Les 7 cités d'Atlantis

Searching for treasures , a scientific , his son (Peter Gilmore) and Greg Collinson (Doug McClure) are double-crossed by their crew (John Ratzenberger : Cheers , among others) . Then , they're into a diving bell when are attacked by a sea monster and the sailors are dragged by a giant octopus . Later on , the ship-wrecked crew find inhabitants of the lost world of Atlantis , the lost continent written by Platon . It's governed by an alien race (Michael Gothard , Daniel Massey and Cyd Charisse) from Mars which wish to rule the human beings and the creation a totalitarian state . An incredible tale of terror and suspense...above and below the sea. From the depth of space they came to vanish beneath the sea...

This fantasy picture packs thrills , action , weird monsters , lively pace and fantastic scenarios . The monsters are the real stars of this production and its chief attribute . The tale is silly and laughable but the effects and action are quite well . Among the most spectacular of its visuals there are deeply shrouded caverns filled with monsters roaring menacingly towards the camera , the attack of a giant lizard on a fortress , and the futuristic backgrounds of Atlantis . Some illogical parts in the plot are more than compensated for the excitement provided by Roger Dicken's monsters , though sometimes result to be a little bit cheesy . Filmed in glimmer and colorful cinematography by expert cameraman Alan Hume on location in Malta and Pinewood studios , England . Evocative and stirring musical score by Vickers . This is the fourth collaboration between producer John Dark and director Kevin Connor who also made in similar style : ¨The land that time forgot (1975)¨, ¨All the Earth's core (1976)¨, ¨The people that time forgot (1977)¨, mostly starred by Doug McClure and with the craftsman Roger Dicken as the monster-maker . The film will appeal to kiddies who swallow whole and sit convulsed in their armchair.

Altantis is found.

This movie begins so well in the first 30 minutes or so (the diving bell under attack, the octopus attacks the ship) but once we get to Atlantis the film becomes less pleasing.

The diving bell footage will bring back memories or Irwin Allen's Voyage to the Botttom of the Sea series and the full-scale octopus all over the ship would have to go down as one of the best filmed moments of 1970s sci-fi cinema.

On top of the first 30 minutes, is a rich and lavish music score that brings the whole thing to life.

But as I said above, the quality is not maintained and you almost get the feeling that another less experienced director took over the flick once they all get to Atlantis. Too bad.

In 1973, British director Kevin Connor made the tidy and undervalued horror film, From Beyond the Grave with Peter Cushing. But it was the film that he made in 1975 that would signal the start of four Z grade creature features that would make him known to the discerning creature feature fan. That film was The Land That Time Forgot, where he was paired with American beefcake actor Doug McClure, and the marker that culminated with Warlords of Atlantis in 1978 was well and truly set.

Here with this, in terms of fun arguably the second best film of the four after At The Earths Core, Connor and screenplay writer Brian Hayles send McClure, Peter Gilmore and a few rough neck sailor types under the ocean, to where the lost cities of Atlantis be. All of which is a plot perfectly designed to create monster mayhem and meetings with an unknown race that speak perfect English! Into the fray comes giant octopus, various reptilian sea monsters, The Mogdaan, Zaargs and an attack by flying piranha critters. Sure the effects are up and down, even shoddy and befitting the Z grade budget, but oh what fun it is.

The cast also contains John Ratzenberger, who would go on to be a household name playing Cliff Clavin in the long running show, Cheers. Another notable name on the cast list is Cyd Charisse who earlier in her career had appeared in Singing In The Rain and Brigadoon. But it's McClure who is always the main attraction in these pictures. Obviously brought in to keep the American audience in mind, it's somewhat inspiring watching Dougie manfully work thru the movie as if it's a masterpiece of the genre. That none of the Connor/McClure collaborations are genre high points is irrelevant, no amount of dopey effects and string assisted creatures can detract from the fact that ridiculous can sometimes be hugely entertaining. And that is exactly what Warlords Of Atlantis is. Now, where did I put my jar of pickles ? 7/10

Currently MGM has released The Land that Time forgot, and The People that Time Forgot, on one of their Midnight Movies Double Feature DVD's. I have purchased this DVD and have enjoyed it immensely.

The films are based on the classic writings of Edgar Rice Burroughs. And while the dinosaurs look fake by today's standards, the stories and characters are really enjoyable. Most of the other miniature work is also impressive for this time period.

Hopefully they will release the other two movies in this series, At the Earth's Core, and Warlords of Atlantis, on another Midnight Movies Double Feature DVD. I would be very interested in purchasing it.

"Harrihausen stop-motion animation in all its choppy glory". Where? I didn't see any, it all looked like sock puppets, guys in rubber suits and wood and canvass models to me, standard Amicus/Rice-Boroughs effects. If they had have used stop-motion the effects would have been a lot better, take the Empire Strikes Back made three years later or the Golden Voyage of Sinbad made four years earlier. Please, please don't say the effects were good for the Seventies, because in all fairness King Kong which was made 45 years earlier has better effects and there currently appears to be a trend to excuse anything made before the advent of CGI as "Good effects for their day". As if Spielberg would have used guys in suits a la Godzilla to make Jurassic Park if CGI hadn't have been around in 1992! It's a fun film, however, and very enjoyable, I liked it as a kid and like all the Amicus/Rice-Boroughs films I try to see them when they're on.