Trama

A young linguist named Milo Thatch joins an intrepid group of explorers to find the mysterious lost continent of Atlantis.

1914: Milo Thatch, grandson of the great Thaddeus Thatch works in the boiler room of a museum. He knows that Atlantis was real, and he can get there if he has the mysterious Shephards journal, which can guide him to Atlantis. But he needs someone to fund a voyage. His employer thinks he's dotty, and refuses to fund any crazy idea. He returns home to his apartment and finds a woman there. She takes him to Preston B. Whitmore, an old friend of his Grandfathers. He gives him the shepherds journal, a submarine and a 5 star crew. They travel through the Atlantic ocean, face a large lobster called the Leviathan, and finally get to Atlantis. But does the Atlantis crew have a lust for discovery, or something else?—<laserwatch007@yahoo.com>

Set in 1914, young linguist orphan named Milo Thatch buries himself in books trying to unlock the secret to the destruction of Atlantis. Althouth his theories are ridiculed by his colleagues he is persistent in his dreams of one day discovering the lost isle. His dreams are realized when he is given a spot in an expedition, financed by a friend of his grandfather, to go in search of Atlantis following Milo's guide: The Shepard's Journal. But the Guardians of Atlantis await the explorers putting them in danger at every turn. And the deadly truth about Atlantis's demise puts Milo, the royal family, and all of Atlantis in mortal jeopardy.—O.G.

1000's of years ago the Atlantis empire is stuck by a giant tsunami. The scouts of Atlantis are not able to warn the city in time as the giant wave travels quickly towards the it. Atlantis is only saved by a force field that submerges the empire underground & protects it denizens. One woman is consumed by a giant crystal that hovers in the sky above the city, while generating that force field. During this process, the woman's eyes turned blue, and she ascended to the city, to "bond" with the crystal. The woman was the Queen of Atlantis, the mother of Kidagakash "Kida" Nedakh (Cree Summer).

Milo James Thatch (Michael J. Fox) is with Smithsonian Institution in 1914. He is inspired by his grandfather who always spoke of Atlantis. Milo says that the civilization of Atlantis had access to advanced technology, far ahead of what the world has now. The Atlantis civilization existed 10,000 years before the Egyptians and had electricity, advanced medicine and even the power of flight. He says that Atlantis was sunk under the ocean by a sudden cataclysmic event, which was documented by Plato based on historical artifacts. Milo says that ancient scriptures indicate that Atlantis had a power source, more powerful than steam, coal or the internal combustion engines.

Milo claims to have found the location of the journal that points to the location of Atlantis. He says that the Shepherd's Journal gives the location of the journal in Ireland, but counters that an ancient Viking shield indicates one letter of the journal was wrongly translated and hence the correct location of the journal is in Iceland. Milo proposes an expedition to locate Atlantis and bring the power source back to the surface. The Smithsonian don't listen to him. Fenton Q. Harcourt (David Ogden Stiers) is a board member of the Smithsonian Institution who dismisses Milo's belief in the existence of Atlantis. Harcourt says that the museum finds scientific expeditions based on facts and not folklore. Even the threat of resignation from Milo does not change Harcourt's mind.

Milo is approached by Helga Sinclair (Claudia Christian) who takes Milo to billionaire Preston Whitmore (John Mahoney) who claims to know Milo's grandfather Thaddeus. He made a bet that if ever the journal was found, he would fund a mission to Atlantis.

Preston says that his team found the journal exactly where Thaddeus had predicted it would be and that Thaddeus had asked him to give the journal to Milo when he was ready. Now Preston was going to Atlantis (he had a high-tech submarine and other associated attack and supply vessels ready) & wanted Milo to join as their translator who can decipher the journal and point them in the right direction. Preston says that the Smithsonian made fun of Thaddeus who died a broken man. Preston wanted to bring back one shred of proof that he could use to restore Thaddeus' reputation in the realm of great explorers.

The expedition is led by Commander Lyle Tiberius Rourke (James Garner), and includes mechanic Audrey Rocio Ramirez (Jacqueline Obradors), Explosives Vincenzo "Vinny" Santorini (Don Novello), Geologist Gaetan "Mole" Moliere (Corey Burton), radio operator Wilhelmina Bertha Packard (Florence Stanley), chef Jebidiah Allardyce "Cookie" Farnsworth (Jim Varney) & Dr Joshua Strongbear Sweet (Phil Morris). This was the same crew that found the journal in Iceland.

