Atlantis - The Lost Empire (2001)

 GREAT DEAL!!
Good product brand new sealed, and no broblems.
Got it quick and for a great price. May 11, 2008

 A classic....
Great film; the animation has its own style, some enjoy it, and others, seemingly a hefty sum, don't seem to grasp the loving care this film was given, in all aspects.

Oh well, we can cry another day. It would be truthful in saying that the movie at least ranks with Disney's better animation films, and is nowhere near as bad as some of the libel on this site. It is quite possibly no more disconnected than ALL of the so called Classics, and though it may not top something such as Aladdin or Lady and the Tramp, its better than so many of the other films script wise, and the cubist style animation in particular reminds me of a comic book.

OF COURSE, the creators brought aboard famed comic illustrator Mike Mignola as visual designer and consultant. The script and the comic book style fit together SO WELL in this film... I truly adore the jaggy edges and slightly disconnected elements as they are presented in the full painstaking package Directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise (responsible for Beauty and the Beast and The Hunchback of Notre Dame) and from a story conceived by Tab Murphy of Hunchback fame. The entire experience is totally backed up by professionals, and should be acknowledged as four stars for that reason alone, in that they succeed in what they set out to do, and quite well compared to what Pixar and Ghibli present.

Atlantis is a journey where nothing gets in the way that cannot be solved, logically or not, but it leaves the viewer optimistic with wonder and not unjustly imbibed with gimmicks or nonsense. Atlantis is a sensational experience, in my opinion, of a movie like Howl's Moving Castle, and though it is not quite THAT good, it's close. Watching the movie in darkness and headphones provides ample testimony to my claim. Scary but true, and, although many things are not realistic nor completely immersive, WHAT ******* DISNEY FILM is also not in the same vein? They all have a flaw or two. It is just nitpicking of the naysayers that would have it the other way....

I also must note that the enemies and other antagonists are quite fearsome even sinister, much more so than the majority of Disney's catalogue. I was very convinced of imminent danger in the first few chapters, going into the sea with the crustacean machine violently raging after the crew. The stereo effects and symphonic overlay are quite gorgeous during this sequence and many more throughout; the ending, the firefly sequence, and the descent all being memorable.

With nice headphones and an amp, you really appreciate what went into the sound design, and it is obvious that is was a process carefully looked over and appraised, because it stands among Disney's best.

I for one, appreciate quirky misunderstood characters like the Hunchback, and to make a point, that is the film I most compare this one too. Each is very much a masterpiece in its own right. And this is proven in the finale that is one of the most memorable in recent memory, if a little cliche, it has its parting shot up there in beauty with Pride Rock. Exhilarating, to say the least, if you have the imagination.

Also, the sardonic and sometimes sexual humor is quite natural and amusing... you might find yourself saying, 'wow, didn't quite expect that out of this', and that is what it comes down to in the end: this movie is full of good surprises, and as one of the last few traditional movies we should applaud that aspect.

As for the video, this particular DVD does not look its best, but I hear that is because of my gear. On my system there are compression artifacts and macroblocking, though overall it is a clean print, workable and fairly good throughout on my setup that consists of a 1920x1200 DELL with calibrated displays from MAC mini.

It would be nice if the BLURAY disc is even better, and released sooner rather than in five years or whatever they have planned. December 21, 2007

 Excellent take on Atlantis
I really liked this story from start to finish. I thought it did give a different take on the lost city and how it was lost and possibly forgotten by most. I also did like the part of the story about the "use of crystals" and what message that did send. Don't abuse power, respect and honor it. See this movie for yourself and make your own opinions of it. I liked it very much and will be watching it over and over again!!! June 30, 2007

 Very authentic source for Atlantean language (Dig Adlantisag)
The added features have great appeal to those interested the on-going work toward the discipherment and codification of Atlantean, the language made up for the movie.

The journal pages on disk 2 are very legible (compared to the movie) and contain actual Atlantean - just as Don Hahn said in an interview with ReelFilms.Com. And according to Okrand, the written Atlantean that appears in the film is the largest portion of the language exihibited anywhere (as opposed to speaking parts). Other interesting linguist features are "How to Speak Atlantean", the transcription of which can be found online at LangMaker.Com and in the book "Subterranean Tours" on page 61.

The "hub" and archives of most discipherment efforts is the Yahoo Tech Group The Atlantean Language Group. There's also a messy Wikipedia article and many low-profile online webpages. It's a historic conlang with a vocabulary that's primarily Proto-Indo-European and a grammar that's mostly Latin, only with post-positions and no variety in grammatical case endings: there's one declension and no grammatical gender.

Just make sure the DVD you order has no viruses before you send feedback. Mine has a virus that shuts down my computer for long periods of time.

The language is awesome. That's the only reason I'd buy a movie like this. The movie is highly Wiccan in influence and, as such, completely spiritually corrupt and lamentably geared toward children. Buyer, beware! June 16, 2007

 Does just as much things right as it does wrong
When one looks at the studio's Walt Disney-approved output to the recent input, there's almost a kind of "yeah they're good but they're not as good as ". It's quite unfair to continually compare everything they do to their best but when they've done as much popular movies as they have, it's hard not to. We have Atlantis, the first movie Disney has done in recent years that breaks the mold of the so-called "Disney formula": wisecracking comic reliefs, lovable non-talkative pets, songs fit for Broadway and a bit more toned-down as far as violence and scariness are concerned. Maybe that's the reason the film didn't make as big a profit? Or is just simply audiences knew when an okay film was in theatres.

Milo Thatch, a historian/adventure seeker has been searching for the lost continent of Atlantis for years. Being aided financially and a crew, Milo searches for the continent, braving obstacles set in place to dissuade travellers. Eventually the crew reach the lost city and meet Kida, the King's daughter who along with Milo, tries to solve a mystery involving the city and rescue it for those who want to exploit the city itself.

It's always strange but Disney is underrated when it deals with heavy scenes. From Bambi's mother to Maleficent the dragon to Chernabog from Fantasia to my favorite, the Headless Horseman in Legend of Sleepy Hollow, there have been moments of a more darker quality. Yet some of them seemed toned down in fear that kids wouldn't like it. So it's nice to see Atlantis break that tradition a bit. The opening sequence of Atlantis (including a fantastic opening shot, sound and animation-wise), the encounter with a mechanical Atlantis guardian and the ending are just as thrilling for adults but maybe a bit too intense for little kids. Speaking of animation, it's also some of their animators' best from the backgrounds to the art direction and character designs and thanks to a stellar transfer, it allows you to be see their efforts in the best way.

However, the problems come from 2 key areas: the story and characters. I've watched plenty of animes so I'm a bit more receptive to strange plots but this is one of those where at times it's like "uh...I don't get that part." And the film just kind of chugs along, there's no real emotional connection so we go from scene to scene and feeling a bit disconnected. And it's strange that the old Disney films had one-dimensional characters but we still loved them anyway. There's even the Seven Dwarfs that were pretty one-note but each one became a favorite regardless. Aside from a weird dirt-obsessed character named Moliere and the occasional funny line from the bomb-obsessed Vinny, we never really care for anyone.

Finally no songs or cutesyness yet the story itself just doesn't feel right. But at least they had the balls to at least try something new for a change. I love the animation and its tone but the main areas that should've got more attention got shortchanged. Not really a throwaway film, just an interesting flawed one. March 13, 2007

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