Customer Reviews

It Came From Beneath the Sea [VHS]

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Good Grade B '50s sci-fi flick. An atomic size octopus from the deepest realms of the Pacific threatens the world. Seeking adequate levels of food supply, not excluding humans, the creature attacks San Francisco. The real star of this movie is the razzle-dazzle special effects of Ray Harryhausen. The quality of the stop-motion animation exceeds the constraints of the B&W photography and the modest budget. The first part of the film tells of the mysterious ship sinking and other unexplained marine mayhem caused by the great sea beast. Navy Captain Pete Mathews (Kenneth Tobey) and two expert marine-biologists, John Carter (Donald Curtis) and Lesley Joyce (Faith Domergue), work around the clock tracking down clues to identify the source of the mysterious events at sea. The simple plot moves right along and doesn't waste time. As seems obligatory in many '50s sci-fi flicks, the heroes endure the "I'm telling you, there's a monster!" phase followed by the "Yeah, right!" response from the authorities. Happily, that particular cliche is kept to a minimum. Things really start to go snap, crackle, and pop as the monstrous octopus tries to pull itself up on the Golden Gate Bridge. And check out the giant eye that opens as the submarine approaches the submerged creature in the San Francisco harbor. This is solid Saturday afternoon at the movies fun for 12 year-olds of all ages. They really don't make them like this anymore.

My Dad was a young and handsome Naval submarine officer stationed in San Francisco at the time the movie was being made, and he was asked to play the part of the executive officer, Lt. Griff. It was his one and only movie. My family and I got to visit the set and meet the stars, including the real octopus. (Very small).
Dad was presented with an electric dishwasher as a gift for his part in the film since the Navy would not let him accept money and my mother felt we really needed a dishwasher. My brother and I were in elementary school when the movie finally made it to the local theater in Kailua, Oahu two years later and we got to see out dad's name up on the big screen. None of the other children sitting in the audience for that Saturday matinee believed us. The movie is still a hit at Griffiths family reunions. Dad is now 82, and retired from the Navy with the rank of Vice Admiral.

and were about 5 years old (as I did and was) when this movie originally came out you never traveled across the S.F. Bay Bridge without holding your breath for as long as you could praying that you'd make it across BEFORE the Beast through it tentacle over the exact spot you were at on the bridge! By today's movie standards, it a simple "B" movie -- very lotech and maybe even cheesy, but way be fore it became fashionable, it had a lot to say about what the nuclear tests and waste products of the day could do to living things --

Yet another Ray Harryhausen film from the 1950's has just been released on DVD in a two disc special edition. It Came from Beneath the Sea comes in between The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and Earth Vs. the Flying Saucers. It's probably the least of those three films but I always liked this one even more than "Earth Vs..." This is such a product of the 1950's when the paranoia over nuclear testing was at its highest. The result was a plethora of films featuring all manner of radioactive-spawned giant monsters: spiders, ants, grasshoppers, and other beasties. In this film the threat comes from a giant octopus, driven out of its deep sea home by atomic bombs tested at sea.

The first to encounter the creature is a U.S. Navy nuclear sub, commanded by Pete Matthews (Tobey). The sub doesn't know exactly what they've encountered but a piece of the creature was caught in the Sub's propellers. The hunk of octopus is taken to be analyzed by two marine biologists, Prof. Lesley Joyce (Domergue) and Prof. John Carter (Curtis). They determine that the piece belongs to an octopus but one that has grown to enormous proportions.

The creature soon makes attacks on other vessels, sinking an entire merchant ship, and leaving only a handful of shocked survivors. While the Navy at first dismisses the professor's findings, they soon cannot deny the truth and decide to take action. The film's climax comes with the memorable octopus attack destroying the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

Like all of these films, it's the masterful stop-motion effects that are the real star. While the film itself took only a few weeks to shoot, Harryhausen worked on the effects for months afterwards, painstakingly filming the creature's movement's one frame at a time. Yes, perhaps it looks dated next to today's slick CGI effects but there's a certain admiration you have to have for Harryhausen's work. He knew these were low-budget B features but that never stopped him from delivering 100% effort.

It Came from Beneath the Sea is slower than the other films I mentioned. It takes a good 25 minutes or so before we even get a good look at the creature for the first time and the film only runs about 79 minutes. There is a melodramatic love triangle going on between the three leads. Matthews is the tough captain while Carter is the somewhat sheepish scientist. When Professor Joyce tells carter that Matthews kissed her, all he can manage is, "Did you enjoy it?"

That said, I enjoyed the cast. Tobey was a great character actor who made over 300 film and TV appearances in his fifty year career. He was a regular in the 1950's TV show "Whirlybirds" and also appeared in such shows as I Spy, Lassie, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Ironside, and Emergency, usually playing some sort of authority figure. His final role was in an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in 1994. He was a strong, macho leading man. Domergue's Prof. Joyce was every bit as tough as Matthews. Domergue was no stranger to Sci-Fi roles, seemingly always playing the role of a scientist. She also starred in This Island Earth and Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet.

