Atlantis: The Lost Continent (1961)

Atlantis: The Lost Continent (George Pal, 1961). 

Special effects maestro turned director George Pal followed his acclaimed adaptation of H G Wells' The Time Machine (1960) with the mythical fable Atlantis: The Lost Continent.

Out sailing with his father, Greek fisherman Demetrios (Anthony Hall) rescues the shipwrecked Atlantean Princess Antilla (Joyce Taylor). On returning the Princess to the mythical kingdom, Demetrios is imprisoned and forced into slave labour. It turns out the technologically superior Atlantiaeans are a sadistic lot, inflicting punishments on their captives such as turning them into man-beast hybrids. Demetrios rebels, attempting to win the affection of the princess in the process. He then must free the other slaves and exit Atlantis before its inevitable demise. 

After the excellent Time Machine, Atlantis: The Lost Continent was seen as something of a disappointment. Actually, the movie is a fun and pretty wild ride but lacks the gravitas of earlier Pal classics such as The War of the Worlds (Byron Haskin, 1953) tom thumb (Pal, 1958) and, as mentioned, The Time Machine. 

Shot largely on the MGM backlot, it features some impressive visual effects, most notably during the empire’s spectacular fall which serves as the movie’s climax. The cast is made up of faces largely unfamiliar to modern audiences, save for maybe John Dall as baddie Zaren and Edward Platt as the sympathetic High Priest Azar. While the performers do a proficient enough job they do get a little lost among the spectacle. 

With influences of Jules Verne-esq sci-fi and the then popular sword and sandal movies, Atlantis: The Lost Continent has a somewhat uneasy footing in both genres. One gets the feeling this started off as a far more ambitious project than it ended up. As a special effects laden sci-fi adventure it pales in comparison to superior epics Journey to the Center of the Earth (Henry Levin, 1959) and Jason and the Argonauts (Don Chaffey, 1963). 

Yet, I have a lot of affection for the movie. Pal produced far better films both before and after Atlantis. If you are fan of George Pal you will definitely enjoy this. If you are not a fan of Pal, you should be; go check out his better movies then go watch Atlantis. Ultimately it is little more than matinee fluff, but it’s matinee fluff on a grand scale.