Watch Atlantis: The Lost Empire For Free

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

So much average

Powerful

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

There have been many animated Disney movies that have come and gone, and most of them had cutesy characters and memorable songs. Not here though. But that makes this a black sheep among the Disney lineup. Don't get me wrong; I did enjoy this movie and it took me a while to see it. But it turned out to be entertaining. Steampunk and action, as well as a plot that looked like it came out of Jules Verne or Indiana Jones. If you want a different kind of animated movie, great. If you still enjoyed those musicals with cutesy characters, no deal. But that depends on what you like. So try to go in with an open mind and you'll enjoy it.

Atlantis: The Lost EmpireThe hardest part of getting to Atlantis is convincing your GPS that it is not Atlanta.Fortunately this animated-adventure is set prior to voice-activate navigation.Discredited cartography Milo (Michael J. Fox) finds a willing investor (John Mahoney) for his expedition to the lost city of Atlantis. Paired with a submarine captain (James Garner) and his motley crew, Milo and his maps disembark.They eventually encounter an Atlantean princess (Cree Summer) who needs Milo's help to free her mother from captivity inside of a crystal that absorbed her and the island to protect them from destruction. But Milo's shipmates want the crystal for nefarious purposes.The most underrated Disney movie, this song free, box-office bomb from 2001 has gone on to become one of Disney's few cult hits thanks to its Jules Verne influence and character designs by Mike Mignola.Incidentally most expeditions to find Atlantis ended in mutiny, then cannibalism.Green Lightvidiotreviews.blogspot.ca

Wow, I've not seen Disney go out on a limb like this since the original TRON or "The Black Cauldron", both from many years back, and both of which really breached convention in traditional Disney offerings.Atlantis is no different, and, true to Disney, offers a unique take on an old tale, only here we actually don't have any tale upon which Disney is basing its new film, just some off handed mythology as described by Plato to many a disciple. We do not have a Perseus, nor an Odysseus, nor an Icarus with son Daedalus, nor any Greek gods nor demigods, just a loose and embellished description of a physical place that allegedly had some miraculous technological achievements. Disney takes Milo (voiced by Michael J. Fox) with an all star cast of characters to the much mythologized lost continent after a wealthy patron decides to fund his best friend's son's research.Disney Studios mixes in a bit of Pocahontas, a bit of Treasure Island, a bit of Star Wars (before it bought the product) and one or two other films or classic stories to bring the tale of a band of turn of the century adventurers to a lost realm of mystery.There's action, there's adventure, there's romance, there's young love, there's traditional animation mixed in with CGI, there's submarines, and even a cute kitten. The one thing this film doesn't have is the myth origin of Atlantis as told by Plato, but that's nitpicking.The DVD has a cut Viking intro sequence, has some audio explanations as to what Plato said, but, at the time both film and DVD were released, the latest research regarding how Atlantis might have been referencing Troy or Carthage hadn't made the popular history circuit.All in all it's a fine adventure film, and one of the few Disney films that I actually just like having on in the background. Oh sure, I love the super-majority of Disney films, but when I put a Disney film into my player of choice, it's usually an event where I have to sit and actually watch the film with some snack in hand. For some reason, for me at least, Disney's take on Atlantis hearkens back to classic George Pal fare, where on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, on some UHF channel in the 1970s or early 1980s, one might see one of Pal's films like "Atlantis" or "The Time Machine" or "First Men in the Moon" or one of his other fantasy extravaganzas. But Atlantis has more than just an off handed nostalgia reference quality to it, it also is a high budgeted adventure film with a top name cast, including the late James Garner playing the heavy in the film. Marry that to other well noted actors, and with Disney's top notch production values in terms of both visuals and music, and you have one excellent film.See it by yourself, with a date, or even with the family. You will not be disappointed.An excellent film. Enjoy.

Like so many, I listened to the critics and gave this film a miss. Yesterday, after seeing some clips from it, I streamed it. It has a plot, it has well written, strong, well defined characters. It's not only good, it's fantastic! I couldn't believe how good it was. I kept thinking, "This can't be Disney, it's far too good." (And that era of Disney was a bit weak). I started looking at our crew, Milo, a lanky, tousle-haired, braces wearing leader, who isn't a leader, but, is. We have a tough guy mercenary with a questionable moral compass, there's a young female mechanic, who knows more about engines than other people have forgotten. We have a kindly, super intelligent doctor (who is black). We have a female warrior type who brooks no nonsense and could easily (and happily) tie you in knots. They have a nicely steam-punk looking transport. And it is just....amazing. Then, as the closing credits started to run, I saw the name of one of the writers. Joss Whedon. Well. That explains a lot. It's basically "Firefly", underwater...slightly for children. Brilliant. Well worth a watch, I watched two minutes and ordered a copy.