Rating: 
Summary: First and one of the best of the "Beast on the loose" tales
Review: "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms has always been a particular favourite of mine, not only because it was the first of the famous 1950's Sci Fi films to deal with the Atomic age and all its pitfalls, but because of the excellent effort in all departments that was lavished on it. Based on a short story by Ray Bradbury it had a good, and for the time, original story to work with."The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms" was and still is such a leader in many departments of the history of science fiction storytelling. It dealt with the type of storyline that had not really been used since "King Kong" back in 1933. It boasts the additional flourish however of dealing with Atomic age testing and the possible dire consequences it can unleash on both nature and mankind. The writing and plot development are literate and follow a logical sequence and there is an effort, not common in a lot of the films of this era, to explain about the effects man can have on the evolution process and how our meedling can be detrimental. The film is also exceptional in that for the first time the sheer genius of Ray Harryhausen is seen at work in a film and his special effects wizardry in this film is wonderful . His creation of the fictional Dinosaur the "Rhedosaurus" is excellent and the scenes after the creature has been awakened by arctic atomic testing and begins its long journey back to its original breeding grounds are superb. The action that takes place in the eerie setting of a snow bound arctic location, and when the beast attacks the fishing boat, the lighthouse and finally when it comes ashore in New York City have never been equalled in its time. The attack on New York City culminating in the beast been trapped and then killed at Coney Island Amusement Park is without a doubt the most memorable set of sequences in the film. The expert stop motion animation meshed into live action is excellent and really creates a feel of a beast crashing along streets causing death and destruction. The beast's fiery death in among the Rollercoaster is spectacular but it makes you wonder at who is the real villian of the piece, the monster or the humans that disturbed its sleeep and then felt the need to kill it. Despite the films small budget and pioneer special effects it is an important and highly entertaining piece of movie making done at a time when these "monster on the loose" type of stories were still new and fresh. Many have followed "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms" but most have not come near its excellence in style and execution of a gripping story. I love these 1950's Sci Fi efforts and they seem to have a heart to them that are largely missing from the movies on similiar topics that are made nowadays. As a time capsule of movie making as it used to be back in the golden age of sci fi cinema you can't go past "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms"
Rating: 
Summary: One of these days, they'll listen to those scientists. . .
Review: A hungry Verasaurus goes in search of his spawning grounds and stops off for a roller coaster ride at Coney Island. This is a surprisingly engaging film that doesn't go overboard, mixing adequate special effects with a decent story line and an unusual amount of character development for early Science Fiction. There are no standouts in the cast, but the acting is superior to most films of this era and genre. Watch for a very young Lee Van Cleef as an Army sniper at the end of the movie.
Rating:
Summary: Rude Awakening
Review: A monstrous terror from the past is unleashed in the Sci-Fi classic "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms". An atomic blast near the Arctic Circle releases a prehistoric giant trapped in ice over 100-million years. The powerful creature leaves a trail of death and destruction upon surfacing in New York City. "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" is a landmark monster movie that honors legendary FX genius Ray Harryhausen's talents. The film's impressive visual effects and Ray Bradbury's well-paced storyline has changed the "monster on the rampage" film genre. The cast includes Paul Christian, Paula Raymond, Kenneth Tobey and Lee Van Cleef (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly). The film is presented in full frame format. The DVD contains a sharp and detailed video transfer and a clear dolby surround sound. The extras include trailers of the film and other creature favorites, interviews and a behind-the-scene featurette. Fans of classic Sci-Fi will be impressed with its presentation and it scores a solid "B".
Rating:
Summary: Rude Awakening
Review: A monstrous terror from the past is unleashed in the Sci-Fi classic "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms". An atomic blast near the Arctic Circle releases a prehistoric giant trapped in ice over 100-million years. The powerful creature leaves a trail of death and destruction upon surfacing in New York City. "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" is a landmark monster movie that honors legendary FX genius Ray Harryhausen's talents. The film's impressive visual effects and Ray Bradbury's well-paced storyline has changed the "monster on the rampage" film genre. The cast includes Paul Christian, Paula Raymond, Kenneth Tobey and Lee Van Cleef (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly). The film is presented in full frame format. The DVD contains a sharp and detailed video transfer and a clear dolby surround sound. The extras include trailers of the film and other creature favorites, interviews and a behind-the-scene featurette. Fans of classic Sci-Fi will be impressed with its presentation and it scores a solid "B".
Rating:
Summary: RAY HARRYHAUSEN'S FIRST MAJOR ACHIEVEMENT
Review: A Nuclear Bomb test in the Arctic thaws out and awakens a prehistoric monster called a "Rhedosaurus". The creature makes its way to New York eventually smashing its way through the city and killing a number of people. The film is based on a story by Ray Bradbury and stars mostly a cast of unknowns although a young Lee Van Cleef, who would go onto fame in Spaghetti westerns, does play a role. In general the acting is the pretty hokey stuff you got with sci-fi films of the 1950's.
The real star of the movie is the stop-motion animation of Ray Harryhausen in his first big solo-effort. Ray learned his craft under the great Willis O'Brien who did the effects for King Kong, Son of Kong, and others. Ray's meticulous planning of the creatures movements lends a sense of realism not seen in other's use of stop-motion. It honestly comes off as far more realistic than a guy in a suit that would be used in the movie it inspired the following year, "Godzilla". Terrific set pieces and miniatures really enhance the movie including the fantastic attack on the lighthouse and the climax at Coney island. Amazingly, this was all done on a budget of around $200,000.
This film would set off a giant creature movies with ants, spiders, locusts, and other beasties all going on a rampage throught the 1950's. But this really was the original and best of the lot. This new DVD contains two outstanding featurettes on the making of the movie and of the "rhedosaurus" that are a welcome addition for the fans of this classic drive-in film.
Rating: 
Summary: Minimalist review for a minor film
Review: Among the famous 50s monster flicks, this one is oddly forgettable despite good special effects.
Rating:
Summary: Prehistoric sea-giant rages against city!
Review: Based on a story by Ray Bradbury, The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953) was directed by Eugène Lourié and serves nicely as the first real showcase of technical effects master Ray Harryhausen.
The film starts out with an atomic test involving detonating a big boom boom the artic, giving us an opportunity to view stock footage of a lovely mushroom cloud. Seems these test were pretty common back in the day, but wait! Something was released from the ice...something that has been frozen in a state of suspended animation for 100 million years...and me be thinking it's a might peckish, after so many years of icy slumber. The beast, it's a big 'un alright, is spotted by two scientists, one being Tom Nesbitt, played by Paul Hubschmid (credited in the film as Paul Christian). The other scientist suffers an icy fate as the beast passes by, knocking into icebergs like a pregnant woman negotiating her girth around a china store, but Tom manages to escape. No one will believe his fantastic tale of a giant monster, but soon reports of boats being attacked by a giant sea serpent along the eastern coast of North America trickle in, lending a little more credibility to Tom's story. Who's crazy now? Jerks...this prompts an old geezer of a paleontology professor, working with Tom, to go down in a diving bell and check out this beastie (good idea there), giving us some more stock footage of a shark attacking an octopus (which, in fact, was really, really, cool). The gargantuan behemoth makes its' way on land, I guess to take in a show and grab a bite, and wreaks havoc among the inhabitants of New York, with all its' stepping on cars and people and smashing into buildings and such. There's a scene around this point that's pretty famous, one involving a patrolman standing before the creature in the middle of the street, firing his handgun in an effort annoy the creature, I suppose, who, once he gets the ravenous beasts' attention, gets all ate up. "Officer down, officer down! We need back up!" The army shows up with their big guns, and begins to do what they do best, shooting up the place. Use of a heavy artillery proves effective, but opens a wound in the creature unleashes yet another threat, prehistoric cooties...yes, germs from the monster's blood has a negative effect on humans, causing illness and death. Ooops...Well, now this is a pickle. How to kill the beast without spreading its' germs?
I really liked the way the movie ended, tying things up nicely, linking the beginning and the end. That's a Bradbury touch, obviously. There are a number of really decent performances in this film, but the highlight is Harryhausen's creature, which gets quite a bit of screen time. The story is also intelligent, but reaction of some of the characters to the situations seems a little out of whack. I would have expected much more shock and awe, but there you go.
The print on this disc is beautiful, and there are some really great special features included. There is a featurette called "The Rhedosaurus and the Rollercoaster: Making the Beast" that includes Harryhausen discussing how he brought the creature in the film to life and another featurette called "Harryhausen & Bradbury: An Unfathomable Friendship" which is basically the two Rays sitting before a small group talking about their professional and personal experiences with each other. Finally there are a like four trailers to other movies Harryhausen has worked on like Clash of the Titans (1981) and The Black Scorpion (1957), among others. On a side note, when the credits appeared at the beginning of the movie, I noticed Lee Van Cleef listed. I don't recall seeing him, but I later learned he was the sharpshooter near the end of the film.
Cookieman108
Rating:
Summary: Prehistoric sea-giant rages against city!
