One of the best films i have seen

Good start, but then it gets ruined

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

At the age of 14 I liked Atlantis, The Lost Continent because I had 14 year old tastes at the time it was in theater. George Pal produced a really neat show for juveniles and it came out at a time when Italian studios were turning out dozens of these films based on classical ancient times. Looking at it more than five decades later I can now appreciate the great cast of character players brought in to support a pair of less than charismatic leads. Any film that has John Dall, Edward Platt, Berry Kroeger, Frank DeKova, Jay Novello, and Edgar Stehli should not be missed.Our leads are Anthony Hall as Demetrios a poor but humble Greek fisherman who catches Joyce Taylor a princess from a far away land. She's run away because she doesn't want to marry Dall and considering he's more than a bit off kilter who could blame her. She still insists on royal prerogatives in dealing even with her rescuer.In the end Hall takes his little fishing boat beyond those Pillars of Hercules at the mouth of the Mediterranean and they find Atlantis or Atlantis actually finds them in a metallic submarine that Dall is captaining. After that Hall is taken to the island of Atlantis where Edgar Stehli is the king, Taylor his daughter, Kroeger a mad scientist physician who has created a race of mutants, DeKova the court astrologer and Platt a priest. Each one of these people gets to strut the stuff that we expect from them. Pal gave them all their heads and they run with it. As an adult this is what I love this picture for.Especially Dall working that death ray machine. The man is truly achieving orgasm as he zaps people into non-existence with a phaser like device. The Atlanteans all dress in classical Peplum style, but have made some really far advances.Juveniles will still love it, many adults will too. But as Atlantis falls, didn't someone think to save that submarine. Whoever did would be ruling the planet.

Yes, I also saw this film at age 10--first weekend of June, 1961---and I was thrilled by the brilliant, garish look and lurid content of the film.Clearly, the script needed a significant re-write. For instance, the "Dr. Moreau" element, which provides the most gruesome and disturbing elements of the film, has little point beyond its sensationalism. It would have been far more effective if it were really integrated into the plot and if the demise of Berry Kroeger's slimy character wasn't treated as such a casual throw-away. Poor plotting.I concur with most of the other reviewers: Sal and Joyce Taylor are pretty pathetic leads, Ed "The Chief" Platt manages to maintain his dignity despite the birthday cake headgear, etc, etc, and the pathos and sincerity that Jay Novello brings to his role blows away all of the other acting combined (but John Dall isn't as over-the-top as I remembered him, thankfully).The problem with the film, IMHO, is George Pal's severe lack of effectiveness as a director. Like "Brothers Grimm" and "Dr Lao", the actors have no real sense of poise and intensity, since they seem to have received NO help at all from Pal, other than their basic blocking. As any good actor will tell you, performers NEED a good director's help to achieve their true potential, and George Pal (like Nathan Juran) just didn't have it. Why, for instance, is John Dall such a dynamic screen presence in Joseph Lewis' "Gun Crazy", while here he seems uncomfortable and contrived? When good actors are hampered by lifeless direction, a weak, cliché-ridden script, and dull, non-rhythmic editing, things tend to head downward towards the level of high-school drama club stuff.Not to diminish George Pal's tremendous sense of striking visuals and brilliant flair for bringing the fantastic to life on the screen--but he continually undercuts the potential of his own grandiose, imaginative designs. For example, the terrific shots of the giant crystal being hauled by slaves through the tree-lined forest path are so brief that they barely have time to register; why go through the trouble of building the damn thing and staging that fabulous scene if your'e going to more-or-less toss it off? Sadly, I think George Pal was his own worst enemy when he directed his films. Byron Haskin gave "War of the Worlds" style and pace; "Dr Lao", "Atlantis" and "Brothers Grimm" could have been significantly improved had Pal served as producer and called in a skilled, dynamic director who could have taken Pal's visions and given them true cinematic legitimacy, as opposed to the limp, Saturday kiddie-matinée, cartoony feel that his films now have. Too bad. And, for God's sake, guys---buy a can of spackle and cover up the surgical saw-line on the John Dall skeleton for the big disintegration scene near the end.

I can't remember the last time I saw this film. Maybe when Bob Wilkins was still doing his thing on KTXL in Sacramento? I'm not sure, really. Regardless, it's not one of Pal's better works, but it entertains. I've given some very harsh reviews as of late to stuff that's more technically sound, and those films are far more sleek than Pal's whole hearted effort to bring the mythical ancient world to a then contemporary audience.And that's the thing I like about this movie. It's genuine. Oh sure, maybe there were some rate cards given to a test screen audience or two, but Pal made a solid film regardless. The acting is wooden but passable for the time, the costumes are actually okay, though some of the scene regarding peril of the characters seem somewhat stagey and perhaps erroneous. But for all that, the film has heart.Pal's movie starts off with some propositions for the audience's inner pseudo scientist, and builds on the premise that the lost continent of Atlantis must therefore have existed. We then embark on a drama regarding a young man born on the wrong side of the tracks falling for the uptown girl.The effects are what they are, primitive and unconvincing, but palpable all the same in a 1960s kind of way. Some stock footage from Quo Vadis is incorporated to populate the lost city, so we get a sense of the grandeur of Atlantis. It's a relatively moderately budgeted film, so makeup, props, sets and the rest fit within the scheme of things.Truth be told I've rarely seen this film. In fact I've heard and read about it more than I've actually seen it. But, thanks to the good people at Warner Home Video, I was able to purchase a DVD-R version of this film, and relived some of my earlier years all over again.The other truth about this film is that it's really only meant for a certain segment of the sci-fi audience from the 60's and 50's... maybe the 70's as well.It is vintage sci-fi, so try to view it in that light. Take it for what it is and enjoy it on its own level.

Every since I was a boy, the works of George Pal has always been an inspiration. I can recall as a child, waiting patiently for his TV programs involving his enormously popular Puppet-toons. His films always touch the core of movie fans' imagination with such classics as, 'The Naked Jungle', 'The War of the Worlds' and my all time favorite, 'The Time Machine'. In this film, Pal reaches deep into the human Psyche and selects a fabulous story which originates in the ancient scrolls of Plato. Here a Greek Fisherman, Demetrios (Anthony Hall) nets a strange woman who claims to be from the mythical island of Atlantis. Unable to prevent her, she returns home where the Fisherman becomes a prisoner of the mightiest kingdom of all time. Promising himself, he will yet escape his chains, Demetrios meet Xandros (Jay Novello) an aging slave who made that claim years before. During his stay, he is not only permitted to witness the great wonders of Atlantis, such as a submarine and a powerful solar Laser, but is informed of it's impending doom by a sincere and penitent scientist/priest named Azor (Edward Platt). His stay is precarious and subject to change at the whim of Sonoy the Astrologer (Frank De Kova) and Zaren (John Dall) the chief adviser. The movie is entertaining and enjoyable, if slightly hampered by the personal ideology of the director who injects it into his work. Nevertheless, the films of George Pal, continue to fascinate audiences of all ages. Due to his expertise, this film serves to strengthen our continuous belief in the Legend of Atlantis. ****