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6
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8 |
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10
= Highest Rating |
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Guest
Review by Rod
Barnett |
Latitude
Zero
is one of the lesser known of Toho's late '60s science fiction
films and when you see it in all its mad glory you understand
why. It's not that LZ is a bad
film — at least not completely. But it is such a strange mixture
of good and bad elements that you're never sure how to take
it. During the first 45 minutes its plays like a wonderful Jules
Verne style fantasy introducing the audience to an amazing underwater
city and the incredible scientific advances of its inhabitants.
But once Cesar Romero's supervillain character is introduced
things get silly pretty fast. As you might expect from a Toho
production of the period the miniature work is fantastic, with
some great submarine battles and exploding islands. But the
creature effects are abysmal, often putting me in mind of poorly
articulated stuffed animals. Luckily the film is entertaining
enough to overcome a lot of its problems but it's still not
one of the best from a studio that was at the time starting
a sad slide into dancing Godzilla sequences. Juvenile features
aimed at the kiddie matinee market would soon become the standard
for mighty Toho.
The
film begins with two scientists (Akira Takarada and Masumi Okada)
and news photographer Perry Lawton (Richard Jaeckel of The
Green Slime) in a bathysphere being lowered into the Pacific
Ocean from a Japanese science vessel. They are part of a team
of oceanic researchers studying a deep sea water current in
the hopes of helping submarines increase their speeds. Without
warning there is a huge explosion from the seabed and an underwater
volcano erupts. The blast tosses the bathysphere around like
a toy (he he) and snaps its support cable, severing it from
the surface ship and rolling the hapless trio along the sea
floor. Just as it appears the men will perish they are unexpectedly
rescued by scuba divers who wench the bathysphere into a mysterious
futuristic submarine. When Lawton and Dr.Tashiro (Takarada)
awaken aboard the sub they're introduced to the lovely ship's
doctor Anne Barton (Coffy's
Linda Haynes) and the sub commander, Captain Craig MacKenzie
(Joseph Cotton, Baron
Blood). The amiable captain tells them that his ship the
Alpha was in the area to observe the volcanic eruption
and watch the sea gain a new island in the process. He was happy
to rescue the men but is less enthused when Dr. Barton insists
that to save the third member of the bathysphere crew will require
medical attention not available on the submarine. MacKenzie
reluctantly turns the ship about and heads for home base to
save the researcher.
But before they can
reach safety their movements are tracked by the nefarious Malic
(Cesar Romero in full Batman overacting mode) who dispatches
his own submarine, the Black Shark, to destroy his hated
enemy. But MacKenzie proves to be quite resourceful and is able
to reach the underwater city of Latitude Zero unscathed. As
their companion is rushed off to the hospital, Lawton and Tashiro
are shown around the amazing city and have its wonders explained
to them. Protected from the ocean by a force field the doubles
as the city's sky, LZ is a bucolic society verging on a utopia.
The place was established nearly two centuries before and was
set up to work for the benefit of mankind. The most brilliant
minds of the world are invited to secretly live and work without
fear of governments using their creativity for war. The two
men are stunned by the place but are even more surprised to
learn of the incredible longevity of the city's inhabitants
—
Capt. MacKenzie claims to be over 200 years old! It seems that
slowing the aging process is one of Latitude Zero's amazing
advances in science.
After the third member
of the bathysphere crew rejoins them the trio begin to think
about returning to the upper world. But just then word arrives
that scientist Dr. Akada, who was on his way to Latitude Zero,
has been kidnapped by the evil Malic. Akada has perfected a
treatment that immunizes against the effects of radiation and
wishes to keep such a potentially dangerous process out of the
hands of warmongering leaders. Malic intends to force the scientist
to give up his secret and isn't above using the man's helpless
daughter as leverage. The three visitors to LZ ask to accompany
Capt. MacKenzie on a mission to Malic's fortress to help rescue
Akada. Ridiculously he agrees to take them along but only after
they join him in a hot tub. Uh! Actually the hot tub
is called the "Bath of Immunity" —
a soaking process that temporarily confers bulletproof skin
to the bather. When the lovely Dr. Barton joins them in the
tub I was excited that the film might shoot off in an unexpected
direction but everyone's privacy is maintained. And so they're
off to save the day.
That's basically the
tale told in Latitude
Zero but it doesn't
really prepare you for what you're going to see. As mentioned,
the film is a strange combination of great and terrible. It
plays like the greatest Jules Verne rip-off every made right
up until the absurdities become too much to take. And boy, are
they epic! Romero plays his role as if the folks in the cheap
seats might be deaf, arching his eyebrows at every opportunity
and smiling like he was being paid by the grin. Patricia Medina
plays his consort Lucretia; she works hard to match Cesar's
over-the-top style giving all the scenes in their Blood Rock
fortress a camp factor that bumps uncomfortably against the
more serious stuff with the heroes. It's clear they were going
for a playful sensibility but it often throws the movie's tone
off. Adding to the campiness is the sadly inept look of the
creatures created by Malic. Its here that it seems the budget
came up short. I thought the worst the film could show me was
the hysterically stupid looking bat-men that Malic uses to intimidate
his prisoners. But when the lion is revealed and is so obviously
a man in a lion outfit I nearly doubled over in laughter. Seriously
—
this thing looks like they hollowed out a large stuffed animal
and shoved a guy inside. It could not look sillier if they had
tried. By the time Malic has grafted condor wings onto the lion,
inserted a human brain into it and sent it off to kill, I was
utterly slack jawed.
But the strange thing
is, I still like this movie. I could never call it great but
I think it works on the level of a grand Saturday afternoon
matinee aimed squarely at kids. It's inventive, silly and filled
with wonderful eye candy. The final battle between the two rival
submarines (including the island bombardment) features incredible
miniature work and the film maintains a light touch and a good
pace throughout. Even if I might have shortened the running
time by a few minutes this is still a fun movie of the type
they just don't make anymore.
It's tempting to say that director Ishirô (Gojira)
Honda was working beneath his abilities but I think it's his
craftsman skills that make this such an enjoyable experience
in spite of its odd problems. Honda and his collaborators behind
the camera certainly did their best even if this isn't their
best work. And credit must be given to Joseph Cotton for portraying
MacKenzie with a twinkle and a smile, striking the perfect attitude
to make the film an entertaining fantasy —
at least while he's on screen.
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Tokyo
Shock has given Latitude
Zero
an excellent debut on Region 1 DVD, in a two-DVD package that
might be considered overkill. The film is presented in a beautiful
anamorphic widescreen print boasting colors that pop off the screen.
Two versions of the film were produced for release in 1969 and
both of them are included; the U.S. version on Disc 1 and the
"Original Japanese Version" on Disc 2. Strangely, the
export version is longer than the Japanese. Clocking in at 105
minutes, it expands on the story is small ways and is actually
the more satisfying of the versions. The Japanese cut is 89 minutes
and while moving faster feels less fun. Both are good ways to
see the story but I find myself giving the nod to the U.S. edit.
It gives the English-speaking cast members their own voices and
most of the acting is more natural (although nothing could make
Linda Hayes performance any good). The English track is presented
in both a 5.1 mix and the original mono. The Japanese cut has
very good English subtitles in yellow.
The
extras on Disc 2 consist of interviews with some of the crew,
several trailers and over 20 minutes of deleted miniature effects
work. The interviews with the assistant director and a couple
of the special effects men are interesting but I found the silent
deleted footage fascinating; it gives a little behind-the-scenes
look at how things were shot. 1/28/08 |
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