La citadelle sous la mer

cheesier than Switzerland and Wisconsin combined - wooden acting that even porn actors would wince at -laughable effects and set models. All the male actors have brillo pad hair and talk like Frank Drebbin. The brassy incidental music is more intrusive than the Original Star Trek. Think Hart to Hart meets low budget James Bond under the sea. Watch it very drunk or with the sound down and invent your own dialogue-- it can only be an improvement. Hard to believe this film was actually made. 10 lines is a lot when such a film could be summed up in one word -avoid. Alternatively you could compare and contrast the plot development, portrayal of women, models, and national pride exhibited in this and, say,Aliens or Avatar.

This movie came out when I was twelve years old. Although the effects are now cheesy compared to modern technology, at the time I loved it; it was perfect for a 12 year old. I remember at school the next day everyone saying how cool the movie was. It was perfect after having previously experiencing Lost in Space, Time Tunnel, Land of the Giants, etc... Irwin Allen knew how to entertain kids of that era.

One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed and Produced by Irwin Allen. Warner Brothers telefilm for NBC broadcast. Screenplay by John Meredyth Lucas, from Irwin Allen's story; Photography by Kenneth Peach; Edited by James Baiotto; Music by Richard LaSalle. Starring: Stuart Whitman, Rosemary Forsyth, Robert Wagner, Richard Basehart, Robert Colbert, James Darren, Edward G. Robinson Junior, Whit Bissell, Joseph Cotten, Sugar Ray Robinson, Burr DeBenning, Paul Stewart and Charles Dierkop.

TV movie provides paychecks for innumerable TV has-beens. A highly improbable science-fiction adventure concerning a planetoid hurtling toward the Earth. Safekeeping of gold and H128 reserves are jeopardized at a 21st Century underwater community.

This is a TRUE Irwin Allen classic!! a underwater city that can fight off hazards from outer space, handle dangerous unstable nuclear material, store all the gold from Fort Knox, and has a man who can breathe, and talk underwater, who helps deal with sabotage, and a major gold theft!! WOW!!!!,but WOW!!!! Stuart Whitman makes a great city leader!!, Robert Colbert[Doug Philips of TIME TUNNEL fame] makes wonderful second in command!!, Richard Basehart[ADM Nelson of Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea] as President[I would have voted him for the OVAL OFFICE!!], and Robert Wagner was a absolutely great villain!! I even liked the props especially the FLYING SUB[from Voyage To The Bottom Of The SEA]!! Yes Mr. Allen outdid himself on this one!! I am sorry that this movie did not become a series, either as a T.V. series or a movie series, either one would have been THE greatest series of all time!!! However I do feel that this movie should be released for DVD video because I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE A COPY OF MY OWN THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This was one of the few flops that Irwin Allen had during his days in television. This film was supposed to be the latest of Allen's science fiction series. Unfortunately, it didn't work. However, it was a good premise. People moving to a city under the Pacific Ocean to not only do research, but to create a whole new society. It also was a nice little caper film due to the sub plot of the gold heist in the backdrop of the main story of the title city's impending doom from the onrushing planetoid. This truly was a lost gem of television. Too bad it never made it as a series.

Also, isn't it ironic that Richard Basehart is playing the president in this film? Of course, he played Admiral Nelson on Allen's biggest hit series, the similarly themed "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea".