L'Aventure fantastique

This movie is so bad, that it needed horror movie helper (MSTK 3000) to get anybody through it alive. Kathy plays a teenager who goes looking for her father in the underworld (filmed in somebody's basement in Ohio). You will cringe every time she says, "I'm looking for my Fa- father" How a young woman can sound like a helium breathing Marsha Brady is beyond me.

Kathy, please, PLEEEZE stick to modeling.

Caution: Do not, I mean do not watch this film unless you are occupied by the robots and Mike Nelson. (MSTK 3K). Otherwise comatose may result.

Albert Pyun presents his vision of the lost city of Atlantis - and it's a vision so cluttered up with claustrophobic settings, weird costumes and noisy, "quirky" minor characters that one thing is for sure: you want to get the hell outta there as soon as possible (unfortunately, it will take you about 80 minutes). The "Alice in Wonderland"-like story is meandering and uninteresting, and there was probably no actress in the world who could have turned this into a good movie, though Kathy Ireland makes an appealing (annoying voice and all) attempt. (*1/2)

Campy spoof combining elements of 'Journey to the Center of the Earth,' 'Indiana Jones,' exploitation B-movies of the 60's, and apocalyptic science fiction movies of the 80's. Kathy Ireland is so bizarre in the role of an explorer following in the footsteps of her famous father (as in 'Journey to the Center of the Earth' no less) it's like watching a car accident. You just have to watch though you know it's wrong...oh so wrong. (Apparently popular enough to warrant a sequel that actual takes the title of Jules Verne's classic, "Journey to the Center of the Earth." There are many versions with that title but only one features a cameo return by Kathy Ireland.) "Alien from L.A." is what they used to refer to as "Saturday afternoon matinee" or "popcorn movie" and is better than the sequel only because when "Alien" runs out of steam they strip Kathy down to a bikini top to finish out the movie. Nice trick. Worked for me.

Binge watching Jules Verne's adaptations I was about to watch the 1988 version when I noticed it was it was actually a sequel to this odd little film.

Starring the always adorable Kathy Ireland with her baby voice cranked right up and Thom "Return of the Living Dead/Friday 13th" Matthews it's an odd little film that nobody would ever connect to Verne's work.

It tells the story of a nerdy young girl who goes in search of her missing father and finds herself trapped beneath the earth in the legendary city of Atlantis. Trouble is the people there don't believe in the "Above world" and therefore she finds herself an alien in a hostile land.

Clearly not based on Verne's novels we see no giant monsters here, just warring factions and a really strong 80's vibe.

The film has a really critically low rating on IMDB and though I think this is a bad film it's not really "That" bad. Sadly it's structure is awful, the whole thing is ugly as hell, the writing is poor and it doesn't have much going for it.

Certainly niche viewing I'd say its one for Kathy Ireland fans only.

The Good:

Erm.....

The Bad:

Ridiculous levels of overacting

Terribly paced

Not the most visually pleasing film

Many may find Irelands voice grinds after a while

...the stuff that covered the shelves of local video stores in the old days. I love films like this, more for their value as time-pieces than for their artistic merits.

Kathy Ireland is a hoot (or is that "a squeak"?) playing off her "L.A. Gear" persona, but the sets and costumes really make the film. Imagine a pastiche of every 80's music video, and you've pretty much got the art direction for this film.

Wonderfully, watchably bad.. It's a shame that most people only got to see the cut MST3K version.