udar55 Another 80s Fred Olen Ray flick I had never seen, but knew quite well due to seeing stills of Sybil Danning in her tight leather outfit. Denae Chambers (Susan Stokey) hires Cort Eastman (Ross Hagen) and his female sidekick Eddy (Dawn Wildsmith) to help locate a rumored lost world in the center of the earth that might have tons of priceless jewels. Joining them on their expedition are Prof. Strock (Robert Quarry) and Andrew Paris (Jeffrey Combs). What they find after venturing 15 miles into a cave is another world ruled by an alien queen (Sybil Danning). This is so-so stuff from Ray that doesn't really pick up until the last 20 minutes. The best thing about it (other than Michelle Bauer getting topless) is the rapport between hard drinking Cort and Eddy. Combs is also an always welcome presence. Seeing this, DEEP SPACE, THE TOMB and PRISON SHIP all so close together also makes me respect the acting of Stokey as she played wildly different characters in each one. And, of course, Danning in anything 80s is require viewing. Yowza!

lordzedd-3 I am a big fan of Fred Olen Ray and I regret to say that Phantom Empire is not his best work. I'm not sure if we wasn't feeling well, didn't care for the project or if all the blame rest squarely on the shoulders of the writer but this movie is flawed big time. There is serious character and story issues. The alien queen is a real bitch and all the actors seemed phoned in their performances. The cave mutants are somewhat lame, considering it was 1986 I think they could have done better. I real don't want to be insulting, but this was more Don Dohler then Fred Olen Ray but there was enough interesting points to keep it from failing. So a mild and unimpressed 4 STARS.

gridoon ....and that happens at around the 50-minute mark, when Sybil (as a character in the film exclaims, "WOW!") Danning appears, well-cast as a fighting alien queen. Up until then "The Phantom Empire" is a plodding, sleep-inducing trek, and the cannibals with Halloween masks over their faces and old rags for clothes are beneath Z-grade cinema. The sole bright spot is Michelle Bauer as a bikini-clad "cave bunny". After Danning's entrance, the viewer can at least focus on her phenomenal figure, and it's easier to forgive the unimpressive stop-motion animation effects (I think "One Million Years B.C.", from 1965, has a better dinosaur battle than the one featured here). But if you want to see something from Fred Olen Ray that looks more like a real film and less like a college project, seek out his "Cyclone" from the following year. (*1/2) P.S.: To claim that you watched this film "for the dinosaurs" is like claiming that you watched "Jurassic Park" for the T & A.

pumaye You know from the start that will be a harsh movie to go through, but you sincerely hope in something better when it is finished. Not even campy, but a real shame of a movie, made with cheap sets, terrible script, not even enough nudes to justify the rent. A real waste of time