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Atlantis - The Lost Empire

Atlantis - The Lost Empire

List Price: $19.99
Your Price: $15.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Pathetic
Review: I should have listened to the critics and my friends. I was hoping to add this latest Disney adventure to my collection, but FORGET IT! This is no sweet, adventurous tale. I don't care what the editorial reviews states. This movie is a waste of money and a farce for children. I was glad to see it was at least rated PG. The movie is beautiful and the voices were great, but the content in whole is questionable. I am very disappointed with Disney. The characters were terribly stereotyped according to their race/ethnicity(even the animation was bizarre!). There was some mild sexual content, and uses of phrases such as "shut up" throught the movie. Is this supposed to be for kids? On the plot side, I was bored and running to the fridge without pausing through the whole movie. For me, that says alot. I watch bad movies all the way through. I don't mean to make this review seem so harsh, but I don't want some unsuspecting family to purchase this DVD without fair warning. If my review doesn't convince you, please rent the movie first before purchasing. Let the movie speak for itself. Hopefully your young ones will not have to stuggle to much to read the many subtitiles in this film.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: REALLY GREAT FOR 5 AND OVER
Review: I thought that this was a terrific animated flick. There are some people who kind of die, but you don't get that Bambi's mother or Simba's Dad tug at the heart-strings. The action was great, and the voice acting was terrific! Highly recommend this one. I liked it alot more than those sobby Pocahontas or Hunchback animated tries. This one had alot more thought and effort. But it used now while it is a great deal. The used prices tend to go up in a few weeks.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Not that good
Review: Surely Mr Michael J. Fox have done an excellent job in the voice of Milo; however the story is boring and traditional. The characters were poorly developed and you can hardly remember them. It is just another Disney film, no suprise at all.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Rousing Adventure Tale of Mythic Proportions
Review: Fans of Disney's straight-to-video sequels for all their classic tales that do NOT need sequels should avoid this movie.

No cute talking animal sidekicks.

No bursting out into song.

No dancing or singing silverware.

Atlantis: The Lost Empire is a rousing adventure tale about explorers -- some with hidden agendas -- searching for the lost realm of Atlantis. The main character is Milo Thatch, a linguist consigned to watching the boiler at his university because of his outlandish ideas. Milo, after being brusquely rejected by the university, is hired on by a wealthy friend of his late grandfather to accompany an expedition to the lost continent to retrieve the Atlantean's power source, presumably for the betterment of humanity.

The plot itself really does not contain anything wholly original or inventive, but it doesn't need to. The movie is not trying to reinvent the wheel, but, like the original Indiana Jones movie, remind you of why you loved adventure stories in the first place. The writers and directors also do a very good job balancing humor and adventure/suspense. "Mole," the drilling expert, nearly steals every scene he is in, but he is not overused nor is he so prominent in his scenes that he detracts from the overall atmosphere.

The animation is a nice departure for the Mouse House: as others have noted, strongly influenced by Japanese anime and Mike Mignola's signature style. Don't let this throw you -- I am not a fan of anime, but Disney manages to capture a lot of its essence and vitality without making it "too" anime for US viewers. If you doubt me, watch the fight between Helga, the vampy second in command, and another character near the climax of the movie. Incredibly smooth but still retaining a lot of hard, sharp lines.

A lot of work went into this film to add nice touches. Disney apparently invented a writing system and language for the Atlanteans, though they conveniently also understand early 20th century English. Disney also has learned from Dreamworks and done a fantastic job marrying digital animation with traditional hand-drawn cell animation. The battle between the biomechanical guardian of Atlantis and the explorers' submarine is phenomenal, as is the finale -- a battle filled with Atlantean flying machines, a burning hot air balloon and edge-of-your seat fights.

The plot does move along very quickly -- sometimes too quickly for any substantial characterization to take place. Milo and the supporting characters DO have distinct personalities; however, they are not really allowed to go beyond one or two dimensions. The voice talent does their best -- there is not one bad performance in the bunch. Michael J Fox, Cree Summer and James Garner stand out as especially good, and Leonard Nimoy was the perfect choice for the voice of the Atlantean king. When the movie was over, I was left wanting more -- which, in the long run, is far better than wanting less or nothing.

As other reviewers have noted, the details of the storyline don't always stand up to close examination. And the mechanics/logistics of what happens to Kida (as opposed to what happened to her mother and why) are not entirely clear.

If you are ready for a straight-ahead adventure yarn -- especially if, like me, you have a weakness for lost civilizations and lands -- and are not overly concerned about deep character development and plot minutatiea, I can heartily recommend this film. Stunning animation, a great score, and adrenalin-inducing adventure await your exploration. Those with strict sensibilities for "realism" and demand animated features adhere to a rigid Disney formula should explore elsewhere.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Atlantis: The Lost Empire Collector's Edition DVD
Review: Walt Disney Co. really went in the opposite direction for their 40th Animated Feature Film. "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" is a film with "less songs, more explosions", as the film makers put it. The film features animation that is really different from other animated films from Disney. I did see some references to Anime (mostly all with Kida), but mostly the movie looks like a big comic book come to life. With the DTS 5.1 Surround blasted high, it submerges you into the film, for a great entertainment experience. Another plus for "Atlantis" is it's great 2.35:1 aspect ratio (on Disc 2 a brief comparison is made between full screen and widescreen, whoever has full screen is losing out).

