Saturday, December 8th, 2007
05:30 Man From Atlantis
Man From Atlantis. Episode 4. While this is the strongest - by far - of the sequels to Man From Atlantis, this is also the movie that drives home just how many problems the writers were apparently having with the concept of the series.
Movies 2 and 3 both feature Aliens. From outer space. Who, ah, take over the bodies of humans. The aliens in Movie 2 inhabit the bodies of guest starts, while the aliens in Movie 3 turn the regular cast into puppets. But, essentially, it is the same idea in both movies.
Movie 4 goes all the way back to Movie 1 for inspiration. Both are about megalomaniacs. Who live in vast undersea complexes. Who, ah, are kidnapping scientists from the surface world! And while Darleen Carr isn't quite as good as Victor Buono in the role, it must be said that she is superb. And it is refreshing to see a very slight, very pretty, young woman playing the mastermind behind the shenanigans. Carr is cast against type and she is wonderful. It's a pity the script is so dopey.
Regular character Dr. Merrill is kidnapped at the start of this movie and forced to help work the undersea complex. Her kidnapping makes sense, I suppose, in context of the regular kidnappings that befall scientists in the world of MFA. Once in the undersea lair, Merrill is brainwashed by a spa (!!) and cheerfully chips in.
Mark Harris, meanwhile, and the team from the Foundation for Oceanic Research (or something) search for her. At one point, they get information from an FBI agent, deduce what it means and immediately set out (unarmed) to find Dr. Merrill. It never orrurs to any of them to contact the FBI which would, of course, have prevented their own kidnappings later in the movie. Idiots.
Mark Harris comes off quite badly in this movie. Indeed, he only really came off as cool and interesting in the second movie. For most of this movie he is silent, dour and - given his background - a liability to the success of the Good Guy's mission. Since the writers have given him such a cool background, it's a pity they have no idea how to use it. On shows like Six Million Dollar Man or Incredible Hulk the viewers were always treated to cool stuff that the hero could do. No so here. Mark gets beaten up quickly (and easily) by the kidnappers of Dr. Merrill and left to die in a tool shed. "Die" because he needs to get back to the water "every four hours". This achillies heel was a large part of Movie 3 also, when the aliens took Mark to the desert. Here he faces death because he has been locked in a tool shed. Even worse, he totally fails to do anything cool to get out. He just lies there gasping for ages until he is found quite by chance. What were the writers thinking? What's cool about that?
The rest of the time it is Dr. Simon who deduces everything and leads the way towards rescue. Kenneth Tigar is excellent in this role but he was written out of the regular series.
Man From Atlantis, unlike contemporaries like Wonder Woman or Logan's Run, tends to tell it's stoires in simplistic manner. Coming ashore at the exact spot where Dr. Merrill was taken (!), Mark is able to walk from the water, up the beach, into a deserted hut and - immediately - find the hidden button to the secret eleavator to the undersea complex!! Later on, when he is putting an end to the evil plot Mark is able to find exactly the right pipe to sabotage in a room of hundreds. This kind of ropey thinking in very disappointing.
Man From Atlantis
