Der Mann aus Atlantis

I have only seen the pilot for this series, but I thought that it was surprisingly good. Certainly better and more interesting than some of its contemporaries, like "The Six Million Dollar Man" and "The Incredible Hulk." The plot wasn't perfect, but it was nuanced and interesting, and the scenes filmed underwater were believable. There was a sparing use of special effects, and those that were used were decent enough by 70's standards. I don't know how long a show could survive where the hero's only gimmick is that he could breathe underwater, but the pilot's plot didn't feel forced or contrived. It was a good movie, in and of itself. I am forced to wonder, though, with the popularity of Marvel properties at the time: "The Incredible Hulk," "Spider-Man" and things like the "Dr. Strange" TV movie, if this wasn't originally an effort to bring the Sub Mariner to television. He bears a striking similarity to Patrick Duffy's character: both have amnesia, are from Atlantis, and are looking for their home.

I grew up in P.R. China, "Man from the Atlantic" was the only show that was interesting enough to watch for everyone in my city when I grew up,I remember people would stop everything they do, some of us don't own a TV, we would go to other people's house and watch the show together, it was great! I still remember how intriguing the TV show was, mind blowing for a girl grew up in Communist China who had nothing to watch except propaganda. I loved Patrick Duffy, in fact I did many web search to find this show's English name, because I only know the Chinese translation of the name of the show. Now I am going to buy the show again and relive my fond memory! I am excited. Patrick Duffy, I love you. : ) (now I know why I love Irish men so much)

The first movie was wonderful, the three following movies were pretty good. (The fourth movie, which was only a 90-minute instead of the usual 2-hour, was the highest-rated movie of the year.) The four movies were published as books. The series, unfortunately, was utterly destroyed by Herb Solow, who made it into a "kiddie show, like a comic book" -- and Solow didn't even know comic books. A giant two-headed sea horse? A giant squid made from a plastic purple shower curtain? It was embarrassing. The blessedly short-lived comics series itself was even worse -- the stories were passable, but the art was about the worst that comics have ever dared to try to sell.

There were also four paperback books made out of the movies. They were pretty much exactly the same as the scripts.

Duffy did most of his own stunts, being better at holding his breath than the stunt man. (Boy, did he have a six-pack! Yummm....) But he really wasn't that good a swimmer -- he actually lost to the guy from Grizzly Adams in the swimming competition on "Battle of the Network Stars." Ouch.

Victor Bueno, the recurring head bad guy ("Mr. Schubert") said it was his favorite role of all time, since he could camp it up to his heart's content -- and this from a man who had done everything from Shakespeare on stage to villains on Wild Wild West and Batman. The other recurring bad guy, Ted Neeley, is probably better known for his role on a fairly famous musical -- as Jesus Christ, Superstar.

Man from Atlantis also served as the inspiration for main characters in Vonda McIntyre's "Superluminal" and her four-part Starfarers series. McIntyre is considered one of the top ten living science fiction authors.

Mark Harris is a classic "Stranger in a Strange Land" type character. Unlike Aquaman and Submariner, he is apparently the last, or only, one of his kind, a distinction he shares with another not-quite-human guy named Kal-El.

a legendary series. itself a mix of legends. because it propose the story of a special man , a lot of adventures, seascapes and few scientific references, a sort of love story and references to the myth of Atlantida. and, more import today, a Patrick Duffy before Bobby Exing. so, a series who , for its public, remains a nice memory. sure, in contemporary perspective, it seems be naive and almost childish. but it is not real the right verdict. because it has the gift to remind the flavor and the colors and emotions of the air from the Jules Verne books or from The Amphibian Man. and the ball of legends is , always, a good gift. so, Man from Atlantis.

I have fond memories of The Man From Atlantis. I remember wishing how I could swim like him when I saw this show and hearing some children wanting to emulate him as well.

Patrick Duffy was the last survivor of an underwater civilization. He was named Mark Harris by the human world and went to work for the Foundation for Oceanic Research. Soon after, he battled the usual array of villains and monsters, his archenemy being the almost likeable Mr Schubert.

There was a Marvel Comics character who had been around since 1939 called Namor the Sub-Mariner. He was from an underwater civilization and was similar to Mark Harris. I don't know how true this is but I believe Marvel were going to make a Namor the Sub-Mariner film but this series kind of made that idea redundant.

The show was certainly enjoyable-not taxing on the brain and entertaining enough whilst it lasted, which wasn't for many episodes.