Atlantis (1991)

best movie i've ever seen.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

I remember taping this movie off TV years ago as a kid, and I liked it since I was at the peak of my interest in animals and nature. Sadly though, the tape ran out about two thirds into the movie.Now, after seeing it all the way through as an adult AND on the big screen, I appreciated it even more than before. The way Luc Besson and his team combined sounds from the people's everyday lives and Eric Serra's music with the underwater visuals is something really unique. As soon as the part with the octopus came up, I was like: "Oh yeah, this is the movie I remember." And by the time the credits started rolling, I was simply in awe."Atlantis" really makes you appreciate what's lurking in our oceans and that they have to be kept safe.

I'll admit to the fact that I never tire of watching films like Winged Migration and March of the Penguins. The wonders of nature captivate me.Nothing captivates like the world under the sea. There is so much beauty that no explanations are needed. It's just sit back and enjoy. That is what Luc Besson has given us in this film. A hour and a half view of nature's wonders with musical accompaniment. Just a little dialog in the beginning, and we are free to watch and fantasize.It is easy to see that this film was done by a true lover of the sea. Besson was a diver and wanted to be a marine biologist before an accident caused him to turn to film making. Don't get me wrong. I am glad that he became a writer and director and gave us such films as Leon: The Professional, Transporter, and Taken. But, I am also glad that he never lost his love of the sea and gave us this film.

I was a fan of Luc Besson since 1997, when I saw "Léon". And since I saw that movie, I scoured every video store looking for his films. Some were easy to find (The Fifth Element and Nikita were broadcasted), some weren't ("Subway" and "The Big Blue" had to be imported). Atlantis was the kind of movie I never expected to get my hands on. So you can see what I looked like when a German site had the video on stock. I waited two long months, expecting to see that movie I always wanted to see. When the movie finally arrived, I turned off all the lights, covered the led of the video, covered the little light of the TV and sat in my room with the stereo real loud. And the movie was a child-like dream. I heard many people saying it was a failure, I heard many people saying it was boring... It's all lies. I can't describe the movie by writing what I thought of it. It's difficult to talk about a movie which doesn't talk to the ears but directly to the heart. Here we have the impression that there is another planet... down there. Like in the snake scene. She moves like the snakes do, but the water is so clear that it seems like she and the others around her are floating in a aetherium. And the impression I got during the movie was that sometimes we just have to open ourselves to the sheer experiences of life and let go. This movie plays in our minds like a beautiful dream, and there are few movies that can do it. The love of the director by the ocean has never been so clear. And by making this movie, he somewhat passes on his message and makes us love the ocean also. Full praise to this work of art! Besson never stopped amazing...

In the mid-1980's I spent my youth at the Palace of dreams, Valhalla. A classic art deco independent cinema in the suburb of Glebe, Sydney Australia. The doors close in late February 1999, so I decided to pay my respects and dragged the children to see this underwater visual delight. A homage to the sea creatures of the universe with no occurring theme, only stunning images and a few humorous moments from the cheeky Besson. Serra's music works a treat here. Maybe twenty minutes too long.