The Man From Atlantis

The Man From Atlantis
(1977)

First Movie
Rating: ******
              4/6

Directed by Lee H. Katzin

TV Show
Rating: ******
              2/6

Starring Patrick Duffy, Belinda Montgomery, Victor Buono

Patrick Duffy was the star
Of a well-done film for TV.
He played The Man From Atlantis,
A water-breathing man in the sea.

He met some human scientists,
Who examined him from head to toe.
He then met a mad scientist,
Played to perfection by Victor Buono.

Then they made another movie,
This one not quite as good as the first,
And followed with two more movies,
Adventures with a sci-fi burst.

These four films were believable,
And were written very well.
His interactions with the humans
Teach him lessons valuable.

Then the network introduced
A furtherance of this premise.
A short-lived TV series,
That to the movies was a blemish.

In the films, our brave hero
Would occasionally have to go
To the dark, mysterious ocean depths
When scientists asked him to do so.

In the series, all the scientists
Are aboard a submarine.
The Man From Atlantis is their captain,
And they go where no man has been.

Though he’s a less interesting captain
Than the perfect Captain Kirk,
He still has a lot more character
Than the scientists who make the ship work.

This premise, although silly,
Could have worked out well enough,
But the show was plagued with bad writing,
Some of it really pathetic stuff.

For example, in one episode,
Our hero dives straight to the bottom
And crawls through a portal to another world,
Where he experiences a Shakespearian Autumn.

He sees Capulets and Montagues,
And the story of Juliet,
And sees the occasional swordfight
Before he swims back through the depths.

The scientists do not believe
His very silly story.
Neither does the audience,
Who begins to feel sorry.

The series started out pretty well,
And got worse throughout the season,
Ending with an episode so good,
The viewers yearned for another season.

I’ll give a four out of six for the first film,
And a two out of six for the show.
If you’d like to enjoy The Man From Atlantis,
The movies are the way to go.