Atlantis

'allo

Lets talk about Atlantis (yes i know we have before), it is in many ways the natural Indiana Jones locale it has an untoched upon mythological heritage (Greece), it has a cultural resonance with us that only the Grail can be said to be had and it also is incredibly mysterious and GL can mould it to his will...

Perhaps that is why it was used in the most high profile non-movie/TV adventure The Fate Of Atlantis.

However i think Atlantis could make a great Indy movie even though it lacks a natural artifact and it is not Judeo-Christian orientated....

What do you think....? (patronising i know but you gotta spell things out plain and simple sometimes)

my initial reaction to seeing this thread was: "we already had the comic/game 'fate of atlantis' and the recent disney movie 'atlantis', wouldn't that be over doing it?"

but I read your post, and there is truth in what you say

It would easily give a chance for us to see greece, which, I think, would be one of the BEST script locations they could have in indy 4

greece is full of history, heritage and culture....indy on a dig or something in greece, sounds rather smashing I should say.....

perhaps they could show atlantis as connections between the middle east........we could see lots of lcations and cultures....very cool

It would be cool to see atlantis...I can't think of any place that is as big and cool....one of the few things that can match the ark and grail

however, I can say for the most part: It WILL NOT be so, they won't make atlantis for these reasons:

-done in FOA
-done in disney film
-(grr, I thought of another logical reason, and now I bloody forgot it.....)


but still, I've never seen any real-life atlantis movie (by that I mean with real people, not cartoons), I think an indy film, made in the 21st century, about atlantis.................solid gold.....

I agree, and have many comments on Atlantis. I would want to have it approached from a very historic, realistic view. Eden and the birth of civilization would be fantasy, Atlantis should be scientific, real, tangible.

Greece would also be a wonderful cinematic setting, and we don't even have to go into the possibility of romance. It would also lend itself to many subplots we have already discussed, with lesser greek artifacts.

I know, but since greece is the only (I think) sorce of it's existance, wouldn't indy start his quest there anyways???

and as I mentioned befor: with atlantis, you could say that it was a bridge between egypt and mexico or something, indy needs to find clues in those places

these Ideas could make the Ideal Indy flick

Kevin's right, Indy could encounter just about any of the great civilizations, if Atlantis is the plot...or it could be Greco-centric.

Attila the Professor said:

Kevin's right, Indy could encounter just about any of the great civilizations, if Atlantis is the plot...or it could be Greco-centric.

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indeed


BTW, how far did the greek army get in it's golden age? they could use some of the places they captured too!

The live-action TV show of the Stargate Franchise is going to focus on something to dowith Atlantis. It may be touched upon on the next movie or the Spin-off series of SG-1 which is titled "Stargate:Atlantis".

In a sense Atlantis has already been found. Of course, no one knows if what they found is specifically what Plato was talking about, but it matches pretty well in a few respects--

1. The three ring structure: The sunken landmass, in the Mediterranian, consisted of an oddly structured mountain range, which did, in fact form rings (not perfectly round, of course, but close enough.) There was an outer ring of mountains, then valleys, then rising again for an inner ring, another valley, and a central peak. Assuming the inhabitants of Atlantis built their cities on the mountains' peaks, and if the valleys were flooded, this would match Plato's description of the "three concentric rings" that comprised Atlantis.

2. An advanced civilization: Excavators found flooded dwellings on this landmass that supported Plato's account of an advanced civilation on Atlantis. The houses had multiple stories (something that was unheard of elsewhere in the time they were built), and the faucets had taps for hot and cold water (again, this was rare, to say the least.) They also found broken remains of odd machines and contraptions (including one item which they believe may have been a crude attempt at a flying vehicle.)

I can't remember the rest of the details, but if this special ever comes on TV again, be sure to watch it... it was quite interesting (and, of course, if you ever get to take a trip to the Mediterranian, be sure to visit!)

[
however, I can say for the most part: It WILL NOT be so, they won't make atlantis for these reasons:

-done in FOA
-done in disney film
[/B][/QUOTE]

So what , like that has ever stopped Hollywood , alien-invasion films have been done before but that didn't stop them from making 'Signs'...

Hey George i have this great idea , would absolutely make a smashing Indy film,its about Atlantis.
Sorry Frank not possible there is an obscure videogame made 10 years ago which is also about Atlantis.

The great thing about Atlantis is that it means a lot of things to different people it can go from the probable reality (if any) behind the story to the antidulivant world in which the atlantians could fly etc to Hancock in which Atlantis or an atlantis esqe culture spread civilisation...