My biggets complaint? Too many characters, which are introduced one after the other so fast. Some do become likable, but others just do not have enough time to develop to even care about them.

While the plot does have some holes (or so it may seem), the 2-Disc DVD set offers insights from film makers and other executives at Disney, that can fill in gaps for viewers. The best feature on Disc 1 is the visual commentary, where you are given access to many behind the scenes secrets and deleted scenes. On Disc 2, the VIP tour (ala the "Snow White" DVD) is a terrific two hour documentary on how and why "Atlantis" was concieved. One of the most interesting aspects of this documentary is how "Atlantis" is compared and contrasted to so many other Disney features such as "Beauty and the Beast", "Sleeping Beauty" and others.

I hope Disney is not discouraged to build and make better films like these, becuase of the lack of Box Office. From what I have seen Walt Disney Co.'s Nov. 2002 effort "Treasure Planet", seems like it's setting it's self to be a better film. The IMAX run isn't going to hurt either.

I recommend "Atlantis" to film fans that are REALLY open minded on what a Disney film is, or could be.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Anime style Disney animation is just that, Anime
Review: No, I am not a fan of the Japanese phenomenon known as anime. Personally, I think the classic styles used by Disney in the past, as well as newcomers Fox Animation Studios and Dreamworks, are a much higher standard of animation and should be the benchmark by which future Disney and other studios use for their animated films. Why regress an art platform rather than improve upon it? Once you get past that, the story is somewhat interesting, and the DVD is loaded to the max with features. Had Disney used the original animation treatment for the film, I would have given it 5 stars.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Atlantis the new Disney Movie
Review: I agree mainly with the review given above with a few exceptions. If you see a movie it should not put you to sleep inside the auditorium. It should keep you very much awake. This one deserved on a scale of 1 to 10 yawns; an 8.
Much as I try to believe he is a bad guy, something inside tells me no way for my buddy Maverick to be so. This non-villain playing a villian character was very difficult to swallow. However the artwork is well worth the view.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Discover Atlantis!
Review: For Disney's 40th full-length animated feature, they decided to break from tradition. Instead of going straight through Disneyland's Castle into "Fantasyland", they took a left turn into "Adventureland". They have left the soft and fluffy fairy tales for a quest worthy of Jules Verne. In fact, ATLANTIS is closer to Verne then Disney's own "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea". The creators' aim was to re-create the adventure films of their youth, such as JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, ISLAND AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD and the films of Ray Harryhausen. Within that lies the films biggest problem. Those films are not great films. They pleased mostly a young male audience and the same will happen with ATLANTIS. Although ATLANTIS is arguably a better film then those.

Young linguist/museum employee Milo (Michael J Fox) is thrust to lead a "Dirty Dozen-esque" crew to find the lost continent of Atlantis. When they arrive there, they find a civilization clinging to life through a special life-giving crystal. Unfortunately, not all of the people on the expedition respect the Atlanteans need for the crystal. The final result is a beautiful widescreen rebirth of the civilization.

The expedition team is made up of some great character work. Among them is the late Jim Varney (ERNEST GOES TO SCHOOL, CAMP, COLLEGE and wherever else they'll have him.) as Cookie the chef. Florence Stanley as a monotone executive assistant offers great laughs. But my hat is off to Don "Father Guido Sarducci" Novello providing the voice for the explosives expert, Vinny. His verbal riffs and the wonderful character animation had me in stitches. Most of the character designs have more in common with comic book and graphic novels then prior Disney animations. And that is only appropriate.

The Collectors Edition DVD is an amazing collection with hours upon hours of extreme information. But, if you have several of these collectors' editions, much of the learning is reminiscent of those. The sound and animation are wonderful... Enjoy ATLANTIS as it is an extremely unique film from the Disney organization.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Great flick -- TERRIBLE transfer
Review: I am a died-in-the-wool Disney and anime freak, and I loved this movie when I saw it in the theater. I always like to see Disney stretching their bounds (I really liked Black Cauldron, too), and the action-oriented homage to anime worked great.
However, I was very disappointed in the DVD. Unlike any Disney transfer before it, Atlantis was filled with horrible jaggy lines (aliasing) that I found very distracting. This on the 2-disc collector's edition, no less. What up, Disney?

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Not perfect, but worth a look.
Review: I liked this one, it's sort of about a Geek named " Milo"
( voiced by Michael J. Fox) who is in a quest to find the
legendary city of Atlantis, while he is there, he falls in love
with the beautiful princess Kida and must protect the kingdom.
All i can is, that this is entertaining and cool but worth a look though.

It's an animated version of Stargate and The Fifth Element.


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