Warlords of Atlantis (1978)

Very Cool!!!

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

I first saw director Kevin Connor's silly monster movie Warlords of Atlantis at the cinema in 1978, and although I was only 10 at the time, I still came away very disappointed; the problem was that I, along with most of the rest of the world, had not long witnessed the cinematic marvel that was Star Wars, which had set a new standard for special effects driven adventures, and Connor's brand of fantasy film-making now seemed very primitive by comparison.The narrative structure to Warlords is almost virtually identical to Connor's previous three fantasy adventures, The Land that Time Forgot, The People That Time Forgot and At The Earth's Core: a scientific expedition discovers a lost civilisation (in this case, Atlantis) and encounters a variety of badly realised rubber monsters, after which the adventurers barely escape with their lives. It's also very similar in terms of production values and technical prowess: the performances are hammy, the script makes very little sense, and the special effects are diabolical.These days, however, it's those very qualities that make this kind of flick so much more fun to watch now than back in the day. The camp nature of the script, Doug McClure's paunch, the unconvincing hand puppet creatures, the giant plastic octopus with uncontrollable tentacles, the awful Atlantean fashion, flying piranhas launched clumsily at the actors by crew members off-screen: what I found embarrassingly bad as a child I now find rather charming in its ineptitude.

This is really the cheesiest sci fi film that I have seen in a long time.It is a cross between Jules Verne and Ray Harryhausen but doesn't manage to be either.Instead of stop motion animation it uses men in rubber suits who are totally unconvincing.There is a giant octopus that beats the vessel with a gold statue and is probably the best of the mirth inducing moments that constantly occur throughout this film.It is one of those films that is so consistently bad that it is almost good in a way.Everything about the film is second rate from the acting through to the effects down to the scripts.Not worth a second look once was enough.

These types of fantasy adventure films are what I grew up watching, however this one did pass me by. After just watching it, I guess not seeing it wasn't too much of a bad thing. "Warlords of Atlantis" was the fourth feature in the cycle of director Kevin Connor and actor Doug McClure's partnership and probably my least favourite of the lot. Quite a dry and leaden experience with only small moments of excitement amongst its prehistoric backdrop of a diving expedition discovering the underwater city of Atlantis, which is guarded by rubber monsters. Looking like a low-budget, the adventure shows in its small-scale and its attention went towards to the tame special effects (though the large octopus design is decently done… so are its attack sequences) and low-rent set decors. A stalwart cast with the likes of Doug McClure, Peter Gilmore, Shane Rimmer, Lea Brodie and Michael Gothard are tolerable in their stock parts. The concept is imaginative, but the execution of it falls away with its systematic strokes, murkily uninteresting motivations and a script that's plodding in its details. Sure it's pure old-fashion escapism at heart, but it never lives up to the fun of it. "Do not waste your energy on anger. Soon you will come to think of Atlantis as your only home."

"Warlords" tells the tale of 2 scientist's (father and son), a captain, a crew of questionable deck hands, a young boy and our hero Greg, aka Doug McClure who are out to discover the lost city of Atlantis with a revolutionary diving device Greg has created that is bottomless. Along the way however some things go bad and the crew are attacked by several creatures including a giant octopus as well as the occupants of Atlantis. The Atlantians capture them and an escape attempt is made by our crew to get out of Atlantis before they are "altered" to live there forever.If you are a fan of rubber suits and puppets as oppose to the modern day CGI you are in for a treat as this film deliveries many different beasties made of the Godzilla style persuasion. After saying that if you are not one to be into that kind of effects then you will not really like what this movie has in store for you. For me I liked them and thought it added a certain charm that you cannot get with a movie made nowadays.The story is basic and there is really nothing here that is awe inspiring or revolutionary but as far as a PG rated adventure goes (the first I've actually entered a review on I believe) this one is a nice little ride. If you have little ones they will more than likely be entertained by all the monsters and more than likely your inner child will enjoy them as well.No gore here, nothing horrific just a nice little escape along the lines of a descent Fantasy or Sci-Fi film. People looking for anything else than a 70's style low budget adventure film need not apply all others I would encourage you to give it a look. My score for "Warlords of Atlantis" is: 5/10: Average, a nice little escape nothing huge here, just a nice change of pace film to show off to the kids that will not make you want to rip out your eyes.This movie has not yet received a Stateside release however for a little "pound" you can get this one from England, courtesy of the DVD company Cinema Club. It is a 16:9 Animorphic transfer with an English Mono only audio.