The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)

Influential in many ways. Seminal to say the least. This is the first Monster to be unleashed by the awakening awesomeness of the Atomic Bomb. This is Ray Harryhausen's first solo outing (he was Willis O'Brien's (King Kong) assistant on Mighty Joe Young (1949).

It has a crisp Black and White look and is a sharply defined matte of Monster and surroundings. From the early sets on the frozen tundra, to the depths of the Ocean, to the New York City Streets, to the Amusement Park finale, this is a beautiful low-budget Film.

There are some stiff Performances and some that are lively. It pulls few punches in its depressing display of Radioactive Paranoia. Some unforgettable Highlights include the eerie Lighthouse encounter, the viciously impressive looking Dinosaur wreaking havoc between Skyscrapers, and the Roller Coaster imprisonment and execution.

Note: Will all Godzilla and Toho fans please nod, bow, and applaud.

Fmovies: To hell with over-budgeted movies like Jurassic Park, Godzilla, Reign of Fire and God knows which others...Sure you can watch those with your mouth wide wide open wondering what great computer specialists are behind this but...where's the LOVE ??? If you're looking for charming monster films, turn back your clock towards the 50's. Without a doubt the greatest decade for movies like this. Tons of movies like this one were made back then but every single title was made with a lot of love. Them! , the Swarm and the Giant Spider Invasion are probably the best known ones. The Beast from 20.000 Fathoms handles about a ... dinosaur !!! A rethosaurus, aged one million years, comes to live again. It got frozen during the change of the eras and now, because of the enormous heat of a nuclear experiment, it's back . The creature ( about as big as a skyscraper ) goes directly into the ocean. He attacks a few boats and the people who claimed to have seen him are called crazy in the beginning...( can you blame them ? ). But, when our dinosaur sets foot in New York, the city faces the biggest terror it ever saw. The Beast is definitely not the best monster movie coming from the 50's, but still. If you admire the older days of cinema more as well, you'll love it a hell of a lot more than then nowadays stuff. The creature is well made, but it shouldn't move too much. The fight shown between the shark and the octopus is really impressive, that must be said. The ants in Them! were a lot more real, but hey, this fella is ten times as big. Lovely B-movie fun

If one is in need of a good laugh, there is no better place to start than by watching many of the creature features churned out in the fifties and sixties. Why else do we sit down to watch such perfectly awful schlock like The Giant Gila Monster or The Giant Claw? It is the total ineptitude of the film making process involved in putting those films onto celluloid that makes them endearing to us in their own special way. There were however, a few films of the era that somehow managed to rise above total mediocrity enough so that we can watch them simply because they are decent well made films. This is not to say they are any kind of spectacular cinematic achievement, but in comparison to the usual dreck of that era, they shine like the North Star.

The Beast from 20, 000 Fathoms is a giant dinosaur that has spent the last few million years as a perpetual frozen Popsicle. When some scientists start monkeying around with nuclear testing as they often did in these types of film, the beast does a quick thaw, and wakes up mighty darn hungry. When scientist Tom Nesbitt (Paul Christian) witnesses the creature, and his companion becomes dinosaur fodder, nobody believes him of course, attributing it to delusional traumatic distress, known more commonly in the fifties as hallucinations. Just as Tom is also about to chalk the whole thing up to delirium, he reads about a boat being attacked by a giant sea serpent. It is then that he enlists the aid of Paleontologist Professor Thurgood Elson (Cecil Kellaway), and his assistant Lee (Paula Raymond). The old professor says no dice, it just ain't happening. Lee, however, seems to be hot for Tom's heavy Swiss accent and has him look through some dinosaur mug shots to see if he can identify the beast. After a quick scene in which they let us know that if this film were being made in 2004, Tom and Lee would be looking at the pictures in the bedroom instead of just making eye contact, Tom identifies the beast as a Rhedosaurus. Lest you decide to go looking up what a Rhedosaurus is in the Dinosaur Almanac, I'll save you the trouble by telling you it's a complete figment of the imagination of the writers and animator Ray Harryhausen. From here the chase is on, and eventually the Rhedosaurus decides to homestead in New York City.

There are several reasons why Beast stands out as a cut above normal. Though the script contains the usual inane dialog one expects, the fact that Tom and Lee come up with a decent intelligent plan to prove its existence helps a great deal. There is also the fact that they actually give us a reason as to why the Rhedosaurus is moving down the Atlantic coast instead of making it all seem like random attacks. Foremost, and most importantly, the film works because of the animation of Harryhausen. Forced by a low budget to do all the work on animating the Rhedosaurus by himself, Harryhausen does a terrific job at bringing the beast to life, despite the fact that at times its size changes to fit the scene it happens to be in. After this film, Harryhausen did all of his animations working alone until Clash of the Titans where for the first time he required the help of assistants. It makes one almost regret the use of CGI in films today, as the animations by Harryhausen always had a certain kind of charm to them. Despite continually being saddled with low budgets (the entire budget for Beast was $200,000), Harryhausen could always be counted on to bring a certain amount of class to many of these films that would have otherwise ended up as j

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms fmovies. The first true Harryhausen films, and it's a real landmark film, the first of the atomic age monster movies (and one which led to the creation of a certain Japanese monster).

Atomic tests in the arctic release a prehistoric beast which has been trapped in the ice for millions of years. In no time the mysterious creature is wrecking havoc, but sceptical scientists refuse to believe in the existence of such a thing.

In common with a lot of Harryhausen's creations, the Beast itself has a real character, is a believable animal rather than just a monster. The film is cleverly-written and the characters are well-thought-out. A first-rate tale.

Nuclear testing out in the arctic rouses a prehistoric Rhedosaurs from its icy incarcerated sleep. It promptly lays waste to everything that gets in its path, and its next stop is New York City.

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms stands as one of the most important of the 50s sci-fi/creature feature films that filled the screens during that particular decade. Notable for being the first picture where Ray Harryhausen had total control over the effects {and thus setting his career on an upward route}, it is also one of two pictures from 1953 that would be the first adaptations of the gifted writings of Ray Bradbury (the other being It Came from Outer Space).

Watching it now you can see just what a template movie it was to be for the genre, the perils of nuclear testing a vivid jolt of paranoia, the rugged alpha male, the svelt sexy strong lady, and of course the creature to terrify all who come into contact with it, yep it's safe to say that this picture has all the trademarks. The Rhedosaurus {completely made up name} is a wonderful creation from Harryhausen, a giant stalking lizard who sinks ships for fun, pulls down lighthouses, and has no problems about feasting on local police officers, it's safe to say that since being woken from his sleep he is in a very bad mood!. The ending is wonderful, as the giant beast finds himself cloaked in a roller-coaster with mankind fighting the good fight, a perfect finish to a hugely enjoyable picture. 8/10

Beast from 20,000 Fathoms is based on a Ray Bradbury story. An atomic explosion unleashes a dinosaur( don't these atomic tests ALWAYS cause something to wake up?) in the Artic. A scientist witnesses the dinosaur but nobody believes him. A professor helps locate the beast and finally the beast is destroyed at Coney Island. I don't want to give too much away in case you want to view it. The acting is very good. Two of my favorite B-movie actors are in this: Kenneth Tobey and Cecil Kelloway. Ray Harryhausen's effects are terrific. Eugene Lourie does a good job directing. The pace of the film keeps the viewer interested. This was the inspiration for Godzilla(1954-Toho Studios). This is a classic B-movie from the 50s that you will enjoy.