Extras: The film comes in either the original black & white or new colorized format. This new Chroma-Color process is vastly improved over the old colorizing process of 10 or 20 years ago and while purists might object, Harryhausen himself approves of the look.

The film comes with Audio Commentary with Ray Harryhausen, Arnold Kunert, Randy Cook and John Bruno

Remembering It Came From Beneath the Sea, is Harryhausen's own recollections about making the film and runs 22:00

A Present Day Look at Stop-Motion takes a look at film students learning the art of stop motion. 11:36

Tim Burton Sits Down with Ray Harryhausen. Director Tim Burton interviews Harryhausen as ray discusses how the saucers were made and other interesting tidbits about the film. Great segment but it's almost ruined by Burton who babbles almost incoherently and uses the words "you know" and "amazing" about a hundred times during the 27:09 minute interview.

Original Ad Artwork Producer Arnold Kunert looks at the film's ad materials including rare posters and lobby cards from Earth Vs. the Flying Saucers and other films. 17:30

David Schecter on Film Music's Unsung Hero Is a retrospective on the career of composer Misha Bakaleinikoff 22:32

Sneak Peek of Digital Comic Book Flying Saucers vs. the Earth

Video Photo Galleries.

Excellent DVD for Harryhausen fans, monster geeks and film historians that treats us to a great example of how far colorization technology has come since its introduction years ago, and not on a washed-out public domain title. Supervised by R.H. himself - as are 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH and EARTH VS. FLYING SAUCERS - IT CAME benefits from a more interesting and LIVING color spectrum for its monster, instead of the constant, solid green of the Ymir in the new version of 20 MILLION. The Golden Gate bridge sequence looks especially good, with the hues of the tentacles contrasted with the red of the bridge, as well as the water tones. Another terrific highlight is the flamethrowers vs. the octopus scene, which again, really sparks in its colorized form. A few of the optical mattes are more noticeable in the color transfer, but there is always the beautiful, crisp black and white version to go back to. Both are included in this package, and you can even toggle between the two for comparisons. The extras are solid, with R.H. revealing more details about this film than he has previously. IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA has always been a 50's monster staple, thanks to its wonderfully animated star (and Ken Tobey!), and with this new, finely rendered color version it looks better than ever.

The 1950's decade saw an explosion in cinemas of every kind of tentacled, or oversized creature taking out its vengeance on mankind for its thoughtless handling of atomic testing and the environment. In the process of creating these fantastic creatures the legendary career of special effects wizard Ray Harryhausen came into its own. Long before computers dominated the special effects industry and worked their miracles with the press of a button this gifted craftsman created some of the most stunning special effects and creatures that have ever been seen in science fiction. Even today most of his work holds up well with some of his more memorable creations being his splendid creatures in such classics as "The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad", and "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms". In "It Came From Beneath the Sea" this genius tackles another sort of sea creature on the rampage in the form of a giant Octopus which has been dislodged from its habitat in the depths of the Pacific Ocean by H-Bomb testing. While "It Came From Beneath the Sea", suffered from a smaller budget than Harryhausen was used to and is today considered one of his lesser efforts there is still much classic animation work and drama to admire. Certainly for all science fiction buffs like myself it is easy to see that the creatures attack on the Golden Gate Bridge and the port area of San Francisco in the stories thrilling climax contains some of the most memorable sci fi imagery from the entire decade and these scenes have rightly gone down into science fiction folklore.

The action starts ona seemingly routine submarine mission headed by Commander Pete Mathews (Kenneth Tobey), in the Pacific which encounters a strange blip on the sonar which ends up colliding with the submarine. Unsure of what it was the mission heads home for repairs and then a strange rubbery substance is found attached to the submarine's rudder. Taking the mysterious substance to the Naval Research lab Pete encounters marine biologists Lesley Joyce (Faith Domergue) and Prof. John Carter (Donald Curtis), who after exhaustive research discover that the material is part of a potentially huge Octopus. Prof Joyce works out a theory that this beast is an inhabitant of the deepest parts of the Pacific Ocean where Octopus and other sea creatures can grow to fantastic size, and that it has become radioactive from the H-bomb testing in the area. Rising to the surface in search of non contaminated food the warning signs are there that trouble along the coastal areas could be only a short time away. Meanwhile reports begin to come in of coastal damage and missing persons and when a cargo vessel is destroyed at sea with only a handful of crew rescued the alarm goes out. Interviewed by both Pete and Lesley the men tell of a terrifying creature with huge tentacled arms which came out of the ocean to attack their ship. Confirming that the creature does exist a coastal alert is put into place and the San Francisco Bay area appears to be the next point of contact with the creature as it searches for food. The navy create a warhead that can be fired from a submarine that will puncture the huge creature and explode inwardly and Pete prepares his crew for action. Despite the best efforts of the military the octopus manages to infiltrate San Francisco harbour and begins to climb the Golden Gate Bridge causing a great deal of damage to the structure. Prof. Carter manages a narrow escape on the bridge thanks to Pete's intervention and when all the power on the Bridge is turned off the giant octopus submerges itself in the bay and later surfaces at the dock region. Causing mass panic and destruction the military, with the use of flame throwers, eventually drive the creature out into the bay. Pete's men then prepare to fire the missile into the creature which requires some tricky aqua diving and its only after Pete is badly injured and John goes out to finish the job that the explosion manages to kill the creature. Believing that both Pete and John are lost after the blast there is a general relief when both men safely surface out in the bay.

