Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress (anime mini-series, 2016)

Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress is a 12-episode 2016 anime mini-series with lots of mayhem and a definite steampunk vibe.

There are zombies and hints of vampirism. There are cool armoured trains. There are cute girls. There are complex characters, and complex interactions between them. There's love and betrayal and honour and courage. And there's lots of carnage.

Here's the link to my review at Cult TV Lounge.

Warlords of Atlantis (1978)

The team of producer John Dark, director Kevin Connor and actor Doug McClure was responsible for Amicus’s very successful 1970s trio of Edgar Rice Burroughs adaptations, The Land that Time Forgot, The People that Time Forgot and At the Earth’s Core. This team combined yet again in 1978 to bring us Warlords of Atlantis, although this time it was not an Amicus production nor was it an Edgar Rice Burroughs adaptation. It does have a rather similar feel to the three earlier movies, although with a few key differences, and in its own way it’s just as much fun

The early sequences of the movie have a very decided feel that would today be described as steampunk. It is 1896 and an ambitious expedition is setting out (on a marvellous steam yacht), their destination - the bottom of the sea!

Professor Aitken (Donald Bisset) is the driving force behind the expedition and he is the one putting up the money. American inventor Greg Collinson (Doug McClure) has designed a rather nifty diving bell. He and the professor’s son Charles (Peter Gilmore) will be the ones making the descent. What Collinson has not been told is the real purpose of the expedition. It is not merely to explore the sea floor. Professor Collinson hopes to find the underwater city of Atlantis. The fact that the professor is an archaeologist probably should have given Collinson the clue that the intention is to find more than just interesting species of fish.

They soon have a remarkable stroke of what seems like good luck but turns out to be very bad luck. They discover an impressive golden statue. This is unfortunate because the crew of the yacht Texas Rose are thoroughly unreliable and are soon infected with gold fever. This is about to cause very serious problems when an even bigger problem comes along - a very large and very unfriendly octopus. When I say very large I mean the octopus is rather bigger than the Texas Rose, and when I say very unfriendly I mean the octopus intends to have both the steam yacht and its crew for lunch. In fact their fate turns out to be less immediately fatal but every bit as disturbing and they find themselves in Atlantis.

At this point the movie takes a rather unexpected turn in a very science fictional direction. The Atlanteans are not an ancient Earth civilisation. They are aliens from outer space. They were stranded on Earth aeons ago and their intention is to leave this planet and find their destiny once more among the stars. Unfortunately in order to achieve this destiny they will have to shape the destiny of Earth, and shape it in a very destructive way.

These alien Atlanteans have various paranormal powers and claim to be incredibly advanced although strangely enough the only weapons they have with which to defend themselves from the incessant attack of an unpleasant array of monsters are muzzle-loading cannons and rifles captured from the inhabitants of the upper world (in other words captured from us).

The Atlanteans have plans for the unlucky crew of the Texas Rose and they have very special plans for Charles Aitken. There’s more at stake than just survival - the future of Earth hangs in the balance. Fortunately the aliens have no idea that they’re up against Doug McClure.

These were the days when special effects meant stop-motion animation, miniatures and matte paintings rather than CGI. These were also the days when movie-makers were not dismayed by limited budgets. They were quite willing to tackle very ambitious projects such as this with seriously limited budgets and more often than you’d expect the final results were quite satisfactory. This movie being a definite case in point. Underwater action, vast underwater cities, battle scenes and monsters (lots of monsters) are among the treats in store for the viewer and by and large they look pretty good.

Peter Gilmore makes a fine secondary hero. Doug McClure is, well he’s Doug McClure. You know what to expect and you won’t be disappointed. Look out for Cyd Charisse as an alien.

By this stage Kevin Connor definitely knew what he was doing with a picture like this. The aim is entertainment and Connor keeps it coming. He wasn’t going to let the low budget bother him and there’s no reason why the audience should either. This movie takes its story just seriously enough. In fact the movie strikes the perfect balance in every department. It throws in a few interesting ideas but never lets them bog the story down.

