The New Movie of the Week: Man from Atlantis 1977

A violent storm at sea causes a man (Patrick Duffy) to wash up on shore and is rushed to the hospital but doctors are unable to stabilize him. Dr. Elisabeth Merrill (Belinda Montgomery) of the Naval Undersea Center (NCU) happened to be at the hospital and after seeing his lungs and the webbing on his hands, she realizes how to save him. Reluctant and first, the hospital rushes the dying man to the ocean and once in the water, he begins to breath normally again.  Elizabeth gives the man the name Mark Harris and brings him back to the NCU to nurse him back to health.  She discovers that he has no memory of who he is or where he is from and not only can Mark breathe in water, but he can swim faster than a dolphin, see in the darkness of the ocean depths and survive the pressure in the deep ocean, at least seven miles down. When an advanced submarine disappears near the Mariana Trench, the navy requests Mark help them to find the missing vessel and retrieve the bodies of the two missing men.  Reluctantly, Mark agrees, but instead of finding the sub with the bodies of two dead men, he finds an underwater fortress run by Mr. Schubert (Victor Buono), a jovial genius who is kidnapping scientists from around the world with a diabolical plan to destroy most of civilization in order to restart the society. Mark must use his underwater abilities to save the scientists and stop World War 3 from starting.

Man from Atlantis started as four television movies on NBC in the spring of 1977, with the first airing on March 4^th.  The second and third films were released in May and the final film in June.  The films achieved high ratings and so a weekly series was commissioned which will be reviewed separately. Critics weren’t as impressed as audiences with Tom Shales of the Washington Post citing, “kids may be impressed” by the heroics and special effects, but the show lacked “adult appeal” and that the stories would “soon wear thinner than water”. The films were turned into novels and even a comic book by Marvel Comics.

I remember watching the series as a kid and even remember emulating his swimming style when at our community pool, but I do not remember watching the films, so seeing the first one as an adult I was happily surprised by some of the performances.  The special effects were good for the 1970s and the originally composed music was appropriate and what you would expect from that era. I was surprised that the storyline portrayed the top brass of the Navy not as crotchety greedy old men unable to bend or compromise, but as real humans who care.   Belinda Montgomery does a good job as a competent and intelligent scientist who is also able to show tenderness and humor.  You can tell her character has become attached to Mark Harris. Victor Buono does a great job as Mr. Schubert, the villain of the first film. He returns again and again and is bent on capturing Mark. His appearances are the highlight of the movies and shows. His jovial face and expressions perfectly hide the evil menace he is, and like any good supervillain, he does not believe he is evil, but instead, believes he is doing humanity a service. Patrick Duffy is amazing as the non-emotional title character.  His portrayal is very different from the logical Mr. Spock who is repressing emotions in Star Trek, but Mark is more like a being who just doesn’t know what emotions are and doesn’t know how to express them.  There is a kindness and naivety to the character that allows the audience to relate and like the character.  Although the film has it’s campy moments, it is played seriously creating some wonderful and touching moments.  Overall, the Man from Atlantis films are well done and entertaining.