Review: Based on a story by Ray Bradbury, The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953) was directed by Eugène Lourié and serves nicely as the first real showcase of technical effects master Ray Harryhausen. The film starts out with an atomic test involving detonating a big boom boom the artic, giving us an opportunity to view stock footage of a lovely mushroom cloud. Seems these test were pretty common back in the day, but wait! Something was released from the ice...something that has been frozen in a state of suspended animation for 100 million years...and me be thinking it's a might peckish, after so many years of icy slumber. The beast, it's a big 'un alright, is spotted by two scientists, one being Tom Nesbitt, played by Paul Hubschmid (credited in the film as Paul Christian). The other scientist gets buried in like 20 billion tons of ice as the beast passes by, knocking into icebergs like a pregnant woman negotiating her girth around a china store, but Tom manages to escape, barely, with his life. He is badly injured, flown back to the states and makes a recovery, but no one will believe his fantastic tale of a giant monster. Soon reports of boats being attack by a giant sea serpent along the eastern coast of North America trickle in, lending a little more credibility to Tom's story. Who's crazy now? Jerks...anyway, this drives Tom to investigate further and soon enough the big, prehistoric palooka (identified as a Rhedosaurus) makes its' way off the coast of New York. This prompts an old geezer of a paleontology professor, working with Tom, to go down in a diving bell and check out this beastie, giving us some more stock footage of a shark attacking an octopus (which, in fact, was really, really, cool). The old codger sees the primeval creature, and gets a little too close, if you know what I mean. The gargantuan behemoth makes its' way on land, I guess to take in a show and grab a bite, and wreaks havoc among the current inhabitants of New York, with all its' stepping on cars and people and smashing into buildings and such. There's a scene around this point that's pretty famous, one involving a patrolman standing before the creature in the middle of the street, firing his handgun in an effort annoy the creature, I suppose, who, once he gets the ravenous beasts' attention, gets all ate up. "Officer down, officer down! We need back up!" The army shows up, and begins to do what they do best, firing on the beast, but bullets have no effect on the thick hide of the creature. Use of a bazooka proves more effective, but opening a wound in the creature unleashes yet another threat, prehistoric cooties...yes, germs from the monster's blood has a negative effect on humans, causing illness and death. Ooops...Well, now this is a pickle. How to kill the beast without spreading its' germs? They corner the beast in an amusement park, and we get to see it rip the heck out of a rollercoaster (please keep arms and legs in the ride at all times). So, do they finally stop the beast? If so, how? By luring it to the middle of the city with a huge pile of fish? No, wait...that was another movie... I really liked the way the movie ended, tying things up nicely, linking the awakening of the beast with the destruction of the beast. That's a Bradbury touch, obviously. There are a number of really decent performances in this film, but the highlight is Harryhausen's creature, which gets quite a bit of screen time. The story is also intelligent, but reaction of some of the characters to the situations seems a little out of whack. I would have expected much more shock and awe, but there you go. The print on this disc is beautiful, and there are some really great special features included. There is a featurette called "The Rhedosaurus and the Rollercoaster: Making the Beast" that includes Harryhausen discussing how he brought the creature in the film to life and another featurette called "Harryhausen & Bradbury: An Unfathomable Friendship" which is basically the two Rays sitting before a small group talking about their professional and personal experiences with each other. Finally there are a like four trailers to other movies Harryhausen has worked on like Clash of the Titans (1981) and The Black Scorpion (1957), among others. On a side note, when the credits appeared at the beginning of the movie, I noticed Lee Van Cleef listed. I don't recall seeing him, but I later learned he was the sharpshooter near the end of the film. Cookieman108
Rating:
Summary: Superb Monster Movie From The Atomic Age
Review: Consonant with Everything Atomic in the 1950s, this great monster film bought into the vision completely. When a prehistoric reptile suddenly emerges to wreak havoc on civilization, conventional weapons (tanks and so forth) are ineffective, so they must kick it up a notch. Having seen this film as a kid, I watched it again in college with a friend who majored in nuclear engineering. At the point in the movie where everyone realizes that ordinary munitions won't kill the beast, and they turned to a scientist who said, "There's only one thing that will work in a situation like this: RADIOACTIVE ISOTOPES," my nuclear friend nearly choked laughing at this Hollywood-concocted absurdity. It's doubtful, with contemporary special effects, that today's kids would find this movie appealing. But for all the boomers who grew up with this sort of thing, it's an eminently enjoyable classic.
Rating:
Summary: IT STARTED IT ALL
Review: Even if we have been treated to the more realistic dinosaurs courtesy of JURASSIC PARK et al, Ray Harryhausen's groundbreaking 1953 movie is still delightful to watch. Released in the era when nuclear bombs were more prominently in our thoughts, the movie scolds science and yet embraces our long past as well. Savor the joys of this classic: the stop animation dinosaur seems real because it's well done; there is no foul language; no nudity; the hero and heroine act like high school teens of the fifties; the violence is cartoonish and never overplayed. The monster's attack on the lighthouse is still a classic moment from our science fiction monster films. The DVD includes an interview with Harryhausen and esteemed sci-fi writer Ray Bradbury. Harryhausen died not long after this interview was filmed, leaving a legacy that fans of this genre will long extol.
|