Classic 1950's science fiction is how I would describe "It Came From Beneath the Sea". We certainly do see too little of the creature of the title and indeed the giant octopus does lack a bit of the character of some of Harryhausen's other creations however the action scenes here are top rate, in particular the creatures assault on San Francisco. Kenneth Tobey playing Commander Pete Mathews has the sort of masculine, square jawed presense that is ideally suited to this type of action story and he had already well handled the suspense in another earlier science fiction classic in the unforgettable "The Thing From Another World",in 1951. Faith Domergue plays an interesting character here as the educated professor who develops the theory of where the creature has come from. Part independant woman and part scream queen of the fifties her character does come across for the most part as a refreshing change from many of the typical sci fi roles handed to women in this decade. Particulary memorable is her scene where she extracts information from the rescued sailor by removing her wrap and asking him for a cigarette while leaving the intercom open for the navy brass to listen in. It never fails to make me laugh and is an interesting snap shot of "another time", so foreign to how it would be played nowadays. First and foremost however the chief attraction in this movie is of course the often superb stop motion effects of Ray Harryhausen. "It Came From Beneath the Sea", marked the first of his legendary collaborations with producer Charles H. Schneer that took the pair through many films together right up to the impressive "Clash of the Titians" in 1981. The sight of the creature demolishing a section of the Golden Gate Bridge or attacking a cargo ship at sea are still breathtaking in their visual impact and the vivid sound effects employed in particular when the creature is being driven back through the streets of San Francisco by flame throwers is outstanding. Typically for this type of film there is the standard romance between the characters played by Kenneth Tobey and Faith Domergue however luckily here it really doesn't get in the way of the action. The slowness in parts of "It Came From Beneath the Sea", is due more in fact to director Robert Gordon's frequent dallying with naval and submarine activities than with anything else but even then is not too distracting.

Solid "Saturday Afternoon Matinee" material is how many see this creature feature and while certainly it has that nostalgic appeal I really appreciate it for the at times superb stop motion special effects created on a limited budget by Ray Harryhausen. A similiar effort to this filmed nowadays would cost countless millions but here we have the real genius of our film pioneers in special effects on display. "It Came From Beneath the Sea", has it all for sci fi lovers like myself, namely an angry creature disturbed from its habitat that goes on a rampage which always makes for a good story. Certainly there have been better "monster on the loose", efforts from the 1950's but this film is well worth the time in particular for a journey back to a simpler time in filmmaking without the huge budgets one expects nowadays. Enjoy!

After seeing the movie entitled "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms" I was "hooked" by the quality of same and by the special effects themselves-which are worth five stars all by themselves I decided to check out "It Came From Beneath the Sea" adn once more I was hooked. Now this movie is really worth watching over and over again because the acting and the special effects are truly superb. Simply put: Ray Harryhausen truly outdid himself-again.

Do you think the movie is old fashioned? Yes, it is, but very entertaining.

This blu-Ray contains two versions of the movie: original black and white and a new colorized version.

The picture quality looks (in my mind) pretty good but could be a little bit sharper.

Very interesting are the bonus features: documentaries, conversation with Ray Harryhausen and Tim Burton and Audio-Commentary.

For deaf hearing people or foreign speaking people you can add english subtitle, french and any others.

Beware for people from the 21th Century:

the creature was created with "old" special effects called Stop Motion. So it doesn't look perfect like in new movies with CGI (computer generated) effects.
For One second movie there was needed 24 pictures = the creature was 24 x photographed, each time in another position.

- - watch the bonus feature and learn more about - -

Interesting book about Ray Harryhausen's work:
Ray Harryhausen: An Animated Life

Anything by Ray Harryhausen's stop motion effects is worthy of praise, this is another one of those films my mother told me me about when I was younger and I appreciated the sheer coolness of a giant octopus attacking San Fransisco, it's cool in B&W and just as cool in color but it just takes a tad away from it when you colorize these old B&W movies but what makes this version really cool is that you can switch between B&W/Color while the movie is playing or you can watch one or the other as both versions or included on the discs so you can't go wrong here and you certainly can't beat the price, I tried buying this in the store and they wanted $25 bucks for it so I said "forget it" and came home and ordered it online here. It's a cool movie, don't miss it.

As mentioned in some of the other reviews, Ray Harryhausen's special effects are the real stars of the show. One of my favorite scenes is when the octopus pulls the ship under water. Determined, it tugged and tugged until enough water had flooded the freighter so that it would go under.

The final 20 minutes of the movie are done well and keep you on the edge of your seat as the octopus reaches out from the harbor looking for a quick meal. The people getting crushed under one of the tentacles is very convincing.

A classic sci-fi movie from the 1950s. I have seen and recorded a number of them, and this is among the best. Solid script that doesn't drag along, and great special effects.