Atlantis - The Lost Empire Best Review
Despite getting alot of flack from animation buffs, Disney made a genuine effort to make a musical-free adventure movie in the spirit of Raiders. Even though very influenced by the works of Jules Verne, and the art stylings of Mike Mignola(Hellboy), this steampunk film was brilliantly animated and delivers in ways that the last Indiana Jones movie didn't.
Taking place in 1914, Milo Thatch is an expert in cartography, but unfortunetly stuck working in the boiler room of a history museum. After failing to convince his curators to investigate some recent findings he believes will proove the existence of the lost kingdom of Atlantis, he is luckily hired an eccentric millionaire who was an old explorer buddy of his grandfather. Milo becomes part of an excavation team going in a totally ahead of its time submarine to find Atlantis, commanded by the opportunistic Rourke. Using an ancient journal, they track their way underwater to a tunnel that is supposed to lead to their goal, but they're attacked by a giant mechanical sea monster and have to abandon their submarine into smaller mini-subs. They manage to find a series of underground caverns, which eventually leads to the actual city of Atlantis. Milo and the others are shocked to discover that there is an actual living civilization of people there who can conveniently speak English. They are turned away by the xenophobic Atlantian king, but his daughter Kida(who is Disney's finest Princess, and the first black one!)befriends the nerdy-as-hell Milo, and together they manage to decipher where the mysterious power source that supports their society, and has kept them alive for the last few millenia. However, its revealed that Rourke and most of his team were really looking for the power source too, which is a mystic floating crystal, and after taking the king hostage, they make their way to the crystal chamber. Kida becomes infused with the crystal's powers, and Rourke makes off with her, leaving the king dying of a gunshot wound. Milo gets some of the remaning crew along with the other Atlanteans to go after them with some reactivated flying machines. After a pretty intense chase scene, they catch up with Rourke and stop him. The crystal is restored, and Kida becomes the new tribal leader. Milo decides to stay behind(who wouldn't want to spend eternity with a hot bikini babe?!)while the other explorers make it back to the surface with a bunch of treasure.
Atlantis was a serious step up from some of Disney's other action/adventure films. Granted, ones like Aladdin, The Black Cauldron, and Treasure Planet had decent elements of thrills & spills, but Atlantis went that extra couple of yards to make it real swashbuckling ride. There's a fine use of CGI along with traditional 2d Disney animation, although its one of the few ones they did in anamorphic widescreen which totally broadens the scope of visual experience for an underwater adventure. The movie also has one of the finest casts in a Disney film, with Michael J. Fox as Milo, James Garner as Rourke, veteran voice actress Cree Summer as Kida, Leonard Nimoy as the king, and Jim Varney in his last film role. If you passed on this film when it was in the theatres, make sure to catch it on DVD(and hopefully soon on Blu-Ray). Even though you can sorta skip on the sequal.
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Atlantis - The Lost Empire Overview
From the creative team who brought you THE LION KING and BEAUTY AND THE BEAST comes an exciting quest of adventure and discovery. Join the expedition and search below the sea for one of the greatest mysteries of all time ... ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE. The world's most highly qualified crew of archaeologists and explorers are led by historian Milo Thatch as they board the incredible 1,000-foot submarine Ulysses and head deep into the mysteries of the sea. The underwater expedition takes an unexpected turn when the team's mission must switch from exploring Atlantis to protecting it. Filled with stunning visual effects, this captivating story is loaded with laughs and messages of friendship and teamwork. Dive into ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE -- it's an adventure your family will enjoy taking over and over again.
