Absolutely the worst movie.

A Masterpiece!

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Sadly even the combined great talents of Jeffrey Combs, Michelle Bauer, Sybil Dannng, and yes, even Robby the Robot cant save this boring little film about a small group of people finding a 'lost world' in a cave while searching for diamonds. It kills me because I love the films Fred Olen Ray did in the '80's. For the most part they were just low-budget cheesy goodness that put a smile upon my face. (Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers is SOOO good). But this film just didn't do anything for me & even though he'd make a last gasp with the enjoyable "Scream Queen Hot Tub Party" and extremely fun "Wizards of the Demon Sword", the decades after wouldn't be nearly as kind to him movie-writing wise.My Grade: D Retro-media DVD Extras: Commentary by Fred Olen Ray & Gary Graver; Nite Owl Theater (basically just an intro by Fred); 24 minute documentary; 10 minutes of behind the scenes footage; 3 minutes of alternate takes for TV; Stills gallery; & unused artwork Eye Candy: Michelle Bauer & Tricia Burns both get topless while catfighting (There's also 3 topless girls in the Nite Owl Theater special feature)

I am a big fan of Fred Olen Ray and I regret to say that Phantom Empire is not his best work. I'm not sure if we wasn't feeling well, didn't care for the project or if all the blame rest squarely on the shoulders of the writer but this movie is flawed big time. There is serious character and story issues. The alien queen is a real bitch and all the actors seemed phoned in their performances. The cave mutants are somewhat lame, considering it was 1986 I think they could have done better. I real don't want to be insulting, but this was more Don Dohler then Fred Olen Ray but there was enough interesting points to keep it from failing. So a mild and unimpressed 4 STARS.

Fred Olen Ray is a cool dude. He's made over 100 movies, but this was made somewhat early on in his career. This film is a throwback to 1950's Z-grade monster cheapies, with a bit of 1930's serials thrown in as well. Yes, this film is beyond low budget. This is one of those flicks where they schlep a camera up to Bronson Canyon, and spend most of the movie running back and forth down the same cave. Also we get a side trip to Vasquez Rocks, which should be very familiar to fans of old sci-fi or old B-Westerns. The plot: is that really important? Just know we've a got a bad Indiana Jones rip-off played by Robert Quarry, his hard-drinking female second, a half-naked mute cave girl, the guy from "Reanimator", Sybil Danning as the "Alien Queen", and Robby the Robot shows up, amongst other foolishness I can't even remember.If you get the DVD, listen to Fred's commentary track, which is invaluable for film fanatics and aspiring indie filmmakers. Fred records great commentaries, filled with hilarious anecdotes about the world of zero-budget filmdom. This is no exception. So, on that basis, I give the movie a 5 out of 10. But I realize that most film goers don't share the love of low-budget sci-fi films that I do, so buy with caution.

Scientists discover an underground lost world populated by cavemen and dinosaurs. There's a novelty. There must be more 'lost worlds' on this planet than there are 'found worlds'.I only saw this film to see the dinosaur footage blatantly lifted from a never-seen dinosaur movie called 'Planet of the Dinosaurs', but a few minutes of a Tyrannosaur fighting the Beast from 20,000 Fathoms don't justify a film. 'Phantom Empire' might provide short-term entertainment to some, but it's just a waste of time, an insult to superior films of this genre. Most of the effects (aside from the footage) are dreadful, the only halfway decent one being Robbie the Robot from 'Forbidden Planet' with a different head. The characters are sci-fi cliches and are mostly obnoxious, the 'Alien Queen' and her scantily-clad minions are the nadir of low-budget exploitation twaddle.If you're some sexually-frustrated individual then I'm sure this will seem like pennies from heaven. Personally I'm thinking of writing to the producers demanding compensation for the hour-and-a-half of my life I wasted watching this cobblers.