Film 49/52: Warlords of Atlantis (1978)


Growing up, Doug McClure was a staple of weekday afternoon television thanks to three Amicus Studios fantasy films he starred in based on the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs (The Land That Time Forgot, The People That Time Forgot, and my favorite, At the Earth's Core, in which he starred opposite Peter Cushing and Caroline Munro). I was surprised years later to discover that he did a fourth fantasy film (not for Amicus, and from an original screenplay), Warlords of Atlantis. I've had a copy in the library for years, but after showing Vonna the trailer (which showcases several of the films interesting creatures), we selected this one for our 'W' film.

McClure is the creator of a diving bell helping a scientist and his son interested in finding the lost city of Atlantis. On their first dive, they're attacked by a sea creature, and after a narrow escape they find a golden statue — an artifact of Atlantis. The ship is attacked by a giant octopus, and several of the crew are dragged down to an underwater cavern where they encounter the surviving inhabitants of Atlantis. The Atlanteans, including dancer Cyd Charise (and her featured long legs), aren't the most compelling characters, but thankfully there are more monsters to keep things interesting. 

I was surprised to see John Ratzenberger (Cliff Claven from Cheers) in an early film role, which isn't odd considering just how many films he turns up in, except for the fact that he's actually present throughout the entire film, and not just a bit part as is more frequently the case.

The real stars that make the film worth watching are the creatures. While they are appropriately cheesy for a late 70s fantasy film (though no more so than having Doug McClure as a leading man), they also have a certain charm. My favorite is the sea creature who pops his head into the diving bell, though I think Vonna would give the edge to the giant octopus. 

While not a must-see film by any stretch of the imagination, I think it's fun for audiences that enjoy the similarly themed Burroughs films starring McClure. I'm glad we finally made a point of watching it.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Three Musketeers/The Four Musketeers/Return of the Musketeers (1973/1974/1989)

Image
In a coincidental tribute to Raquel Welch following her passing a few weeks back, over the course of a few nights we watched  The Three Musketeers ,  The  Four Musketeers , and Return of the Musketeers  in The Slaughtered Lamb.  The first two films were shot as a single feature, and subsequently split and released a year apart (much to the chagrin of cast and crew members who were paid for a single film!), with the third film reuniting the cast and director fifteen years later. Produced by the Salkind's (who would go on to produce the original Superman films a few years later), and directed by Richard Lester (who was responsible for the classic Beatles films A Hard Day's Night and Help! ), I will admit that I went in with pretty high expectations. In retrospect, coming from the Salkinds I think I was looking for the tale of the Three Musketeers by way of Richard Donner (director of the original Superman and far too many great films to list here), rather than Richard Lester (
Read more

Magic Mike XXL (2015)

Image
  I'm a fan of Steven Soderbergh (and appreciate the fact that his projects tend to cover a pretty wide spectrum of genres), so we had seen and enjoyed the original Magic Mike on Blu Ray. Having booked tickets to take Vonna to see Magic Mike's Last Dance this weekend, it was only appropriate that we not risk missing out on the subtle story nuances that could be lost on us if we didn't watch the initial sequel, Magic Mike XXL , so we decided to check it out in The Slaughtered Lamb last week. What I didn't realize until the credits rolled was that unlike the first and third films in the series, the second was produced but not directed by Soderbergh himself. Which allows me to give it a bit of a pass for lacking in the story department. What we're served up is basically a road trip movie, with a requisite stop every few minutes for an obligatory stripper scene. Having seen more than enough exploitation films in my life, I can't fault this one for pandering to its
Read more