The best part of watching the 1961 film Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea is seeing the future unfold. As its own piece of pop culture art, it’s hard to say that Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea holds up. Even by the standards of the day, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea has strange pacing issues, is desperate for a true main character, and lacks the kind of dynamic sense of urgency of other 1950s and 1960s adventure or sci-fi films, which is odd, since the fate of the entire world is at stake throughout the story. And yet, 65 years after its release on July 12, 1961, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea is incredible not because of what it is, but what it made.
As the template for a popular and iconic 1964 TV series of the same name, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea was one of the earliest forms of what we now think of as a contemporary sci-fi franchise. But, beyond spawning its own successful (and arguably better) TV reboot, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea is a crucial piece of sci-fi cinema history, with one foot in the past of the genre and an eye toward the future.
