# 20000 Leagues under the Sea Movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 30, 2003, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20000-leagues-under-the-sea-movie/198572 "2003-08-30T04:20:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2003, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20000-leagues-under-the-sea-movie/198572/1 "2003-08-30T04:20:05Z")
I was watching this and at one point, captain nemo takes the Professor the Rura Pente, “The White Man’s Grave”. The professor says he thought it had been abolished and Nemo replies that “Nothing is abolished that brings a profit to that “Hated Nation””. Exactly what does he mean by “Hated Nation”? I don’t remember that part in the book, so it doesen’t help. ---
**Author:** ![jaclynhyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b3f665/32.png) [@jaclynhyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaclynhyde)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2003, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20000-leagues-under-the-sea-movie/198572/2 "2003-08-30T05:01:51Z")
In _The Mysterious Island_ , the semi-sequel to _20,000 Leagues_, Nemo is revealed to be an Indian prince with a hatred of the British; this is only hinted at in the original book. In the movie, as Nemo is obviously not Indian, the identity of the “hated nation” is deliberately kept vague. Hope this helps! -Jackie ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2003, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20000-leagues-under-the-sea-movie/198572/3 "2003-08-30T05:12:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by fearlesswinecask \* > \*\*In _The Mysterious Island_ , the semi-sequel to _20,000 Leagues_, Nemo is revealed to be an Indian prince with a hatred of the British; this is only hinted at in the original book. In the movie, as Nemo is obviously not Indian, the identity of the “hated nation” is deliberately kept vague. Hope this helps! > > -Jackie \*\* I guessed as much, but in the movie, he looks(and sounds) British, so it’s a lot harder to guess. Also, just realized something. Does anyone else think it’s very strange that Captain Nemo can design a Nuclear-powered submarine in the 19th century, but can’t design a decent watertight door(they have windows, for chrissakes!) for said sub? ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2003, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20000-leagues-under-the-sea-movie/198572/4 "2003-08-30T08:01:55Z")
I seem to recall that Verne had originally intended Nemo to be a Polish nobleman, with a grudge against Russia. However, a changing political climate in France forced Verne to delete the anti-Russian sentiment from the book. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2003, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20000-leagues-under-the-sea-movie/198572/5 "2003-08-30T14:46:03Z")
while it takes Capt Nemo in an entirely different direction, anyone enjoy the Michael Caine performance as much as I did on the ABC version a few years back (I didn’t see the NBC one done a few months before)? ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2003, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20000-leagues-under-the-sea-movie/198572/6 "2003-08-30T18:31:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by FriarTed \* > \*\*while it takes Capt Nemo in an entirely different direction, anyone enjoy the Michael Caine performance as much as I did on the ABC version a few years back (I didn’t see the NBC one done a few months before)? \*\* I saw one version. It had Richard Crenna as the Professor and a girl playing the professor’s daughter as the (Gag) Love interest. It was pretty bad, but I wasn’t sure what version it was. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2003, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20000-leagues-under-the-sea-movie/198572/7 "2003-08-30T19:20:02Z")
Getting a little further off topic but did anyone see the parody of this on “Saturday Night Live” a few years ago? Kelsey Grammer was Nemo (James Mason’s role), Phil Hartman - Kirk Douglas’ role and Rob Schneider - Peter Lorre’s role. All three had dead-on impersonations. The running joke was “You’ve gone 20,000 leagues under the sea? Wow that’s deep !!” And Nemo politely replied “No, I have travelled a _distance_ of 20,000 leagues under the sea.” “Wow that’s deep !!” And so on - it was funny. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2003, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20000-leagues-under-the-sea-movie/198572/8 "2003-08-30T20:11:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by wolf\_meister \* > \*\*Getting a little further off topic but did anyone see the parody of this on “Saturday Night Live” a few years ago? > Kelsey Grammer was Nemo (James Mason’s role), Phil Hartman - Kirk Douglas’ role and Rob Schneider - Peter Lorre’s role. > > All three had dead-on impersonations. The running joke was “You’ve gone 20,000 leagues under the sea? Wow that’s deep !!” > And Nemo politely replied “No, I have travelled a _distance_ of 20,000 leagues under the sea.” > “Wow that’s deep !!” And so on - it was funny. \*\* I loved that skit. Particulary the part when Nemo is being dragged under by the Giant Squid and Ned says “That thing must be 20,000 Leagues long!” and Nemo, despite the fact he’s about to die, goes “Yes! You got it! That’s right. League is a unit of length!” I’ve got to get that on tape someday. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2003, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20000-leagues-under-the-sea-movie/198572/9 "2003-08-30T21:32:17Z")
Yes HPL that was a good one. I also think that right before ‘Nemo’ dies he says “quick hand me a spear”, which he then uses (out of sheer frustration) to pound Phil Hartman . ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20000-leagues-under-the-sea-movie/198572/10 "2003-08-31T00:31:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by HPL \* > \*\*I guessed as much, but in the movie, he looks(and sounds) British, so it’s a lot harder to guess. > > Also, just realized something. Does anyone else think it’s very strange that Captain Nemo can design a Nuclear-powered submarine in the 19th century, but can’t design a decent watertight door(they have windows, for chrissakes!) for said sub? \*\* Thats why I have always liked it , while I never seen any indication that the nautilus used a nuke for power, it does not take an overly suspension of disbelief either. This in many ways could have been the very first of the steampunk novels , all verne would have had to do was mention some form of radical explanation of power generation that sounds like tesla coils. As for the watertight doors , this is a novel written in the latter part of the 18th century , stuff like the watertight doors would not have been general knowledge till world war one, when U-boats sailed the waters. I personally think he got a lot of things right , for his time. Declan ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20000-leagues-under-the-sea-movie/198572/11 "2003-08-31T05:07:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Declan \* > \*\*Thats why I have always liked it , while I never seen any indication that the nautilus used a nuke for power, it does not take an overly suspension of disbelief either. > \*\* They never say so, though I think that’s the implication, particulary by the HUGE explosions of the island at the end. Remember, the Film was made in the 1950’s-1960’s, when Nuclear Power was a big thing. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Declan \* > \*\* > As for the watertight doors , this is a novel written in the latter part of the 18th century , stuff like the watertight doors would not have been general knowledge till world war one, when U-boats sailed the waters. > > \*\* True, but the Novel never says anything about them. The people made the movie would know about Watertight doors, just like they knew about nuclear power and took some liberties the story to imply it. Besides, Nemo seemed to know what he was doing when he designed and built the sub(Batteries powered by seawater), so the lack of truley watertight doors makes no sense. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20000-leagues-under-the-sea-movie/198572/12 "2003-08-31T07:17:44Z")
Unless…Nemo found discovered an advanced, futuristic technique for building workable watertight doors _with_ windows! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20000-leagues-under-the-sea-movie/198572/13 "2003-08-31T07:38:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ranchoth \* > \*\*Unless…Nemo found discovered an advanced, futuristic technique for building workable watertight doors _with_ windows! 😃 \*\* He didn’t in the movie. At least one of those doors were leaking like crazy right after the sub is shelled by the warship(and just prior to the giant squid attacK). That’s not what I consider “Watertight”.