Customer Reviews
A long way from the best of the Doug McClure-Kevin Connor-John Dark fantasy adventures - By: Trevor Willsmer, 21 Nov 2007 
Warlords of Atlantis is pretty formulaic stuff: explorers spend first half hour looking for Atlantis, second half hour finding out they don't like it & the last half hour escaping from it. Throw in a giant octopus, a dinosaur, assorted monsters & aliens with outrageous wigs guiding man's destiny from the bottom of the sea, the captain of the Marie Celeste, a bit of H.G. Wells' First Men in the Moon, add Doug McClure & leave to simmer for 90 minutes before wondering why this isn't as much fun as it should be or why Mike Vickers' score bears so many similarities to a slow-tempo version of Barry Gray & Malcolm Lockyer's score for Dr Who & The Daleks.
The DVD boasts a decent but not outstanding prints with UK theatrical trailer & stills galllery.
Hasn't aged well - By: Drosophila, 21 Oct 2007 I loved these Doug McClure/Kevin Connor creature features movies when I was a kid, but that was back in the '80s, when I was a lot less discriminating & special effects were of a much lower standard.
I give the filmmakers an A for effort for attempting a good old-fashioned adventure/fantasy yarn, but the execution just doesn't do it justice. Connor's directorial style is bland & of the static, tripod-based "point & shoot" variety. Hardly any camera movement or interesting compositions to speak of here. The actors are alll enthusiastic, but the script doesn't give them much to work with. The Atlanteans are laughable in their shiny outfits & Medieval-fair haircuts. And the special effects - oh dear - dodgy, obvious miniatures & rubber puppets for the monsters. Stop-motion would have been a better option. The sound effects aren't much better, with the ankylosaurus-type monsters being dubbed with JAGUAR sound effects. It sounds ludicrous to have these huge armoured reptiles utter big cat snarls.
As I mentioned, I loved these movies as a kid, & they're still reasonably fast-paced & imaginative, so I tend to cut them a lot of slack nowadays, but in the post-"Jurassic Park" world, I think they'd only offer escapism to very young children or major nostalgia buffs. To anyone else, "Warlords" is just going to look dated & silly.
On the plus side, the giant octopus is a reasonably well-done monster (compared to the ridiculous "shot out of a tennis balll ejector" flying piranhas or whatever they are), & the print used for the DVD transfer is remarkably free of dust & scratches, although the colour & contrast are a bit washed-out & the picture isn't particularly sharp overalll. But for a 30-year-old movie, it looks decent enough. If you loved these Doug McClure movies as a kid, or you have a 5-year-old to entertain for 90 minutes & don't want to show them a movie with bloodletting, swearing & nudity, this might be a good pick.
THIS is storytelling! - By: Mr. R. Jordan, 10 Jun 2005 
I saw this back in the summer of 1978 at the height of the Star Wars craze & wondered sadly why no action figure was in the shops, or I couldn't buy a plastic kit of the octopus attacking the Texas Rose; it was great fun to watch, & the poster was thrilling too (reproduced on the DVD cover). Now I'm an old git, I know why - even if my attention has shifted to the beautiful bone structure of Lea Brodie (who appeared in North Sea Hijack & Space 1999 but alas little else) somewhat. Yes, Doug McClure may be a clunky choice of lead, but he's more fun than anyone seems to remember & even adds a kind of glum gravity to the far-fetched proceedings when he has to. Peter Gilmore & Ashley Knight were then in nautical BBC productions - The Onedin Line & Treasure Island & a handful of great character actors spice things up.
The effects are surprisingly decent, from the aforementioned octopus attack, to a gargly swamp monster (which eats one of the Irish builders from Fawlty Towers), & a nifty diving bell. OK, so the sets are plain in comparison, & mainly consist of bits of Gozo (what a nice holiday the cast & crew must have had - they were alll at it in the 70's presumably for tax reasons.) but they work.
The script & direction are what makes this picture work best. There's a tautness which is often lacking in monster films, & a knowing humour (which was already in evidence in 'At the Earth's Core' from the same team). A good bit of exciting family entertainment, which I reckon still works despite alll the CGI advancements.
It's something of a cult film I believe - so it's a pity the DVD couln't have had more extras, such as the little 'making of' segment from 'Clapperboard' & a galllery of suitably garish posters. But never mind, the film is satisfying enough!