Atlantis - The Lost Empire Specifications
The Disney Studio was built on innovation in animation, so it seems ironic that Atlantis is both a bold departure and highly derivative, borrowing heavily from anime, video games, and graphic novels. Instead of songs and fuzzy little animals, the artists offer an action-adventure set in 1914: nerdy linguist Milo Thatch (Michael J. Fox) believes he's found the location of the legendary Lost Continent. An eccentric zillionaire sends Milo out to test his hypothesis with an anachronistic crew that includes tough Puerto Rican mechanic Audrey (Jacqueline Obradors), demolition expert Vinnie (Don Novello), and butt-kicking blond adventurer Helga (Claudia Christian). When they find Atlantis, its culture is dying because the people can no longer read the runes that explain their mysterious power source--but Milo can. Nasty Commander Rourke (James Garner) attempts to steal that power source, leading to the requisite all-out battle.
Atlantis offers some nifty battle scenes, including an attack on a Jules Verne-esque submarine by a giant robotic trilobite and fishlike flying cars. But the film suffers from major story problems. If Princess Kida (Cree Summer) remembers her civilization at its height, why can't she read the runes? Why doesn't Milo's crew notice that the Atlanteans live for centuries? The angular designs are based on the work of comic book artist Mike Mignola (Hellboy), and the artists struggle with the characters' stubby hands, skinny limbs, and pointed jaws. The result is a film that will appeal more to 10-year-old boys than to family audiences.
Suitable for ages 8 and up: violence, scary imagery, tobacco use, and a difficult-to-follow story. --Charles Solomon
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Customer Reviews
Atlantis- Animated Feature - Aaron Douglas Parks - Chicago
This animated movie deserves more credit than what it has apparently received. Yes, at times the story could be fairly cheesy, but I really appreciated the way the scenes were visually composed and the overall visual imapact that was acheived. I feel that from this standpoint it was truly magnificent. Also, I appreciated the efforts that went into the linguistics aspects of the Atlantian language that is spoken throughout. The linguistic substance really added so much to the movie and gave richness to the experience of watching it.
For those who appreciate the visual art that goes into animated features and how an expansive imaginary world rendered well can draw in and welcome the viewer to the story, this movie can be appreciated on multiple levels.
Underappreciated - Red One - Washington, DC
Another of the Disney flicks that is probably very under appreciated. Its a good story with great animation and worth watching.
A DISNEY FILM THAT PACKS ONE HELLUVA PUNCH 9.25 OUT OF 10 - ACEMAN1 - Ripon, California
Oh Disney, where has your creativity gone? This film is one of your most bold efforts and easily one of the best Disney films I've ever seen. Now I'm being showered in crap with egregious efforts like Chicken Little and Meet the Robinsons. I'm disappointed with the response this film received. It didn't do very well in terms of critical response (46% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and a 52 out of 100 on Metacritic), and while moviegoers in general were positive, this film still got flack from a good number of people. This is probably one of the most underrated Disney efforts next to The Black Cauldron and Dinosaur, and it deserved so much better.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT: Year: 1914. Milo Thatch doesn't have much going for him in life, but he is obsessed about finding the lost city of Atlantis. But then when he goes home to his apartment, he finds a mysterious woman sitting inside and she wants him to meet her employer who wants to make an offer with him. What ensues is a massive (And epic) adventure to find Atlantis, but as things go along, things get more sinister, and then it is realized that Atlantis must be saved.
MUSIC: This music is phenomenal and fits along with the mood flawlessly. From its quiet status to its booming orchestral score, it rocks quite simply.
ACTING: All of the actors were really good and I can't think of anything wrong with their performances. They were witty and they managed to feel alive and they actually had different and unique personalities to each of them.
ACTION: This is the best part of the film. The action sequences are absolutely spectacular, to the point of where you sometimes wonder how this film didn't get slapped with a PG-13 rating. It's explosive at every turn and this film easily has some of the best action scenes I've ever seen. They are most certainly a sight to behold. Plus, I loved how everything was designed and everything felt so imaginative.
OVERALL: The only problem with this film is the fact the story didn't go as far as it could have. But other than that, this film is incredible, spectacular, and a feast for the eye wonder that should not be missed.
THE GOOD: The music, the animation, the acting, the action scenes, and a very intriguing plot.
THE BAD: Story doesn't go as far as it could have.
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