Nautilus

That other terrible submarine film 30,000 Leagues Under the Sea is even worse than this rubbish, hard to believe but it's true. This one had it all, bad script, acting, casting, special effects, fight scenes and the Admiral looked to be at least ten years past retiral age, was no one younger and more plausible available? Only for lovers of very bad films.

While Nautilus may not have had the budget of some of the larger Hollywood projects, they story, action, and acting of the main stars propels this above most attempts at Sci-Fi cinema released. While much of the attention centers around the martial arts prowess of Richard Norton, attention needs to be placed on the actor that portrayed Raoul, the leader of the Eco-terrorism group Equinox. Now known as the host for popular shows such as Shop till you Drop and Outback Jack, Roberto shines in his role here as a man with a mission to save the planet. Showing acerbic wit and physical dexterity, his screen time was a highlight of this film.

Action, Explosions, Intrigue, Time Travel, Martial Arts, what more could a movie buff ask for?

Sometimes it is just better not to have an idea at all, rather than to create some sort of hybrid from other people's. This film takes a bit of HG Wells, a bit of "Dr. Who", a load of water, some C-listers and a script straight out of "Janet & John" then tacks it onto some very dated special effects. Add a soupçon of megalomania and you have a sci-fi adventure that is light on just about everything. The plot is just so very, very weak - it reminded me a little of that rotten but entertaining "Return of Captain Nemo" movie from 1978, just without any of the fun or charm. These guys are serious about this, and that possibly makes it worse. This genre is very easy to do badly, director Rodney McDonald excelled...

Made for very little money, NAUTILUS is actually a fun science-fiction film combining elements from 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, CRACK IN THE WORLD and DIE HARD. On the level of a Roger Corman styled flick, the film has impressive productions values and some very nice miniature work. Richard Norton of the Jackie Chan films is a good, athletic hero and as a middle of the week video rental, this flick delivers the goods in an unpretentious way.

It's awful, difficult to tear your eyes away from.

It's like the zit on the end of the nose of the person you are talking to.

It has redeeming features, hence the 2 stars I gave.

The story line has potential and one or two of the actors make a decent attempt with the dire dialogue.