My only concerns (the glass is always half empty for me) with the idea is that:

1. Anyone who remmebers FOA will recall the rather sterile visit to Atlantis and i personally do not feel that a visit to a place such as Atlantis should be in an Indy film as it lends itself too far to fantasy
2. The lack of an artifact FOA made up the orchaliaum (or some such thing) although the comic/game were by no means bad the lack of a central artifact did make the tension and the scope of the story suffer
3. There is no Judeo-Christian artifact and i really think that this would possibly take away a lot from the film not because it is Judeo-Christian but it just lacks the passion and the spirituality that even the Shankara Stones had; there could not really be the wonder of Grail or the fufillment at the end of ToD. Atlantis is just not related with the real world
4. Indy going under the sea is not a place that Indy belongs and i cannot imagine action sequences involving Indy in Atlantis it just wouldnt fit

However i still think Atlantis is undeniably the 'natural' choice for an Indy film with completely diffetrent environments from trilogy (Greek Islands possibly!) and a whole new backdrop (ancient Greece) which i believe is one of the richest and relatively fresh there is for a film of this type.

If i was forced to make a decision about the next Indy film i would go for Atlantis over Eden/Spear of Destiny etc

The makers of FoA didn't just think of ornichalcum (sp?), it was actually in Plato's dialogue IIRC (It's been five years since I read it). They used it to strengthen the walls.
There could however be a link with the Jewish world, because even Hitler said there was a link between the Jews and the Atlanteans. I'm not saying Hitler is a topnotch anthropologist, but a vague reference could be made.

Anyway, for the story, Indy would first have to find the lost second half of Plato's Kritias dialogue, so that turns him back to the sands of Egypt were he is searching for this text in Alexandria (Great Library, remember). He finds it, but the whole library get's destroyed, burning other great historical finds like the second book of Aristotle's poetics ("You don't find that on every bookshelf.").
Then there would be a race for the artifact which has the exact location of Atlantis.

However, I don't think the mediterranean setting would be very good, with the commies and all. You have troubles with Israel and it's neighbours, and the USSR supporting the arabs, but there isn't much to go on in Greek-Italian direction.

And I don't really like Atlantis. If I want to hear some crummy theory about giants that used to inhabit the world (They probably would have come here using flying saucers), I'll go and get a book by Erich von Dänicken. It usually gives me a great laugh too.

bob said:

2. The lack of an artifact FOA made up the orchaliaum (or some such thing) although the comic/game were by no means bad the lack of a central artifact did make the tension and the scope of the story suffer

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Just to nitpick--
Orichalcum was not made up. According to Plato's account, the temple on the center ring of Atlantis was very rich in gold, silver and orichalcum. Granted, its use in Atlantis was made up (we assume...), but I could live with that; afterall, the Sankara stones were fictional too.

Also, I don't think the game's story was at all weakened by not having a central artifact. Atlantis WAS the artifact. Anyway, I don't think Indy IV needs to be a carbon copy of Raiders and Crusade-- maybe forsaking the central Judeo/Christian artifact in favor of a mythological place wouldn't be such a bad idea.

My biggest problem with using Atlantis is that it sank. You can't walk around the streets of Atlantis anymore, so what would we end up with? Something that looks like the beginning of "Titanic," in which some submarines and underwater equipment float past it. In the game, Atlantis had a roof and an airlock (those Atlantians were well-prepared, weren't they? But then why did they all die? Presumably not from drowning.) Anyway, Atlantis would not be covered and waterproof in the real world, nor should it be in an Indy movie. The only way Indy could actually walk through Atlantis in a movie setting would be if Atlantis actually rose from the ocean depths. Some nuts out there actually believe Atlantis will, indeed, rise again one day, but it seems a little too crazy for an Indy movie.

[EDIT-- SORRY Marcus, I see you beat me to the Orichalcum point!]

I am ressurecting this thread because i am beginning to think that Atlantis will be the next artifact simply becasue it is the only 'artifact'/legend that can compare with the grail without becoming a little silly (i.e. Eden)

Also the Nazis really did go after Atlantis

And FOA is pretty much forgotten by almost everyone except grizzened old Indy fans and adventure game fans, and the subject for the general movie goer is the best.

Lets do greco-roman, but not atlantis (or maybe mention is subtley or something)

atlantis is too unoriginal for IJ4

Tomb of Alexander the Great, anyone?
Of course that would have no value other than the scientific one, so I don't think that it would be done.

Indy doesn't have to find Atlantis itself. Perhaps an artifact that conclusively proves its existence, jealously guarded by a remnant of Atlantean descent, a la the Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword.

Maybe he is searching for the "cradle of life"...oh wait, sorry that was already done (abit poorly).

Atlantis would make a great location, but not the main goal.

In the movie that was about the cradle of life, there was quite a bit of stolen Indy material

Text from the trailer:
"An Egyptian pharaoh had found a box of life and death"

Sounds a lot like the Ark in it's Raiders context.

A motorcycle ride over the Chinese wall?
I think we all read about this before in some early Temple of Doom version.

Cain said:

Indy doesn't have to find Atlantis itself. Perhaps an artifact that conclusively proves its existence, jealously guarded by a remnant of Atlantean descent, a la the Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword.

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I'll agree with that.An artifact from Atlantis could be interesting.

I've never played FoA, so I don't know what kind of artifact was in it. Maybe a cuneiform-type map that leads to a Doomsday device of some sort, bringing about the intervention of the aforementioned Brotherhood. It could all tie in to Atlantis' destruction...