Customer Reviews

The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms / Them! (Double Feature)

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is a DVD-10... a double sided DVD.
Each side contains the previously available version of each of these classics. They are exactly the same, bit-for-bit.

The DVD is housed in a plastic amaray keepcase, unlike the original versions which came in cardboard snapper cases.

These are two of the best films from their time and genre. "Them" is the first of the giant bug movies of the fifties. The script is thoughtful and well written. The movie was also well cast. James Arness (Matt Dillion of Gunsmoke fame) and James Whitmore play the FBI agent and police officer on the trail of a strange killer. Good action and special effects, for its time, make this a claasy choice.
"The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" is also the first and best of the frozen dinosaur released in the modern day films. Based on a story by Ray Bradbury and with special effects by Ray Harryhausen, how can you go wrong. I remeber watching this as a kid and being scared as all get out.
Both of these films are worth watching and having.

Aficionados of 1950's Sci Fi movies will want to rush out and grab this great double feature consisting of "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms" and "Them". Both films stand alone as memorable examples of some of the better movies to come from this era. Kudos to Warner Brothers for putting them on the same "double bill"!

Similar in plot line to a degree, both films deal with horrific situations that occur after nuclear testing. (a familar plot line from films of this era.) In "Beast...", it's a pre-historic Rhedosaurus that's awakened in the Arctic from an atomic blast and migrates south to a climactic finish in New York City. In "Them", ants who have been continually exposed to radiation from atomic testing in the New Mexico desert grow to enormous proportions and eventually terrorize Los Angeles.

Both films have memorable special effects in their own right. "Beast..." because of the special effects genius of Ray Harryhausen. This film is Harryhausen's first solo effort and he definitely excels. The "lighthouse" scene is visually stunning for special effects of this era. "Them", on the other hand, is memorable primarily because of its cheesy giant "puppet" ants with their haunting sounds. It's difficult not to retain the sound the ants make in this movie long after you've seen it. Still, you have to give film director, Gordon Douglas, credit for incorporating live action scenes with the ants in this film.

Both movies have solid casts for films of this era. "Beast..." is led by cinematic veterans Paul Christian, familar face Paula Raymond, Kenneth Tobey (from "The Thing") and, in one of his first roles, Lee Van Cleef (from Spaghetti Western fame). "Them" does have a stronger cast which includes strong performances from rock-jawed James Whitmore, James Arness, Edmund Gwenn ("Santa" from "Miracle on 34th St."), and the lovely Joan Weldon. Look closely for quick appearances by Leonard Nimoy and Fess Parker.

All in all, this double feature is simply a great value for collectors and/or lovers of Sci Fi films from this era. In addition to the films, there are a few extras that include a memorable interview with Harryhausen and his great friend, Ray Bradbury and behind-the-scenes looks at the special effects of both films. They are welcome added bonuses and not just filler. The viewer simply can't go wrong with this purchase!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

The movies themselves are classic SciFi of the best variety. "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" is good fun. We have a prehistoric beast rampaging ships, a lighthouse, a diving bell, and the city of New York. The beast was created by the master of stop motion, Ray Harryhausen. It may not be his best work but it is decent enough to make it worth watching if you enjoy the older Black & White monster movies. "Them" is a wonderfully shot giant ant movie with an exceptional cast. I enjoy "Them" the most because they draw out you actually seeing the ants and make it suspenseful with the police investigation into dead people and wreckage in the desert.

They then begin to hear unusual sounds before they find what they are up against. The sound effects were quite good for the time and I am impressed with the desert wind sounds along with the ant sounds. Add in good lighting effects at night and it really adds to the atmosphere of this movie. This set is a great value. I went ahead and replaced my original two separately packaged DVDs with this set since I am trying to reduce shelf space I require with thinner boxes or combined movies on one disc. This has both movies on one DVD and the quality is excellent and they throw in some extras on each movie. Good quality DVD with excellent replayability. If you enjoyed this, catch The Day the Earth Stood Still.

CA Luster

Such a deal! Two great giant critter movies on one DVD. "Them" is of course the classic tale of nature gone wrong at the hands of Mankind. The story opens with a small child wandering in the desert. She is found by our intrepid police officers in a state of serious shock. Up the road, her family's camper is found trashed, but from the inside out. Turns out the RV owner was an FBI guy on vacation, so in comes G-man James Arness. Another local is eaten, and so is the red-shirted police officer. A print is sent to Washington DC and lo, here come the Bug Doctors, including a scrumptious lady scientist. James says "schwang" but she is not to be trifled with and how! She hangs tough the entire movie, I must say which sets this movie in a class of it's own (as compared to "The Beginning of the End", "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" and other offerings from this time period). Anyway, the bugs are found in a truly chilling scene gnawing human bones. The ant colony is gassed out, but it is soon discovered that two queens have escaped. The hunt is on! Interestingly our local beat cop takes meeting with gubmint honchos and seems to be an expert at everything, including the sewer system of LA. All ends well but not without a warning of the potential for things to come.

"The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" Is another nuclear cautionary tale but a bit less graceful. A bomb awakens a dinosaur near Baffin Bay. I'm thinking, "reptiles don't internally thermoregulate, and have no furr" and sure enough, it floats downstream popping up here and there to induce hysterical self-doubt in a number of Canadians on its way to warmer climes. Our Baffin Bay survivor hero convinces a cutie-pie scientist babe that he's not nuts and they fall in love in a nicely played scene where the sexual tension could be cut with a knife. Finally the critter shows up in New York and everyone believes our hero. Lee Van Cleef turns up as a marksman and pegs the critter from atop a precarious roller coaster. Scary!Excellent!
Both movies are highly recommended.

