Although cheesy and corny at times, this lavish George Pal spectacle still packs a punch today with some agreeable old-fashioned special effects and a little bit of everything in the plot. Sure, it's not a perfect film, but what is? Occasionally dated and sometimes juvenile, ATLANTIS, THE LOST CONTINENT more than overcomes its flaws with a story populated by interesting characters, plenty of incident and interesting factors in the plot.The film begins as a romantic adventure yarn as a beautiful Princess - as played by Joyce Taylor, who is very good and charismatic in the part - falls in love with a simple Greek fisherman, a fresh-faced lean youth played by Sal Ponti as a fearless, indestructible hero type. Once the action moves to Atlantis, the plot thickens with the introduction of many supporting characters, each with their own motivations, and numerous sub-plots.From this point there are plenty of ominous rumblings and omens which point to the demise of Atlantis, which of course is saved for the finale. Up until then we follow Ponti, as he becomes a slave and rebels against the cruel guard, as led by a young William Smith. There are some fun sword-and-sandal type battle sequences involving battles between guards and slaves which highlight the action. Meanwhile Ponti finds himself facing the gladiatorial "fire and water challenge", in which he battles a brute of a man in a pit of hot coals which is then flooded with water. Again, a rousing moment, the highlight being the point when Ponti sets his opponent's head aflame! Another plot strand involves John Dall's Zaren, the King's right-hand who is effectively running the show and plans to become master of the world by using a crystal-powered death ray to destroy all of the other countries. Dall is the kind of slimy, yet charismatic villain you just love to hate, and kudos to the scriptwriters for not portraying him as a bad guy at the beginning of the film - instead, it's a gradual process.Yet another sub-plot involves prisoners being converted into beastmen by the evil scientists of Atlantis, and sadly this is the most juvenile and poorly-realised portion of the film, with silly makeup effects and a lack of the tragi-horror combination that the writer was looking for with the beastmen. Thankfully this unwanted element is kept to the background in the movie. The special effects and fantastic elements are kept to a minimum up until the finale, which is where the budget seems to have been spent, and boy does it show. As Atlantis cracks up, we're treated to spectacular shots of bubbling lava, exploding volcanoes, collapsing buildings, the city on fire, rubble and masonry crushing people, floods and the city sinking beneath the ocean. On top of all this, the death ray comes into play to destroy numerous ships and lives, before it finally skeletonises the bad guy and goes berserk, causing yet more destruction. A truly satisfying conclusion to the movie and worth waiting for.Even in the quieter moments, there is much to enjoy in ATLANTIS, THE LSOT CONTINENT's colourful cinematography and imaginative set design, including a weird temple with a huge Minotaur statue. In all, this is a splendid - if minorly flawed - retelling of the classic legend and an all-round crowd pleaser, bolstered most by the likable leads and Pal's uniqely old-fashioned approach to the adventure.

This movie does not have any known stars. I think the most well known is the guy who played the Chief on Get Smart. But conceptually this is a great movie. It captures the imagination. It plays into the stories of the advanced people of the famous lost continent. A place with advanced science in the ancient world. But such strength becomes their downfall. This move was made during the cold war when many thought the A-bomb could lead to our downfall. It also shows how even with such advanced knowledge, the people of Atlantis act just like people. Such themes are common in science fiction and fantasy of the era, but they are brought together nicely in this movie. Also this movie has the great special effects of its director, George Pal. And those are worth the price of admission any day.

"Atlantis, The Lost Continent," starts out rather interestingly enough, but it soon dovetails into cliché heaven. After seeing some other George Pal productions I was amazed and amused that this would be one of his lesser ventures. John Dall seems to be doing a quasi-imitation of the cartoon character "Snidely Whiplash," jeering and leering as needed. Barry Kroeger as the surgeon is appropriately evil & one can't help but cheer to see what happens to him in the end. The two main leads are adequate enough, let's face it, this isn't high drama, more like high camp. The film suffers from too much use of footage from other movies, "Quo Vadis" and "The Last days Of Pompei" come to mind, as well as passages from the film score from the original "Time Machine." I found myself laughing at the costumes, and I see in the credits that no one was named, and maybe it's a good thing. Edward Platt as the high priest is given the task if wearing a birthday cake on his head, while something that looks like a distant relative if "Big Bird," does double duty on a couple of heads. It's as if the designer (if there was one) couldn't decide on one style or period. It's a good "rainy afternoon film."

I remember seeing this when it was first released many years ago & when George Pal was a household name. I recently had a chance to see it again on TCM and considering the time that has elapsed, some of the special effects still look OK.Being much older I now realize the acting skills of some of the players leave a lot to be desired but all in all it is still an enjoyable film despite the "steals" from Quo Vadis & elsewhere.When I was a kid the final destruction scene gripped me and I never forgot the "laser" gun frying the bad egg on the steps and the smiling skeleton dropping down. Funny now how I now notice the saw line around the head & thinking how is it the bones survived the blast on that occasion but when Zaran was picking off the boats it was complete disintegration. One can't be too picky though he must have had real good eyesight to catch sight of the hero & damsel in the teeming crowds, smoke and flames.