Once upon a time, sometime prior to Christopher Columbus, an island existed in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean that was as big as Australia and was more advanced than the ancient European cultures that knew nothing of its existence. This continent, once the model of goodness in its exploration of scientific knowledge and a free society, has become corrupt with the desire for world domination. A young Greek fisherman by the name of Demetrius discovers this when he escorts Atlantis's beautiful princess back through the dangerous towers of Hercules (actually a bunch of towering rocks protruding out of the Atlantic) into a watery mist he fears. Demetrius has visions of Poseidon, and attacks a premature submarine, believing it to be a sea monster. The Atlantis he finds hates outsiders, turning those who come upon the island by accident into hideous monsters, slaves of the rock piles. They can fight for their freedom by going up against a Tor Johnson like strongman in a pit of fire and water.
Silly, yes; Entertaining, certainly! With George Pal ("War of the Worlds") at the help, this is another variation of the protests towards the dangers of powers discovered within the past few decades (most obviously nuclear power), the source of this caused by crystals taken from an active volcano. It is this volcano that is the revenge on the imperious pretender to the throne, having usurped power from the aging King, and determined to destroy the Grecco-Roman world before they come along and destroy Atlantis. Ed Platt ("Get Smart!") plays the local priest, a Godly man who warns of the impending doom. Once everything erupts, Pal explodes the volcano with the fairly convincing blue screen special effects which literally seem to turn the island upside down, like an Atlantic Sodom and Gomorrah.
The laughable narration at the beginning tries to explain some of the legend of the lost civilization, but it is the straight forward production moving the plot forward that makes this an above average fantasy, worth its place in history, especially along side the many similar films being (overly) made today about the great myths of the past.
Silly, yes; Entertaining, certainly! With George Pal ("War of the Worlds") at the help, this is another variation of the protests towards the dangers of powers discovered within the past few decades (most obviously nuclear power), the source of this caused by crystals taken from an active volcano. It is this volcano that is the revenge on the imperious pretender to the throne, having usurped power from the aging King, and determined to destroy the Grecco-Roman world before they come along and destroy Atlantis. Ed Platt ("Get Smart!") plays the local priest, a Godly man who warns of the impending doom. Once everything erupts, Pal explodes the volcano with the fairly convincing blue screen special effects which literally seem to turn the island upside down, like an Atlantic Sodom and Gomorrah.
The laughable narration at the beginning tries to explain some of the legend of the lost civilization, but it is the straight forward production moving the plot forward that makes this an above average fantasy, worth its place in history, especially along side the many similar films being (overly) made today about the great myths of the past.