Master of the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea World
The 1961 film Master of the World is based on two Jules Verne books, Robur the Conqueror and Master of the World. The only actors in this movie with whom I was familiar were Vincent Price and Charles Bronson. The movie takes two characters from the first book, replaces one with a character with the same name as in the second book, and adds the obligatory beautiful young woman, whose presence actually contributes a lot to the movie.
In both the books and the movie, these characters are captured by Robur, a brilliant fanatical inventor, that is four people together in the case of the movie. In the books, it seems Robur is merely demonstrating the superiority of a flying machine he has invented, rivaling one promoted by two of the men he has kidnapped. The movie is similar in that respect, with two of the people he abducts being balloonists, but very quickly steals plot elements from the more well known Verne novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, filmed with great success and to great acclaim by Disney in 1954, or rather, the movie is more like the movie based on the novel. Both stories are set in 1868. In the movie version of Master of the World, Robur is practically a copy of Captain Nemo, determined to force the world to be non-violent no matter how many people he has to kill. He bombs an American warship and a whole fleet of British ships, soldiers fighting a battle, and schemes to continue this pattern, while his unwilling passengers try to prevent as much carnage as possible while plotting escape and engaging in some discord and treachery among themselves.
The plot is so similar to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea as to amount to a ripoff, and an inferior one at that. For one, the budget was obviously much lower for Master of the World than for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which won the Special Effects Oscar. The airship is clearly a low tech although kind of cool looking model, while the Nautilus in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is sure as hell not a model. Most troubling are the combination shots. Footage is ripped off from other films including Henry V, depicting an aerial view of London prominently featuring the Globe Theater. The Globe Theater was demolished in 1644 and not rebuilt until 1997 so presumably did not exist in 1868. Also when something is superimposed or back projected often one part of the picture is out of focus, just very badly done.
As for the characters, there is not much to like. The young woman is the most likable. Her father is just plain annoying. Her fiancé shows himself to be not the fine young man he first appears, and the Charles Bronson character proves himself more noble. The captain, Robur, is of course quite mad, but Vincent Price makes him by far the most watchable. He plays the part wearing false eyebrows which make him look even more devious, deranged, and devilish. He is absolutely magnificent. Okay, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is unquestionably the better movie, but it doesn’t have the great VINCENT PRICE! His performance alone makes it well worth watching and Charles Bronson in a tight shirt isn’t so bad either.
Is it suitable for kids? The above-mentioned carnage is not graphic, but it does occur. I would say it is an exciting movie which should hold kids’ attention assuming they have any. Recommended for maybe age 8 and up.