When the Great Eastern - the largest ship of the 19th Century and the first to cross the Atlantic - is used to help lay the first transatlantic telephone cable between the US and the UK, Brunel finds himself kidnapped by Captain Nemo of the Nautilus, who wants to know how to destroy the ship before it can connect the two imperialistic countries he hates ... and under attack by Captain Ahab, who has been hired to stop the mysterious creature who keeps destroying the cable on the ocean's bed.