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Man from Atlantis
pilot episode
USA 1977
produced by Robert H. Justman, Herbert F. Solow (executive) for Solow Production Company/NBC
directed by Lee H. Katzin
starring Patrick Duffy, Belinda Montgomery, Dean Santoro, Art Lund, Victor Buono, Lawrence Pressman, Mark Jenkins, Allen Case, Joshua Bryant, Steve Franken, Virginia Gregg, Curt Lowens, Charles Davis, Lilyan Chauvin, Vincent Milana, Alex Rodine, Philip Baker Hall, Marguerite DeLain, Trudy Marshall, Michael J. London, Robert Dore, Michael Watson, Connie Izay, Judd Laurance, James Chandler, Patricia Anderson, Akemi Kikumura, Larry Holt, Peter Weiss, Maralyn Thuma, Philip Roye, Cheryl Robinson, Scott Stevenson, Philip Tanzini, Robert Phalen, Eddie Garrett
written by Mayo Simon, music by Fred Karlin, special effects by Tom Fisher, Wayne Rose
TV series Man from Atlantis
review by Mike Haberfelner
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A man (Patrick Duffy) is found on the beach, dying, and is rushed to
ER, where the doctors ... really can't make heads or tails of the guy's
condition - only Dr Elizabeth Merrill (Belinda Montgomery) pretty much
immediately realizes the guy needs water to breathe. So they take him to
the sea, put his head under water, and voilà, he's saved. Now apparently,
the man, soon called Mark Harris, because why not, is a sea mammal of some
sort, who can stay underwater for an amazing amount of time, can dive to
extreme depths - but really isn't too well adapted for life on dry land,
so much so that he would die within 18 hours out of water. Of course, the
army - in the person of Admiral Pierce (Art Lund) - soon shows some
interest in the underwater man, so much so that they pay Dr Merrill to
study him. And Mark, who has lost all his memory but adapts to human
language all too quickly, doesn't mind to be studied. Then an Army
submarine is lost, and it's gone to such a depth that only Mark can go
after it to investigate. Which Mark does, and while deep under water, he
discovers the underwater base of Mr Schubert (Victor Buono), who has
turned his back onto the upper world's goings-on, has collected the best
scientists from around the world to mindcontrol them via wristband and
make them build his utopia after his pacifist and ecology-friendly
principles - while he intends to start a nuclear war on the surface to
annihilate the rest of humanity. Schubert is properly fascinated by Mark,
as for him the underwater man is the perfect human, but of course, Mark,
who somehow cannot be mindcontrolled by wristband is shocked by Schubert's
plans, which of course doesn't stop Schubert from starting the countdown
for nuclear war - so now Mark has 15 minutes to evacuate the underwater
base - after all, most of its inhabitants are innocent scientists - and
then flood it to prevent the launch of the first nuclear missiles to set
off a chain reaction ... and since this is the pilot of a series, he of
course succeeds and in the end is reunited with Dr Merrill for further
adventures ... The pilot for a series that's pretty much a
child of its time: The heroes special powers are pretty much a gimmick and
are never truly narratively explored beyond that, they're just there for
sensationalism. The overriding conflict of the series at the same time is
a child of the Cold War, where essentially the American Army is good and
never errs, while the villain (and Victor Buono's Schubert is the main
baddie of the series as a whole) is a (however misguided) pacifistic
enviromentalist who wants to build an utopia - so this anti-American
sentiments alone are enough to make him evil already. So basically, the
subtlety is thrown out of the window right then and there. That said, this
pilot is some fun to watch as a document of its time. It's nowhere near
greatness, or even must-watch TV, but it has its charms if you're up for a
trip down memory lane.
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