Rating: 
Summary: The American Godzilla
Review: This one scared the hell out of me as a kid and I still get that tingle every time I watch it.A classic monster film if there ever was one,Beast from 20,000 phathoms is Harryhousen at his best.According to a behind the scenes interview with Harry,this film was such a low budget film,that the producers required the talents of him to give the film a high-budget appearance with the use of his wonderful special effects.May I say that they succeeded in leaps and bounds.If any young person wishes to see what was the ultimate "C.G." monsters were back then,just watch this film and see what a 16" piece 0f clay and a lot of imagination could do!
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Summary: RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: This was the granddaddy of all dinosaur on the loose movies. 20 years later than King Kong it shows strong competition to the all time 1933 classic. Well you don't need me to tell you anything but here's the plot: An arctic atomic bomb test awekens a 50 ft. tall rhedosaurus and it get's medival on the Eastern Seaboards ass. After sinking a bunch of ships and destroying a lighthouse, the creature turns up in new york, causing some serious damage. Finally, it's up to the nuclear physisist whom saw him first, his paleontalogist girlfreind, army body, and a sharp shooter to do what the national gaurd can't: kick this monster back to the stone age in a really cool Coney Island sequence. Somethings suprise me though: the spectacular similarities to this and 1998's Godzilla. See my review for the details.
Rating:
Summary: The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms
Review: To begin with I must have been about 11 or 12 years old when I first saw this movie on TV when I first came to this country from the little old island of Cuba some 90 miles from Miami. At any rate, that was when I began my love affair with horror movies. Anyhow, the second time that I saw was back in 1992 when rented it from my local video store and that was also when I made a mental note to purchase it, but unfortunately my efforts to locate it proved to be anything but fruitful. Then thanks a good friend of mine I was able to purchase it and now I am the prod owner of same. Now as far as the film ism concerned, well, let me start by saying that the acting and the special effects are superb! And that is what made those movies great back then-and they are still great even today-thanks to the invention of the VCR. Thanks Ray Harryhausen, you did a tremendous job!
Rating:
Summary: Ray Harryhausen's first successful movie.
Review: Very effective science fiction film from 1953 about a prehistoric creature awakened by an Atom Bomb test in the Arctic and then proceeds down the cost where it battles the armies of modern man in New York City. Good casting of actors (including a small role by Lee Van Cleef in one of his earliest film apperances). Although this movie gave rise to many atomic monster films of the 1950's, this was one of the few where the film's effects were good and the story had substance to it. Directed by Eugene Lourie. Based on the story by Ray Bradbury. Special Effects created by Ray Harryhausen. Music Score by David Buttolph.
Rating:
Summary: The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms
Review: What can I say about this movie that hasn't already been said? It's stop-motion animation and Ray Harryhausen at his best. I really love these old black-and-white sci-fi movies from the 50's. Monster movies made today lack the kind of charm and appeal that these movies had. Expensive special effects and CGI seem to suck all the soul out of contemporary movies. Maybe my love for them stems from the fact that as a kid these movies scared the wits out of me.Another, on a long list of movies about the after-effects of an atomic blast, this movie starts with scientists detonating an atomic bomb near the Arctic Circle. When the scientists go out to collect the data, one of them, Tom Nesbitt, sees a giant dinosaur, a mythical Rhedosaurus that apparently has been awakened by the blast and almost kills him. After a long convalescence, in which he finds no one will belive he sighted the beast, he reads in the newpaper about other incidents and sightings. After tracking down someone to corroborate his story, the fun begins. This movie was made in 1953 with a budget of $200.000.00, a small budget for a movie even back then. The amazing thing to me about the animation in this movie is that Harryhausen did all of the stop-action himself, as he did in most of his movies. Harryhausen liked his monsters to be tragic figures, placing them in situations not of their own making, ultimately being destroyed by man who could never come to understand them. This is a trait he sometimes shared with his life-long friend, Ray Bradbury. This is apparent when reading the original story, written by Bradbury from the Saturday Evening Post. Harryhausen probably learned some of this trait from his friend and mentor, Willis o'Brien, who animated the most tragic and misunderstood beast in all of cinema history, King Kong. The acting in this movie is, well, it's a B movie, but the screenplay is good. The Rhedosaurus is definitley the star of this movie. The screenplay written by Lou Morrheim and Fred Freiberger is intelligent and thought provoking. The Warner Bros. DVD released in 2003 is excellent. The copy is good and the sound quality is as good as it should be. The extras on this disc complement the movie well and give some historical information that most viewers may not know. "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" is a movie every fan of Ray Harryhausen should own. Another Harryhausen movie with a great monster is "20 Million Miles to Earth". Even if you are only mildly interested in Harryhausen, if you're a monster movie fan, both of these movies are a must-have for your collection.
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Summary: The Beast RULES!
Review: When I was a kid growing up in New Hampshire the only TV station we could get was WCAX from Burlington VT. They showed movies on Saturday afternoons and one Saturday they showed "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms". I was in heaven! It was the first science fiction movie I'd seen and I was hooked. Back then I never would have imagined that years later I would own a copy of this wonderful movie on a little disc and watch it any time I wanted to!
Of course, it probably didn't take much to impress an 8 year old kid from New Hampshire! But I've seen this film many times since and it has always stood the test of time very well. Sure, what were cutting edge special effects in 1953 aren't that impressive now. But one can still see how good they were for the time. And other movies that impressed me as a kid are revealed to be just junk when viewed by this grown up (maybe?) kid years later. For example, the 1957 Japanese film "The Mysterians" scared the hell out of me when I saw it in the theater. But when it showed up on the Science Fiction Channel (I think) a few years ago, it was laughable. Not so the Beast, which retains its charm over the years. By the way, the 1954 Them! is in the same class at the Beast.
Rating:
Summary: Watch Spielberg's "Lost World" and then compare!
Review: Yeah, the film is in black & white! Sure, the special effects are from the pre-computer generated era! Yes, the characters are stereotypical! OK! The smashed cars do look like toys. But, this is the best "fish-out-of-water" story ever filmed. The stop-motion effects of legendary Ray Harryhausen are still impressive even after almost five decades. The scene where the dinosaur is illuminated by military lights is stunning. The T-Rex in "The Lost World" is a pussycat compared to the "Rhedosaurus" in this classic of the sci-fi genre. Two thumbs...no, two entire hands up for this gem!
Rating:
Summary: Absolute classic of the genre
Review: YOu've seen the basic plot 100,000 times: Big creature, often dino-like, wreaks havoc on major city. BUt this is the one that started the ball rolling. Harryhausen's solo effort is still entertaining, despite the mediocre acting associated with all films like this (it actually adds to the whole experience). This is one you'll want to watch again. Don't let anyone give away anything. Just get it and watch it! Great fun!
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