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DVD It Came from Beneath the Sea
Two years after unleashing The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms upon New York City, master special-effects creator Ray Harryhausen turned loose a giant (albeit six-armed) octopus on San Francisco, and the result is another enjoyable atom-age adventure that should please fans of vintage science fiction. Kenneth Tobey, who battled The Thing (From Another World) in 1951, stars as a Navy captain who pursues a monstrous octopoid (sextapoid?) after it attacks his atomic sub. After it wreaks havoc with shipping lanes, he tracks the creature to San Francisco for a final showdown. Scripting by George Worthing Yates (Them!) and Hal Smith and direction by Robert Gordon are perfunctory at best, which gives the always-reliable Tobey and co-star Faith Domergue little to do, but this is Harryhausen's show, and his monster, though budgetarily restrained, is still impressive. Younger audiences weaned on digital FX may find this creaky, but nostalgic viewers will enjoy its simple thrills. --Paul Gaita
This is an excellent sci-fi film. I first saw it in the late 1950s. My school was going to take us to see Old Yeller, but that film was sold out, so instead we went to see It Came From Beneath the Sea. Bobby Moore's mother was taking us. That was about 45 years ago. The film starts with a tense episode in a submarine, and introduces kids to all sorts of interesting gizmos, such as sonar, Geiger counters, and periscopes. The film gets off to a humorous start, as there is a slight disagreement among submarine personnel as to whether the music played on board should be Hawaiian music or big band. Without devoting much further time to character development, or to establishing the historical context, we are introduced to the giant octopus. It ensnares a ship and takes it down. What follows is an excellent course in psychology, where a surviving sailor is so shocked that he cannot describe the octopus, but merely points to the examining physician's stethoscope. The doctor makes some subtle pronouncements, indicating that he believes the sailor to be nuts. The other sailors, waiting their examination, agree amongst each other to pretend that they saw nothing (to avoid being diagnosed as nuts). Another scene takes place in a marine biology lab, where there is a prominent sign reading NO SMOKING, but the sub commander, in speaking with the marine biologists, proves to be a chain smoker. Kids will love observing this discrepency on their own, as the contradiction is not discussed by any of the actors. As if the film was not dramatic enough, the octopus attacks San Francisco, tears down the Golden Gate Bridge, and extends its tentacles along the Embarcadero, near the area now named after journalist Herb Caen. "Woman's liberation" plays a surprisingly prominent role in this film, the female marine biologist is a university professor. Other films from this era would not have dared to do this, and would have given the woman a master's degree, at most. From time to time, there are hints of romance in this film, and the film director is to be commended for infusing the romantic episode with ambiguity (is the woman involved with the other marine biologist or not?). But there is not enough romance to dampen a kid's enthusiasm for the plot. The special effects are more than adequate. Unlike other sci-fi films from this era, and thereafter, the dialogue does NOT bog down in pseudo-scientific gibberish. After watching this movie, one wishes that more sci-fi films were in black'n'white. The quality of the images is excellent (not blurry at all) on my new liquid crystal T.V.
A movie ahead of its time
This is a good, fun movie. The special effects are cool, and the story is pretty decent. If you like classics of giant monsters, this one deserves to be on your list.
What I find truly remarkable about this movie is how it handles its female protagonist. She's smart, and she doesn't want to be pushed around by any man. She just wants the respect that's due her. And by the end of the film, she gets it. Not by being pushy or whiny, but by doing her job and doing it well. Really, I was surprised the first time I saw this. Women in a lot of these old movies tend to just scream and collapse at any sign of trouble. But not in this film.
Sure, she screams. I'd scream too if I saw a giant tentacle swinging down to crush me. But she still isn't a meek little thing in need of saving. This aspect of the story is what pushes this movie from good to great.
Proto-feminism and one honking big octopus make this movie an instant classic.
Kill that Octopus!
Tuesday, March 08, 2005 / 4 of 5 / Kill that Octopus!
