The 1916 film version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a landmark of silent cinema. It's the first feature-length adaptation of Jules Verne and features groundbreaking special effects never before seen in a feature film, credentials enough for the National Film Preservation Board to add it to the National Film Registry. But don't come to the film expecting a faithful adaptation of the novel, or for that matter a particularly thrilling cinematic experience. Director Stuart Paton is true to the cultural identity of the East Indian Captain Nemo (Allen Holubar, made up in blackface), an element ignored in subsequent adaptations, but mixes his story with material involving Civil War soldiers drawn from Verne—The Mysterious Island—and adds an entirely original backstory for Nemo that could have come from an exotic melodrama. Along with the Nautilus, the fantastical submarine that Nemo uses to ram ships on the high seas, and the rescue of Professor Aronnax (Dan Hanlon) and his daughter (Edna Pendleton), there is an escape by hot air balloon, a "Child of Nature" jungle girl (Jane Gail), and a mercenary American businessman whose betrayals and abuses become intertwined with Nemo's story. The cinematography is often lovely and the performances generally understated, but the storytelling is clumsy and confusing, with numerous story threads and seemingly unconnected characters that finally come together in the end, and it relies on text-heavy explanatory intertitles. What makes the film so groundbreaking is the impressive visualization of the Nautilus, which indeed resembles a sea monster when spotted by passing ships, and the "under-the-sea" photography by Ernest and George Williamson. The opening credits proclaims it "The First Submarine Photoplay Ever Filmed" and it includes extended underwater scenes, including an underwater funeral with men in diving suits and a battle with a giant squid (both scenes recreated in the impressive 1954 adaptation produced by Walt Disney). These scenes were shot in shallow waters of the Bahamas (to provide enough light) using a system of watertight tubes and mirrors to photograph reflected images on cameras above the waterline. The production was so expensive that it was unable to turn a profit, which halted similar special effect spectacles for years, making this production all the more impressive for its era. Long available in substandard editions only, the film was recently restored by Universal Pictures in a new 4K edition for Blu-ray release and presented by Kino with an orchestral score by Orland Perez Rosso. Also features informative audio commentary by film historian Anthony Slide. Previous DVD editions are not restored and generally of poor quality. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)