The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms
1953 Directed by Eugène Lourié
Synopsis
It's alive !
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms is a 1953 science fiction film directed by Eugène Lourié and stars Paul Christian, Paula Raymond and Cecil Kellaway with visual effects by Ray Harryhausen. The film is about an atomic bomb test in the Arctic Circle that unfreezes a hibernating fictional dinosaur, a Rhedosaurus, that begins to wreak havoc in New York City.
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60 years ago. There were scenes that looked as though they'd been copied by Roland Emmerich's Godzilla and even Cloverfield. Not sure if that's true, but quite a few scenes looked familiar. Having said that, there's going to be something familiar about a giant monster raging round the city streets of New York!
Harryhausen's first effects film I believe, which does show, but still looks way better than the aforementioned Godzilla! Seemed a little odd seeing Lee Van Cleef in a cameo - especially with dark hair...
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So this kicked it all off, from Godzilla to the worst creature feature - the Rhedosaurus was what influenced them all and jeez, is it cool. The SFX scenes are fantastic but the human stuff is slightly underwhelming, especially when compared to something like 'It Came From Beneath the Sea' (but I guess they all can't be unforgettable classics, eh?).
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I watched this last night, and was bored by it, so my attention wondered. A film where a horrendous monster is running around a big city should be exciting and not leave me thinking "Oh has it finished? What happened?"
I was wrong yesterday when I said we were ⅔ of the way through the December project - at 4p.m. today we will have ⅓ of the month left. This was my 64th film of the month so I'm only 2⅔ films behind! -
I love this monster!
This was apparently one of Ray Harryhausen's first projects on his own, and he did a spectacular job with the creature. The last third of the movie, as our protagonists chase the creature through the streets of New York, are a fun, somewhat silly chance to see what the master of stop motion could do. I greatly enjoyed those scenes and could rewatch them anytime.
Unfortunately, to get there we spend almost an hour with almost no monster, dealing with the humans. They're not bad, but they're nothing special and can't hold a candle to the beastie! More beastie!
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Silly monster movie. Pretty lame.
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First watch
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That's pretty deep.
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Ray Harryhausen’s first solo pro job was this pioneering monster movie that is a reptilian copy (more or less) of King Kong. It’s heavy on dialogue but light on plot, not wanting to give away the monster until well into the picture, but it’s stylishly shot and features an exciting climax on Coney Island.