Truly unique and stunning film of Jules Verne's "For The Flag" by the Czech master director Karel Zeman.Although the story is enacted in a rather understated late Victorian style, the visuals are a knockout. Zeman uses animation, graphics, painted sets, model animation combined with live action to create the atmosphere of Verne that the reader associates in his mind. The style resembles the steel engravings of Dore and Bennet and Riou that illustrated these stories with a healthy dose of Georges Melies added.Photographed in beautiful black and white the animation is of the highest order and not of a Saturday morning variety. There are underwater sequences where the fishes swimming about are so accurately drawn they can be used in a field guide.There are images of ships ,submarines, flying craft, castles,and machinery that are drawn in such accurate detail that one must have a freeze frame on his VCR or DVD to pause the scene and study the remarkable detail that went into this production.The late Victorian atmosphere is designed to look like this world that never was and delight us in the magic of science that made Verne the great father of the genre. If this is not enough, there also is the film score that probably is one of the best ever created for a fantasy or sci-fi film.Truly a forgotten classic, this one is worth hunting down and buying. Always one of my favorite films of all times, it is sure to be one of yours too. And remember- this was done decades before CGI or computer animation. Kudos to the great artists who obviously put their heart into it. It shows. Jules Verne himself would be proud of this movie.A film that deserves to be better known, but those who have seen it love it-and treasure it. An outstanding achievement , this remarkable film just gets better every time you watch it. A true cinematic work of art from a visionary director.

Evil rich guy Artigas concocts a wicked plot to use a super explosive device to conquer the world from his headquarters inside a volcano.

Director/co-writer Karel Zeiman relates the hugely enjoyable story at a fitful pace and maintains a winningly sincere tone throughout while also presenting a wondrous wealth of eye-popping imaginative imagery that includes assorted exotic sea life, air ships, submarines, and even an underwater city. Moreover, the dazzling stylized look gives this picture the aura of a vividly realized dream come true while the practical f/x possess a lovely hands-on homemade charm. A true delight.

From the Czech Republic comes 1958's "The Fabulous World of Jules Verne" (Vynalez Zkazy or Invention of Destruction),Joseph E. Levine's stateside release of director Karel Zeman's stylized realization of the 19th century author's many works, earning instant acclaim at Expo 58 in Brussels, winning the Grand Prix at the International Film Festival. Though no box office success in the US it was universally heralded by critics, Verne's 1896 novel "Facing the Flag" merely the starting point for a visual feast requiring almost no dialogue, presented in the Victorian style of line engravings used to illustrate his ideas to current readers, filmed with a mixture of stop motion and live action, often done in camera. The actual story is easy to follow and faithfully recreates several fictional characters treated as real people, from Robur the Conqueror (played by Vincent Price in "Master of the World"),Victor Barbicane (played by Joseph Cotten in "From the Earth to the Moon"),and the ever popular Captain Nemo, portrayed in multiple films by such fabled actors as Lionel Barrymore, Herbert Lom, and James Mason. Submarines appear with flippers, airships fly under man made pedal power, a squid oozes black ink when injured, virtually half the pictures taking place beneath the waves as a multitude of fish swim by. The narrator reveals himself as the knowing assistant to a scientist researching a new explosive used for evil purposes by a group of pirates, their secret island hideaway inside a dormant volcano whose only entrance is an underwater tunnel. Quaint in its time but relatively undated for that very reason, this entry continues to fascinate unsuspecting viewers lucky enough to encounter it.