Customer Reviews

The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms [VHS]

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Featuring the remarkable animation of Ray Harryhausen and based on a short story by Ray Bradbury, this 1953 film has been re-released and should bring pleasure to Harryhausen fans and devotees of classic monster films. The best things about this movie are that the monster appears early and often, and that there are lots of interesting scenes, such as the fictional Rhedosaurus's attacks on a lighthouse, New York City, and the Coney Island roller coaster. The acting and dramatic tension are only mediocre, but the creature is lots of fun.

DVD extras are brief but exciting -- trailers for Harryhausen films currently being released on dvd; a 6-minute making-of featurette; and a terrific 17-minute conversation between Harryhausen and Bradbury, reminiscing on their friendship and careers.

The film can be heard in English or French, and subtitled in English, French or Spanish.

Special effects by the legendary Ray Harryhausen and a story by popular science fiction author Ray Bradburry... this was destined to become a sci-fi classic. This was the first, and probably best, in the long line of prehistoric monster movies that followed and became part of sci-fi film history in the process.

The plot begins as a nuclear scientist sees his partner killed by a giant, prehistoric creature while monitoring an atomic blast near the north pole. Naturally, nobody believes him until a paleontologist, played by Paula Raymond, helps him link several sea and beach disasters (I particularly enjoyed the attack made by the creature on a lighthouse) to the beast and prove there is a real monster on the loose. Finally, the animal surfaces at the NYC docks near Wall Street, destroying buildings, cars and people in his wake. After more mayhem and the discovery of a mysterious disease the animal carries which won't permit it to be destroyed by conventional weapons, the creature meets it's fate when it's cornered within the old Coney Island rollercoaster.

This film is exceptional primarily due to the genius of Ray Harryhausen. His special effects in this film are outstanding, especially when you consider this film was made in 1953 on a budget that wouldn't pay the cost of one days electric bill on most movie shoots these days. The scenes where the creature has been awakened by the arctic atomic test and his (or is it a her?) journey back to it's prehistoric breeding grounds off the mouth of the Hudson River are superb. The intensity of the action never stops and has seldom been equalled. It begins with the opening scenes in the snowy arctic, continues with attacks on several fishing boats, the lighthouse and reaches a highlight when the creature comes ashore in New York City. We're even treated to a live action fight between a shark and an octopus, at least until the beast appears looking for lunch! Also, the acting by the stories human characters is excellent as well. Most of the actors (like Kenneth Tobey) will be recoginzed from other classic horror/sci-fi films of the period.

If you're looking for a real blast from the past and a movie considered by many (myself included) to be the best "prehistoric monster on the loose" flick ever made, you can't go wrong with The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms.

Hired by Jack Dietz and Hal Chester to make a monster movie, Ray Harryhausen had the opportunity to helm the special effects in a feature film for the first time. He worked several years earlier with his mentor Willis O'Brien ( KING KONG ) on MIGHTY JOE YOUNG, a pseudo-remake of the 1933 classic that inspired young Ray. But MIGHTY JOE earned a reputation for being exorbitant since it cost nearly $2 million to make ( due to padding of expenses at RKO and overhead ). So Harryhausen had to devise an inexpensive way to put monsters on the screen to insure the viability of his career.

Ray came up with a split-screen process using rear-projection to combine his models with real photographic settings. Shunning the impressive but expensive use of miniature sets and glass paintings ala KONG, he came up with this simple means of putting his creatures in the midst of a live-action scene. Later known as DYNAMATION, the "reality sandwich" was his modus operandi for practically every animation set-up for the rest of his professional calling.

The prehistoric star is a fictitious dinosaur called a "Rhedosaurus" which is largely based upon a crocodilian, even bearing an actual molded skin pattern on its underbelly. It is remarkably similar in shape to the New Zealand reptile tuatara, ironically a creature that is also the last of its kind. Measuring some 200' in length and weighing 500 tons, it is several times larger than any known prehistoric.

Thawed out by an atomic test in the Arctic, the monster makes it way down the Atlantic seaboard, capsizing several boats on its way to some submurged canyons off NYC. Coming ashore in Lower Manhattan, it kills many people and wreaks destruction until it is finally destroyed by radioactive isotope shot into a wound while attacking the roller coaster at Coney Island ( it was actually filmed at Pacific Ocean Park on the West Coast ).

The story was based upon "the Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" by Harryhausen's lifelong friend Ray Bradbury, which ran in the SATURDAY EVENING POST. This short story is encapsulated in the lighthouse scene off the coast of Maine; the rhedosaur is beckoned to and attacks the signal in a very atmospheric sequence. Strangly enough, the producers based their screenplay upon this tale and forgot the source, then called the author in for a revision!

Starring Paul Christian, Paula Raymond and Cecil Kellaway, this movie was the first linking atomic tests to giant creatures; it inspired the Japanese to create Godzilla the following year. Goood acting, a credible storyline for being a monster-on-the-loose yarn and great stop-motion from Ray make this a winner all the way; it was made for only slightly over $200,000! Director Eugene Lourie went on to make THE GIANT BEHEMOTH and GORGO to become a "sea-serpent" trio with BEAST. Suitable for all ages, except very young children ( < 5 yrs. of age ).