I saw "Them" when it first came out. I was probably about nine years old. My father told my mother it was a nature documentary about insects, so the family, including some aunts, uncles and nieces and nephews all piled into our cars and drove into Manhattan. When we got to the theatre, on the marquee was a totally gigantic ant with a partially clad woman in its mandibles.

The 'girls' went down the street to see National Velvet.

The 'boys' went into see 'Them'. I remember exactly when we walked in (in those days, movie going was a much easier experience. If you wandered in late, you stayed to see what you missed at the next showing). I came into the theatre just after James Whitmore and his partner walked into Gramp's general store. They found his body. Whitmore leaves his partner there while he goes to interview an ant survivor. His partner, alone, hears some chirping.... Given the marquee, as he walked out of the wrecked store, gun drawn, we knew what was going to happen...

'Them!' remains one of my favourite films of that era. It has not been easy to find on DVD, so for many years I made do with a VHS version. Glad I am that I purchased this DVD combo with 'The Beast from Twenty Thousand Fathoms'. The transfer is excellent--sharp enough to cut your eyeballs. The black and white film looks great, just as it did in the theatre. The 'extras' are not all that extra, but it was kind of fun to see very brief clips showing special effects technicians manipulating the giant ant mock-ups.

The charm and brilliance of this film does not lie in the special effects. They're okay, but really just barely. This is not an eye candy film. You rarely see the ants moving much. But they remain convincing because they are in the context of an excellently written, directed and acted film. The movie is 'real' all the way through. No kiddie stuff here, no weak acting.

Look closely and you will see a rather young Leonard Nimoy at a teletype machine. Fess Parker, later to become Davey Crockett for Walt disney, got his big break in this film with a meatier role.

This film is odds-on best of all the giant bug movies of the fifties.

"The Beast" has long been available on Ray Harryhausen DVDs, but it is a definite bonus to have it on this double sided DVD. The transfer is also very good, and there are some nice featurettes. "The Beast" is Harryhausen's first go-it-alone feature after working with his mentor, the great Willis O'Brien, on "Mighty Joe Young."

I remember going to the local theatre in Brooklyn to see this film when it first cdame out. My mom did not want me to go, after seeing the ads on tv, but relented. The theatre was packed. The movie really was the first of its kind for my generation--King Kong was twenty years old then, and I'd seen it on a re-release to an equally packed theatre. The experience of seeing this film was electrifying. Compared to 'Them!', the effects were eye candy, and the real reason for seeing the film. It was well acted and directed, but could not and can not compare with 'Them!' in those departments.

An excellent DVD bargain.

I bought this DVD mainly for THEM and luckily enough that worked. The other side of the disc doesn't play at all. Because it was so cheap, I decided to keep it. I can see that the rest of the stock has the same problem so it would do no good to return it anyway! The separate version of THEM is $18, so I still got a bargain.

I love these old sci-fi movies! Them is (in-case you didn't already know) about giant mutated ants that like to chew on the flesh of unsuspecting humans. Some scenes are pretty graphic for the 50's, and the effects are way ahead of their time. Back in the good old days when computers didn't do all the hard work for you. The other cool thing about this movie is the research they do on ants, that they can lift 20x there weight, breed like nobody's business ect., and it just makes it that much more scary. I also like the noise the ants make, it's like this high pitch sqealing noise, and is pretty creepy.
I bought this primarily for Them, but ended up really liking The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms a lot! Probably just as much as Them. The story is very good and gets you hooked right away. I think it's because nobody believes the main character when he tells them that he seen a giant pre-historic monster, and automaticaly label him as insane. So for the rest of the movie your just waiting for this thing to attack New York so that they believe him, and it does. This movie is FILLED with stop-motion animation, and TONS of miniatures, which I love.
This print is very impressive, the picture quality is great, the sound is very good for a movie from the 50's. For $12.99, you can't beat it.
Highly recommended.

I recently saw "Them!" for the first time and fell in love with it. So naturally I soon went to the store to find a copy. I looked and I looked, but my store din't have it. Suddenly I saw in the double feature section thiscombination. There it was the movie I was looking for. I was hesitant when I saw the name of the other film. "The Beast fom 20,000 Fathoms" sounded like your stereotypical corny sci-fi movie. I sat there thinking it over and suddenly realized it was cheaper to buy the double feature then buying "Them!" individualy. I quickly payed $10 (that's how much it was at my store) and went home. It's a double sided disk and the DVD's are the same as buying them individualy. Same special feature etc. I decided to watch "the Beast from 20,000 Fathoms to see if I liked it, or not. It was wonderful, not on the same level as "Them!', but still good lots of semilarities to Godzilla. This is a really good deal if you want to save over $10 (The price of buying both individualy is $25).

RAtings:

Them! 5/5 stars: A true clasic that really holds up to today's standards.
The Best from 20,000 Fathoms 4/5 stars: Quite entertaining

For anyone who loves the 50's "atomic monster" movies, these two are must-haves. Both still stand up well over the test of time. "The Beast..." features stop-motion animation by legendary special effects man Ray Harryhausen, featuring what I personally think is one of his best looking creations. The movie features plenty of monster-stomping action and a pretty intelligent script for what was pretty much a "quickie" production. "Them" is the classic "atomic radiation has unexpected results" theme that was copied ad nauseum, but rarely done better. The effects are, well, giant puppets, but the photography and sound effects still manage to make them pretty impressive, and the shots of the desert are still genuinely creepy. The fire-fight between the army and the nest of giant ants at the climax of the picture is first rate.

The special features are pretty good. The "archive footage" from the "Them" side is interesting, but a little skimpy. The special features on the "Beast" side give a little more background. Both side's menus are easy to navigate, and the "them" side is set up in an amusing fashion. Overall for anyone who likes 50's science fiction, you'd want to have both these titles anyway. Getting them together is a great deal.