41 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Purity of heart meets Herculean strength in Man from Atlantis, December 24, 2006
Here is yet another short-lived Fantasy series that until today remains an under-appreciated gem in bad need of a DVD release.
Patrick Duffy was superb in the role of Mark Harris, the Man from Atlantis. In the pilot he doesn't speak until the end but his performance is nevertheless quite compelling. This in spite of the eerie bright green contacts he had to wear for the part. Initially, Harris is introduced as a man with an inherent innocence and vulnerability that is in sheer contrast to his physical strength and superhuman powers.
Equipped with gills and webbed hands and feet, Harris is more cetacean than human, and relates better to marine life than the average mortal, but his pure heart and morals are way superior to ours and rival only those of Superman.
Harris swims dolphin-style, something never before seen in 1977. Plus Patrick Duffy looks quite amazing in his yellow swimming trunks. Belinda J. Montgomery was soporifically dull opposite Duffy, but that's okay. Patrick Duffy has enough talent to spare and will keep you captivated till the end of the episode.
All in all, this is a delightful little family show, with cheap special effects (such as an "invisible" river, a double-headed sea-horse, which resembles what it is: a man in a bad Halloween costume); however this is 1977, and after all computer graphics and other FX technology weren't yet invented. And again, Duffy's talent and good-looks more than compensate for any lack in the FX department.
So if your co-workers ate your lunch today and conveniently forgot yet again to fill up the coffee pot, sounds like you deserve a little escape. How about time-traveling to an alternate reality in the late 70's? Kick back and relax with Mark Harris, the Man from Atlantis with a childlike innoncence, a heart of gold, and the strength of Samson or Hercules. And did I mention the looks of Adonis?!
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34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Quality and Item description, September 2, 2005
I was excited about seeing this show again, but when I received my copy, I was terribly disappointed. First of all, the recording quality makes viewing almost unbearable. Secondly, based on the item description, I assumed that this recording included the aired episodes from the series. I assumed wrong. The recording that I received is a 96 minute recording of what appears to be the pilot to the series.
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
With more obscure series already released, why not this one too?, July 15, 2008
I was a teenager when this series first aired. I was an instant fan, even though the subsequent episodes didn't try to explore fresh new plotlines that I had hoped for. I still remember parts of the TV Guide interviews with some of the cast, where Victor Buono mentioned the problems Patrick Duffy had with those contacts (these were custom-made glass pieces, expensive to make, and actually partially enclosed the eye, as plastic contacts had not yet been introduced) as acting "with golf balls stuck inside your eye sockets!" Mr. Duffy was also a certified diver at that time, and knew how to partially fill his windpipe with water to avoid showing air bubbles. He also introduced the undulating swimming motion to make his character different from a human swimmer. He was also easy on the eyes, which certainly didn't hurt the series any! I actually liked Belinda Montgomery's character - I felt she was a different type from the tiresome female costar stereotypes of that time. She was low-key, but more "real" to me. And I also loved the theme music! Some of the episodes also showed as well as the pilot, but I suspect the writers knew their days were numbered, and the later episodes were not as polished or well-thought out.
This series deserved a longer run, as other shows with worse premises and/or scripts were allowed much longer life than they deserved. I would love to see this come complete to DVD! Maybe they could also include the four MFA books as an extra bonus to those who never got the original volumes (though I hope they correct the printing gaffes and typos found in the originals). I also hope those of the cast still around would be willing to add their remembrances to a DVD of this series.
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