Plot
In an alternate Victorian Age world, a group of famous contemporary fantasy, SF and adventure characters team up on a secret mission.

Release Year: 2003

Rating: 5.5/10 (71,021 voted)

Critic's Score: 30/100

Director: Stephen Norrington

Stars: Sean Connery, Stuart Townsend, Peta Wilson

Storyline
Renowned adventurer Allan Quatermain leads a team of extraordinary figures with legendary powers to battle the technological terror of a madman known as "The Fantom." This "League" comprises seafarer/inventor Captain Nemo, vampiress Mina Harker, an invisible man named Rodney Skinner, American secret service agent Tom Sawyer, the ageless and invincible Dorian Gray, and the dangerous split personality of Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde.

Writers: Alan Moore, Kevin O'Neill

Cast:
Sean Connery - Allan Quatermain
Naseeruddin Shah - Captain Nemo
Peta Wilson - Mina Harker
Tony Curran - Rodney Skinner (The Invisible Man)
Stuart Townsend - Dorian Gray
Shane West - Tom Sawyer
Jason Flemyng - Dr. Henry Jekyll / Edward Hyde
Richard Roxburgh - M
Max Ryan - Dante
Tom Goodman-Hill - Sanderson Reed
David Hemmings - Nigel
Terry O'Neill - Ishmael
Rudolf Pellar - Draper
Robert Willox - Constable Dunning
Robert Orr - Running Officer

Taglines: This summer, Join the League.

Official Website: Official page [Germany] | Official site |

Release Date: 11 July 2003

Filming Locations: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Box Office Details

Budget: $78,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend: $23,075,892 (USA) (13 July 2003) (3002 Screens)

Gross: $175,465,204 (Worldwide) (31 December 2003)

Runtime: 110 min

Trivia:
A scene was cut from the film where Tom Sawyer explains that he and his friend, Agent Huck Finn, were tracking down the Fantom, and that the Fantom killed Huck. This is the reason why Sawyer is so intent on getting the Fantom.

Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: During some of the head shots of characters in the scene on the bridge of the Nautilus, the sea behind them is frozen in place; no waves, no light off the water.

Quotes:
[first lines]
Sanderson Reed: [to coachman] Don't... wander... off.

Heavens, it wasn't THAT bad!

Rating: 7/10

I've been reading the comments page in a somewhat bemused fashion. It seems to be divided between people who don't like the movie because it's not enough like the original graphic novel and people who don't like it because they've never heard of half of the characters that are members of the League. The latter seems to me to be an unutterably silly reason for disliking a film. Does nobody read the classics anymore? Nobody reads Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, Robert Louis Stevenson, Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle? I find that difficult to believe. As to the former--not enough like the graphic novel, in other words--just how in the heck can a screenwriter accommodate the dark and twisted visions of Alan Moore in a two-hour Hollywood movie, anyway?

I don't believe that one can compare anything written by Alan Moore to what ends up on the screen being ostensibly "based on the graphic novel". (The same applies to FROM HELL, which is another one most people pan, and one which I think is under-appreciated even though the style is breathtaking. I don't even want to think about the reaction that will ensue once THE WATCHMEN comes out!)

What seems to have been missed by most people is that this movie is about style as opposed to substance. It's based on a graphic novel. That's a fancy way of saying it's based on a comic book. On that level, the film succeeds admirably. The characters are archetypes of their literary forbears. They aren't supposed to be, strictly speaking, human. Of course the plot is grandiose, impractical, and over-the-top. Hello? Aren't most comic books like that? Good heavens, isn't most of STAR WARS?

I don't claim that this is a masterpiece. I do claim that's it's fun to watch if one approaches it with a willing suspension of disbelief. For a couple of bucks shelled out at the DVD rental shop, it takes one to a different world for close to two hours. On that level, it's worth a rental. It's also worth a rental, once one watches the movie, to listen to the commentary from various actors and to realize just how well these so-called "unknowns" do assorted accents that aren't even close to their own. Plus the golfing anecdotes are amusing. (And I don't even like golfing.)

This ain't CASABLANCA. Nor is it TITANIC, for which I eternally thank the gods. (Now, THERE was an overhyped piece of inaccurate trash that pretended to be history, but I digress.) But it's kind of fun, anyway, as long as one doesn't take it too seriously.

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