1910 British action adventure. Walter R. Booth’s story is too ambitious for its budget, and even a great cinema pioneer like he can’t work miracles with plywood and cardboard. The Aerial Submarine. 1910,…