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

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 worthwhile landmark monster movie that honors legendary FX genius Ray Harryhausen's talents. Ray Harryhausen's impressive visual effects and Ray Bradbury's well-paced storyline set the 1953 movie apart from other classic science fiction films. Harryhausen's detailed miniatures and superb animation delivers some very amusing scenes of destruction. The massive scaly beast is a remarkable visual creation. The cast includes Paul Christian, Paula Raymond, Cecil Kallaway, Kenneth Tobey and Lee Van Cleef. "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" was a big commercial success upon theatrical release in 1953 and spawned the "Giant Monster on the Rampage" genre of the 1950s.

Warner's "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" delivers first-rate DVD quality. This well crafted monster movie is presented in full frame format. The DVD contains a sharp and detailed video transfer and a truly clear Dolby Digital 2.0 sound. The extras include trailers of the film and other creature favorites, a short behind-the-scene featurette and interviews with Ray Harryhausen and Ray Bradbury. Fans of classic Sci-Fi will be impressed with its presentation and it scores a solid "B".

It would be a mistake to write off "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms" as being too cliché; for to do so would be to forget that most of the clichés that are in the movie originated with this movie. This movie is undoubtedly one of the original sources for the many movies which are put into the creature feature category. It uses the Godzilla like premise of an ancient monster being reawakened due to nuclear testing. Throw in the hero who isn't believed by his colleagues, and the woman scientist who is the only one who listens to him, and you have the elements of more 50's science fiction movies than I care to count.

The storyline is simple, atomic testing releases a Rhedosaurus from the arctic ice. When two observers are measuring the results of the test, one is killed while the other, Professor Tom Nesbitt, is injured but manages to survive. His story is attributed to stress and he is shipped back to New York for treatment. As he recovers, stories begin to appear about sea monsters which convince him that what he remembers is true. He gets the aid from Professor Thurgood Elson and his assistant Lee Hunter. Together they finally convince the armed forces, but not until it is too late and the beast has made it to New York City. Panic ensues as the beast destroys sections of the city until the final climactic scene at the Coney Island Rollercoaster.

This was a very low budget movie, costing around $210,000 to make. Not surprisingly it doesn't have any big stars, although you may recognize some character actors from other roles. Paul Hubschmid plays Professor Nesbitt, and Paula Raymond plays Lee Hunter. Two names which do stand out are those of Ray Harryhausen who was responsible for the animation, and Ray Bradbury who wrote the short story "The Fog Horn", on which this film is somewhat based. The film was directed by Eugène Lourié.

Make no mistake, this is not a great film, but it is fun and it has an undeniable place in the history of science fiction and the movies. It was nominated in 2004 for the Retro Hugo for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form for pieces which debuted in the year 1953. The film is just 79 minutes long, and yet it probably could have been shortened a bit as it does drag at times. The pace does pick up at the end as they fight the beast in the streets of New York.

The transfer of the movie for the most part looks very good. The special features are decent, with a couple of short documentaries. The first is "The Rhedosaurus and the Roller Coaster: Making the Beast" which is just a short feature about the movie. The second is "Harryhausen & Bradbury" which features the two men talking about their long friendship and their love of dinosaurs. There are also four trailers, including one for his movie, and then ones for "The Black Scorpion", The Valley of Gwangi", and "Clash of the Titans".

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.

Monster movies don't get much better. Paul Christian is a nuclear scientist sure his partner was killed by a monster only he has seen. Of corse nobody believes him, until a paleontologist helps him link several sea disasters and accounts of a sea serpent together, to prove to the military this is a true concern. This comes all-to late when the giant animal (a rhedosaurus) surfaces in wall street, leveling several bloks, cars, and people in his wake. Finally the six story menace is burnt to a cinder when it's trapt within the Coney Island rollercoaster. This was the best 50's "dinosaur (or monster) on the loose" movie. Paula Raymond is Christian's girlfriend, and Cecil Kellaway is the paleontologist. Special effects by the legendary Ray Harryhausen, and based on popular fiction author Ray Bradburry.

Maybe it's reaching this strange point in the history of cinema where we can do anything and frequently give birth to mutant mice that makes one appreciate older films like this one, and "Them" and "The Thing" and "King Kong" and many lesser knowns. The art direction on these 50-year-old plus flicks is often stunning; the artists who worked on them were often old-school art school graduates trained in the finest of fine arts painterly techniques. I've seen background paintings and glass shots (a painting on glass that the camera shoots through) from films of this era (and older) that surpassed all the "artistry" found in a single modern flick. I've seen sci-fi design of earlier eras that beat out nearly anything today in terms of visual bravura. Directors of that era often knew how to milk all the horror and terror out of scenes that were merely suggestive (try the original "The Haunting" for a good example of that). Today we can show any horror in the greatest detail and its just sick and awful.

This movie is stuffed with visually striking moments--the monster's sillouetted attack on the lighthouse, the undersea search for the beast in the bathysphere, the street carnage with the iconic devouring of the police officer, the strikingly imaginative death of the monster. A lot went into this old dog and it still works great, especially in black and white. It provides the film with the needed dreamlike quality that color film seldom seems to achieve.

I write a fair number of reviews of movies of this era and I'm trying to gently steer people away from seeing them as merely camp or nostalgic, and instead appreciating them as minor, and sometimes major, works of visual art. Ray Harryhausen, who worked on this film, was a wonder with stop-motion effects but he was also a visual poet of the highest order who knew how to bring drama, wonder, and magic to the screen. Look, for just one example, at his work on "First Men in the Moon." I sensed that Spielberg, in his "War of the Worlds" paid endless tribute to the often astounding visual poetry of this era. Note how much horror and terror he was able to conjure up (some sort of record, I'd say) without being overtly graphic. There was a lot of depth and social commentary to that film that seemed to get missed.

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.