Latitude Zero (1970)

How sad is this?

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

This is one of the finest of the non-Godzilla epics by Ishiro Honda and Toho. It definitely has all the elements that make for a great film great story, great action and an interesting twist at the end. What really stands out is the fact that Honda pretty much took a near impossible situation in working with several American actors who didn't speak Japanese and was able to do a decent job in directing them. However, the thing that really was interesting about this film was the fact that this film marks what probably is the first and only time that Akira Takarada and the late, great Akihiko Hirata are heard speaking English with their own voices after years of being dubbed. This film is definitely one of the finest to come from Toho.

This is a bigger budgeted film than usual for genre director Honda (with more evidently elaborate sets) – though the special effects still have that distinctive cheesiness to them (witness the giant bats and rodents on display). It also utilizes a surprising number of American actors: Joseph Cotten playing the visionary scientist looks ill-at-ease and frail (but, then, his character is supposed to be 204 years old!), an innocuous Richard Jaeckel is the photographer hero while, as chief villains, we get Cesar Romero and Patricia Medina (both essentially campy). As I've often said, I grew up watching English-language films dubbed in Italian…but hearing Hollywood actors in Japanese is another thing entirely! LATITUDE ZERO feels like a juvenile version of a typical Jules Verne adventure, and is fairly entertaining on that level; indeed, it's preferable to Honda's low-brow variations on the monsters-on-the-rampage formula because of the inherent quaint charm of the set-up in this case. The plot involves the kidnapping of a famous scientist by Romero – he was intended to establish himself in the underwater, technologically advanced city devised by Cotten (to which the world's foremost minds are being recruited). We're treated to plenty of silly battles between the rival subs, but the most amusing scenes are certainly the raid on Romero's cave – in fact, Cotten doing somersaults and fending off men in rubber suits (via flames and laser emitted from his glove!) must surely count as the nadir of his acting career; the other elder in the cast, Romero, is more in his element – after all, he had been The Joker in the BATMAN TV series and movie of the 1960s! Cotten has a scantily-clad blonde physician on his team, and is assisted by a hulking Asian; Romero, on the other hand, is flanked by an Oriental femme fatale – who, however, ends up getting a raw deal for her efforts (the girl's brain is eventually transplanted into a hybrid of lion and condor…which is among the phoniest-looking creatures you ever saw!). Apparently, a 2-disc set of this one from Media Blasters streets on this very day!!

As was the norm in the 60's, Japanese filmmakers used old-time American actors to help market their films in the US and Europe. Such Hollywood classics such as Raymond Burr ("Godzilla"), Nick Adams and Robert Horton ("The Green Slime") made a second career by appearing in Japanese sci -fi.Joseph Cotton ("Citizen Kane"), Cesar Romero (TV "Batman's" original Joker) and Richard Jaeckel ("The Dirty Dozen", "Spenser:For Hire", "The Green Slime"), were another three who appeared in this offbeat blend of sci-fi and fantasy.Cotten has his hands full as a Captain Nemo-esque commander of the super sub Alpha (an odd coincidence, since he later played the famous submariner in MGM's "Captain Nemo and the Underwater City"), fighting against a mad scientist (Romero) with a penchant for splicing together mutant creatures to rule the world. Jaeckel plays the reporter tossed into this crazy conflict, which has little or no plot or character development, but is just your average no-brainer popcorn flick perfect for the fanboy in all of us.A strange twist was the marketing of this film as a sequel to the live action version of the anime movie "Atragon", another super sub movie that bears absolutely no resemblance in design or plot to "Latitude Zero".

I saw this film while it was in first run, back in 1969. Expecting an action film, what I recall seeing was one of the worst most laughable bombs in cinematic history. The special effects were amateurish and the acting dreadfully stiff. A Japanese movie with two has-been American actors edited in.When I first discovered Mystery Science Theater 3000 back in the early '90s this film immediately came to mind as perfect fodder for a send-up. I don't know if they ever got around to spoofing it, but Joel and the crew should have.Don't waste your time on this turkey.