Studiocanal’s Region 2 DVD offers a reasonable if not outstanding anamorphic transfer without any extras.

The steampunk background is a delight and overall Warlords of Atlantis is splendid entertainment that can be recommended without any reservations.

Master of the World (1961)

Movies based on the works of Jules Verne had been very successful at the box office in the 50s so in 1961 AIP decided to get in on the act with an adaptation of Verne’s Master of the World. This was to be a spectacular action movie, but done on a very low AIP budget.

Therein of course lies the problem. Had a studio like Disney done this film it might have been every bit as good as their superb 1954 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. AIP just didn’t have the money or the resources, or the expertise, of Disney. Despite this Master of the World is still a good deal of fun.

We start in a small town in Pennsylvania, a town sheltering under the slopes of a huge mountain known as the Great Eyrie. Loud rumbling noises are heard and the earth begins to shake. It looks like the Great Eyrie is about to erupt. Which is strange, since the mountain range of which it forms a part is not volcanic. How can a mountain that is not a volcano erupt? And what is the explanation of the booming voice heard at the time?

The US government, not unnaturally, wants to find out. They send out a man from the Department of the Interior to investigate. The man is John Strock (Charles Bronson). Strock decides that the best way to find out what is going on inside the Great Eyrie is to go have a look-see. That’s a sound idea, but the Great Eyrie is unclimbable. That’s awkward, but Strock is undaunted. If he can’t climb the mountain he’ll fly over it. Since this is 1868 the only way to do that is in a balloon.

He calls on the services of a ballooning society. The president of this society, an arms manufacturer named Prudent (Henry Hull), has designed a modern motor-driven balloon in conjunction with Phillip Evans (David Frankham). Evans is engaged to be married to Prudent’s daughter Dorothy (Mary Webster). Dorothy insists on coming along and soon she, her father, Evans and John Strock are flying over the mountain peak. At which time they are shot down by missile fire.

The four intrepid balloonists survive the crash of their balloon and wake up in what appears to be a ship. But this is no ordinary ship. It is an airship, the Albatross, and they are now the guests (or in practical terms the prisoners) of the airship’s captain, Robur (Vincent Price). The Albatross is many years ahead of its time. It is powered by electricity generated by some kind of magnetic engine.

Robur is not just a brilliant eccentric inventor and explorer. He is a man with a mission. His mission is to stamp out war, and he intends to do this no matter how many people he has to kill in the process. Robur intends to blackmail the governments of the world into disarming by threatening them with destruction from the skies. Like most people who want to save the world Robur doesn’t bother to ask if the world if the world wants or indeed needs to be saved.

It is apparent to our four adventurous balloonists that somebody has to stop Robur, and it’s going to have to be them. This is made more difficult by the fact that Evans and Strock dislike and distrust each other.

While Vincent Price will always be best remembered for his horror roles he was also superb in adventure movies as a tragic, flawed hero (as in War Gods of the Deep). Robur is dangerous and deluded but he is also charismatic and charming. He can be capriciously cruel but he is also capable of kindness, and even on rare occasions remorse. It’s a fine performance.

Charles Bronson might seem to a modern viewer to be miscast, but it has to be remembered that when this movie was made he hadn’t yet been stereotyped as the dark brooding killer type. He actually makes a decent adventure story hero. Mary Webster is quite adequate, Henry Hull is fun as Mr Prudent, but sadly David Frankham is rather bland as Evans.

The special effects were always going to be potentially the weak link. They are in fact variable but better than you might expect in a movie made under the budgetary constraints imposed by AIP’s lack of resources. There are some very obvious matte paintings, especially in the opening scene, but on the whole they’re reasonable enough. Most importantly the miniatures work is excellent. The Albatross looks very impressive and very convincing, in fact more convincing that it would probably look if done with modern CGI. Director William Witney does a competent job. With a script by the always interesting Richard Matheson Master of the World is really a surprisingly good movie. Great entertainment ad highly recommended.

MGM’s made-on-demand DVD offers an excellent anamorphic transfer.