Continuing my march through classic 50's sci-fi, I hadn't actually seen this one all the way through before. Squinty eyed Kenneth Tobey plays the captain of a new `atomic' sub which is latched onto by a hungry mutant octopus. Calling in the scientists to help we get to view an awkward love triangle between the gal, her scientist cohort and Tobey. Probably the most functional and sensible female Dr. of these stories, she stands up to the macho and gives as good as she gets, even commanding the room of a bunch of good old military boys. The story moves along as one has come to expect w/ the monster showing bits and pieces as it crushes various items in its path to its eventual destination for the showdown, in this case the Golden Gate Bridge. When it does come ashore (you know, octopi like that sort of thing, ugh) it's a very impressive Harryhausen creation. Plucky performances and effects put this one a bit above average.
A matinee programmer with lofty ambitions, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms is best appreciated as a vintage showcase for the stop-motion animation of special-effects legend Ray Harryhausen. The hoary plot follows the cold-war formula that dominated science fiction movies of the 1950s: After an atomic bomb test in the northern polar ice cap, a gigantic dinosaur--the fictional "Rhedosaurus"--is awakened from eons of dormancy, plots an undersea course for the Eastern seaboard, and proceeds to wreak havoc on New York City, culminating in a showdown with military marksmen at the Coney Island amusement park. Stock footage and tissue-thin drama make this a by-the-numbers monster flick, further hampered by Eugene Lourie's lackluster direction and a wooden B-movie cast. And yet, Harryhausen's... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Paul Hubschmid - Paula Raymond Director(s): Eugène Lourié DVD Release Date: Released the 21 October 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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That ol' cinematic devil the A-bomb has spawned a colony of giant murderous ants bent on destroying humanity in this, the seminal big bug movie (an obvious and oft-credited influence for Alien among countless others). The special effects may be dated, but this brilliantly rational-sounding film has held up wonderfully in all other regards, including some starkly effective location work in the high Arizona desert, a genuinely inspired sound design guaranteed to bring on the creepy-crawlies, and an unexpectedly dry sense of humor (mainly personified by Grade-A egghead scientist Edmund Gwenn). This is essential viewing for all those who consider themselves science fiction or horror fans. Heroic hardcase James Arness previously played for the other team as the titular character in... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): James Whitmore - Edmund Gwenn Director(s): Gordon Douglas DVD Release Date: Released the 06 August 2002 Usually ships in 24 hours
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A textbook example of '50s-era science fiction, Earth vs. the Flying Saucers boasts not only a solid script and competent performances, but some genuinely impressive stop-motion effects courtesy of one of the industry's uncontested masters, Ray Harryhausen. Scientist Hugh Marlowe (who faced a more benevolent invader from space five years earlier in The Day the Earth Stood Still) discovers that UFOs are responsible for the destruction of a series of exploratory space rockets launched by his space exploration project. The saucers' helmeted pilots land on Earth and deliver an ultimatum to humanity via Marlowe: fealty or complete annihilation.
Harryhausen's painstakingly intricate saucers and the destruction they wreak (particularly during an assault on Washington, D.C.) are... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Hugh Marlowe - Joan Taylor Director(s): Fred F. Sears DVD Release Date: Released the 17 September 2002 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Special-effects legend Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion talents and "Dynamation" (rear-projection) process are the highlights of the '50s-era creature feature 20 Million Miles to Earth. An American spaceship returns to Earth after a mission to Venus and crashes into the sea near Sicily. A sole survivor (William Hopper) is rescued, along with a specimen that quickly grows into a reptilian biped called the Ymir. The being eventually grows to 20 feet high and escapes its confines, whereupon it rampages through Rome before a showdown with the military. Despite lacking much of a personality, the Ymir is a marvelous showcase for Harryhausen's skills. Unfortunately, the rest of the film does not match his level of excellence; direction by Nathan Juran is perfunctory (his later collaborations... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): William Hopper - Joan Taylor - Frank Puglia - Thomas Browne Henry Director(s): Nathan Juran DVD Release Date: Released the 25 June 2002 Usually ships in 24 hours
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