Review of Warlords Of Atlantis / At The Earth`s Core / The Land That Time Forgot (Doug McClure Box Set)

Introduction

If you don`t know who Doug McClure was, then you probably don`t get the Troy McClure running gag in The Simpsons. McClure was an affable, lightweight leading man in 1950s and 60s Hollywood, best known for his performance as Trampas, the sidekick of The Virginian (1964-69). Blond, square-jawed and blue-eyed, McClure never really hit the big time, but was a regular fixture on 1960s television. He made a handful of modestly-budgeted movies, notably including the self-spoofing role of the Blond Slave in Cannonball Run II with Jamie Farr as his arab prince and master. One of his last roles was as one of the riverboat gamblers in Mel Gibson`s big-screen remake of Maverick.

In the 1970s, however, McClure took centre stage in four amiably batty adventure movies based on (or inspired by) the writings of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Production company Amicus - producers Milton Subotsky and Max J Rosenberg - had made a name for themselves making horror films in the Hammer vein (pun intended), and had applied themselves to the family market during the 1960s with the two Doctor Who movies. Acquiring the rights to Edgar Rice Burrough`s The Land That Time Forgot in the early 1970s, they set screenwriter James Cawthorn and sci-fi giant Michael Moorcock to adapting the pulp novel for the big screen. Edgar Rice Burroughs, now most famous as the creator of Tarzan, was a prolific writer of pulp-fiction franchises. The Land That Time Forgot was one novel of a large body of work that included the original Tarzan stories, the epic John Carter of Mars series and its sibling series Carson of Venus. The Pellucidar series, set in a subterranean world, would provide the company with its second excursion into the Burroughsiverse.

The Land That Time Forgot came out in 1974, a good old-fashioned adventure romp with a square-jawed hero, nasty German villains and loads of dinosaurs. There was a winsome heroine (Susan Penhaligon) and a bunch of shorthouse cavemen. Directed by former editor Kevin Connor, photographed by Bond and Carry On regular Alan Hume, with special effects by Thunderbirds` Derek Meddings, the movie was a happy romp in spite of the blokes-in-suits dinosaurs by Roger Dicken and kept a lot of kids amused in the summer of 1974.

The success of the film did not lead to a sequel, but to the infinitely superior At The Earth`s Core. Based on the first of Burroughs` Pellucidar novels, the story was that of a tunnelling machine invented by Dr Abner Perry and financed by adventurer David Innes. When the machine is thrown off course drilling between Welsh valleys, it ends up in Pellucidar - a subterranean world where life has evolved completely separately to the rest of the Earth in a vast chamber within the crust of the planet. Innes leads the resident humans in a fight against their birdlike overlords the Mahars. Doug McClure returned to the UK to play the hero Innes opposite Peter Cushing in one of his most delightfully eccentric performances as Dr Perry. Rounding out the cast list in more ways than one was Bond Girl To Be Caroline Munro as Dia, the Pellucidarian princess. Milton Subotsky provided the screenplay, with plenty of opportunities for more blokes-in-suits monsters and derring-do. Of the three pictures, ATEC is the most fun, with Peter Cushing stealing every scene he`s in by sending up every mad scientist he`s ever played. A very far cry from the following year`s turn he did as the Grand Moff Tarkin in a little movie whose title escapes me.

A sequel to Land That Time Forgot was made in 1977, but isn`t included in this set (being available elsewhere).

The last disc in the set is the final 1978 outing of the series, Warlords of Atlantis. Other than having Doug McClure in the cast, it bears no relationship to either LTTF or ATEC. This time, McClure is the square-jawed Hollywood hero opposite earnest boffin Peter Gilmore (of Onedin Line fame). Operating a diving bell from a ship crewed by a handful of UK resident Yanks including Shane Rimmer, Hal Galili and John Ratzenberger, they find Atlantis and discover it is being run by Cyd Charisse and Daniel Massey. Rubbery sea critters abound in this mad little potboiler written by former Doctor Who scriptwriter Brian Hayles.

Back home in the United States in the years after the Amicus adventures, McClure paid the rent as a regular presenter of infomercials - of the variety spoofed by The Simpsons with their Troy McClure character (voiced by the late Phil Hartman). Sadly, McClure succumbed to lung cancer in February 1995 at the age of 59. For my money this box set makes an excellent - and extremely fun - tribute to a fondly remembered face from my childhood.

Video

The Land That Time Forgot
This film has suffered the poorest transfer of the three. Presented in its original 1.85:1 in an anamorphic widescreen transfer, I was struck by the graininess of the image. Now, before anybody accuses me of being one of these idiots who goes on about film grain, I`m not talking about that. Film grain is an inherent part of the image and actually gives it definition. What I`m talking about is an overlying texture the image has, like that of a screen the movie was being projected on, (which is exactly what the texture indeed is), and is an artefact of a poor telecine transfer. The picture quality of LTTF is disappointing, being also very flat and muddy especially in scenes where the pallette is predominantly green-blue.

At The Earth`s Core
The presentation of this movie is a great improvement on that of LTTF, and a distinct improvement on the R1 transfer that MGM released last year. This transfer, in anamorphic widescreen of the original 1.85:1 is better framed than the R1 version which suffered from clipped titles. The print is sharp, and although there is some wear and tear, I`ve seen worse. Colours are nice and vivid and the contrast is good if a little flat. ATEC is just about the only film in the world I can positively say from personal experience was shot hard-matted as I`ve got a short strip of frames from the film which I was given on a tour of my local Odeon back in 1976. I have a soft spot for the movie as a result.

Warlords Of Atlantis
The presentation of this movie is on a par with that of ATEC. Shot in 1.85:1 and presented here as anamorphic widescreen, the transfer is serviceable. All three films have not been transferred from top quality master material, but the fault probably lies with the materials Studio Canal supplied rather than any corner-cutting on the part of 2 Entertain.

Audio

All three films are presented in their original mono soundtrack mixes, reproduced in Dolby 2.0. There`s little to comment on the soundtracks of these pictures, other than to say they`re serviceable.

Features

Surprisingly, these 2 Entertain (formerly Cinema Club) titles come with a presentable set of extras. Unfortunately these don`t include subtitles or closed captions. What you do get are small photo galleries of stills from the productions, text biographies of stars and the original author, and a theatrical trailer. The Land That Time Forgot also comes with a short (12 min) making-of piece called The Master Of Adventure. The short, presented in 4:3 suffers terribly from wear and tear and from the quality may originate from 16mm (or even 8mm) stock. For its shortcomings, it is a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes of 1970s filmmaking in the UK.

Included in the box set are six postcard-sized artworks comprising a still from each movie and the original poster art.

Conclusion

A generous slice of fantasy hokum and probably Doug McClure`s finest hours. Three Edgar Rice Burroughs (or Burroughs-inspired) adventures full of derring-do and rubber monsters. Throw in Susan Penhaligon, Caroline Munro and Lea Brodie as an antidote to the monsters and what more could you want?

How about Peter Cushing delivering the best line of all three movies in At The Earth`s Core - "You can`t mesmerise me! I`m British!!"