The expedition takes them to the waters off the coat of Iceland, where a giant submersible takes them to the ocean floor. Milo says that that on the ocean floor would be the entrance to Atlantis, a narrow passageway that curves and leads into an air pocket. From the air pocket they would find a path that leads to the City of Atlantis. Milo cautions the crew that The Leviathan may be guarding the entrance to Atlantis. It turns out that the Leviathan is a giant mechanical sea creature, that ends up destroying the sub with an energy discharge from its mouth. Luckily, Milo and some of the crew escape, finding themselves in an underground cavern.

The crew braves several pitfalls and strange creatures (with Milo providing directions on which path to take and how to avoid the traps). Milo reads the journal, but in the section where it talks about the power source of the city, he finds that one page is mission.

Along the way Milo bonds with the rest of the crew. He learns that Audrey's dad wanted sons and got 2 daughters instead. Vinny's family owned a flower shop. He got into explosives when the Chinese laundry shop next door blew up in a gas explosion. That night, while the crew is asleep, their camp is attacked by fireflies that set the entire camp on fire. Some vehicles are able to escape, but most of the fuel supplies are lost to the fire. The surviving vehicles are crossing an ancient bridge, when the bridge collapses and the crew falls to the base of a dormant volcano. Milo is found by an Atlantean who heals his would with the power of her crystal that she wears around her neck.

Milo follows the Atlantean, and they finally make it to Atlantis, preserved in a sunken atmosphere. The city itself it perched on a plateau from which water flows down from all sides. The moat around the city is filled with lava, indicating that the nearby volcano is not fully dormant. Only an old rope bridge connects to the city over the moat of lava.

They are accosted by natives, led by the King Kashekim Nedakh's (Leonard Nimoy) daughter, Kida. Milo is able to communicate with Kida (as Atlantean language is based on a root dialect which is the mother of all other languages) who takes them to her father. Kashekim reminds Kida that as per law, no outside can visit Atlantis and live, but Kida believes that the outsiders can help them. Kida says that the city is dying, and she believes that Milo can help them unlock the secrets of the past and return them to their glory days. The King asks them to leave, but Rourke asks permission to stay one day & is granted.

Milo & Rourke know that King is hiding something & they want to find out via Kida. Kida tells Milo that when the city went underwater, a bright light hovered over the city. Milo realizes that Kida was alive back then and hence is 8800 years old. Milo discovers that the crystal around Kida's neck can power the flying machines that are lying dormant all over Atlantis. Kida takes Milo to underwater locations with scriptures with ancient writings on the wall. Milo translates the scriptures and finds that the crystals around the native's neck is the source of their power & there is a giant crystal that is the "heart" that connects all other crystals.

Rourke reveals himself that he, Helga & others want to steal the crystal for their gain. He had stolen the page of the journal that gave the location of the giant crystal. Kida is the daughter of the woman who got sucked in by the giant crystal the last time around. The crew captures Kida and forces Milo to translate the last page of the journal and take them to location of the crystal. They find an underground chamber where the crystal resides in the sky, protected by "guardians" of the city (who are Kings from their past). As the group watches, Kida suddenly takes on a blue-glow in her eyes and ascends towards the crystal. As they watch, the crystal fuses with her, making her a glowing blue figure.

Rourke and the rest of the team bring the 'Crystal/Kida' above-ground, sealing her in a metal box. They leave Atlantis & the crystals around Atlantean necks dim. Milo says that taking Kida away will kill the entire Atlantean civilization. But Rourke leaves Milo behind & takes Kida. Audrey, Mole, Vinny & Sweet sympathize with Milo & leave Rourke who goes with Helga. As Rourke gets to the other side of the rope bridge, he blows it up so nobody can follow.

After they go, the King reveals that the crystal chooses a host from the royal family in time of danger to bond with it & to protect Atlantis. When the King used the crystal as a weapon in war, its power got out of control, consumed Kida's mom & buried Atlantis underwater. Now the King fears that if Kida is bonded to the crystal for too long, she will be lost forever.

Milo uses the mini crystals to power the mini Atlantean flying machines to pursue Rourke. Rourke is trying to escape via a volcano shaft, that goes to the surface, in a balloon. Milo attacks & defeats Rourke. Rourke is killed as the balloon explodes & falls on the volcano floor. This triggers the volcano & lava begins flowing through it. The team takes Kida back to Atlantis & the power of the crystal summons the guardians which form a force field around Atlantis as lava flows over it.

After it is over, Kida returns back & finds the ancient, preserved city, uncovered by the power of crystal. Milo stays back as Audrey, Vinny, Sweet & Mole return as rich men. Milo sends a mini crystal as gift to Preston.