The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms

Amazon.com

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 first independent effort retains its atomic-age fascination: Beast marked yet another technical milestone for Harryhausen's impeccable techniques, and its perpetual status as a sci-fi classic is duly acknowledged in the DVD bonus features, including a retrospective featurette and a latter-day reunion of Harryhausen and longtime friend Ray Bradbury, whose short story "The Fog Horn" served as this film's inspiration. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Near the Arctic Circle, an atomic bomb is detonated. This fearsome experiment disturbs the sleep of a giant rhedosaurus encased in ice for more than 100-million years and sends it southward on a destructive, deadly rampage. The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms is a film of firsts. It spawned a new era of atomic-age creature features. It was the first screen adaptation of a work by fantasy fiction titan Ray Bradbury. And it marked the first time Ray Harryhausen had control over special effects. He came up with a fantastic creature (constructed at full scale, all 50 tons of it) that swims down from the north to run amok through New York City before being conquered in a spectacular Coney Island roller coaster finale. Take a classic ride. Unleash The Beast. Year: 1953

DVD Features:
Documentaries:Two commemorative 50th anniversary documentaries - The Rhedosaurus and the Roller Coaster: Making the Beast; Harryhausen & Bradbury: An Unfathomable Friendship
Production Notes
Theatrical Trailer:Giant monsters trailer gallery featurnig this film, The Black Scorpion, Clash of the Titans and The Valley of Gwangi

Customer Reviews:

big rhed comes homw.......2007-09-10

I am so glad that this has finally come out on dvd! My vhs copy was wearing out. Ray Harryhausens first solo project, and the one that firmly entrenched him as the all time master of the technique.The slow build up is intentionally reminiscent of King Kong, building expectation in the viewer. Then the action zooms along to the same sad ending. The bonus features are also excellent.

ultimate monster movie.......2007-08-17

This is my favorite monster movie. Good acting . Godzilla is abit of a joke but this is played like it is for real. Pretty good music too.

Adult Popcorn.......2007-07-06

This movie is what I call "Adult Popcorn." That doesn't mean you have to be one, but it helps.

When you are asked what movie you want to rent or buy, try this one.

Corny yes. Not great special affects. This is Jurasic Park 50 years before that movie was released. Old yes and fun to. Don't forget the popcorn.

The very latest models for 1953.......2007-06-28

It's hard to realize why this early stop-motion animation "beast on the loose" film is so warmly remembered until you actually see it, since it doesn't seem from its description like it should be that special. Its plot of a monster released by atomic radiation attacking a city has been repeated again and again, and owes much to both the 1933 KING KONG and the 1925 THE LOST WORLD (as Ray Bradbury and Ray Harryhausen, who respectively wrote its original story and created its effects, cheerfully admit in the accompaying feature). But in many ways this set the standard for the films of this sort that dominated the sci-fi films of the 50s, and the beast itself is really a marvel. Whereas King Kong was childlike, given to charming bits of curiosity and childish tantrums of rage, and the later (much inferior) Godzilla simply incarnated pure chaos, the Beast here has become much beloved over the decades because it is so ornery. It attacks fishing trawlers, lighthouses, diving bells and the docks of Manhattan for no good reason other than that it's particularly grumpy and ill-tempered, which makes it all the more adorable. (It even looks like a cross between a pit bull and a gila monster.)

As with most 1950s monster films, the stuff that comes in-between the Beast's rampages is pretty forgettable, although the Swiss Paul Hubschmid (here called Paul Christian) is a pretty unusual choice as the hero, and Paula Raymond, as the fretful assistant to a paleontology professor, is for some reason given a hilarious array of the very latest in New Look fashions in every scene she's in. Probably the film's producers figured if they couldn't give us the animated Harryhausen model of the rhedosaurus they'd have to give us something, so there she is sporting others sorts of the very latest models.

Great 50s Classic.......2007-03-10

I remember watching this as a kid on MONA LISA Monster Theatre.Still a great 50s SCI-FI Flick. Harry Harryhausen is the best at his creature animations. This movie ia a must for all SCI-FI fans.

Average customer rating:

Beware of Them
Old sci-fi movies
classic fifties monsters
Wow, great deal.
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms/Them

The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms/Them!
Starring: James Whitmore , Edmund Gwenn , Joan Weldon , James Arness , and Onslow Stevens
Director: Gordon Douglas , and Eugène Lourié
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B000FOPPEC
Release Date: 2006-08-22

Description

Humanity has split the atom, unleashing a new era of science - an era that would also unleash monstrous celluloid rampages. An A-bomb test in the Arctic awakens The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, and it makes New York City its stomping ground in the movie (based on a story by Ray Bradbury) that launched a string of Atomic Age creature features. One of the best of those cautionary yarns is Them! Radiation-mutated ants - 12 feet long and capable of lifting tons - become giant problems for James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, James Arness and all of Los Angeles. They're big. They're bad. They've got a serious attitude problem. You won't find a can of bug spray big enough to stop 'em!

Customer Reviews:

Beware of Them.......2007-07-28

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.

Old sci-fi movies.......2007-07-12

I injoy the beast and them very much. They brought back fond memories of when I went to the movie theater to see them as a boy.

classic fifties monsters.......2007-05-26

Two great monster movies for the price of one! Sounds familiar, but in this case, you get what they offer.
Them! is the original "big bug" movie. Atomic fallout causes ants to grow large enough to snack on humans and their nest has to be destroyed. But, here comes the McGuffin. Two of the Queens escape and a world wide hunt is on for Them! before they multiply and destroy the human race. The ants are really huge puppets ten years before Jim Henson.
Of course, we have the obligatory (poorly) hidden warning against nuclear testing. Remember, this was the McCarthey era and open protest against the bomb could get you blacklisted.
Again the bomb gets the blame in The Beast from 20,000 fathoms. (great title, but the beast never actually swims that deep) In this case, nuclear testing in the arctic thaws a dinosaur frozen under the ice. The ice at that time was just stuffed with all sorts of critters. First it froze in time to catch a Deadly Mantis, then it thawed enough to entrap a dinosaur without unfreezing the bug, then, in modern times, a starship crash thawed it enough to trap one of its crewmen, The Thing from Outer Space, then it froze the Blob, but allowed enough of it to thaw to menace the world again in the seventies. God knows what global warming will release in the twenty-teens.
getting back to the Beast, rather than freezing back to a Dino-sicle, this one jumps into the ocean and heads south. In Massachusets, it falls in love with a lighthouse, but when its new love proves frigid, it destroys her. Then it heads for New York city where it it is wounded, but its blood turns out to be contaminated by a mysterious disease, so a way has to be found to kill it without spreading the disease, The finale is really exciting. I missed the theatre showing of this film because I was too young, but when I saw this disk, I thought, "Oh that's Godzilla.". Sure enough, in the commentaries on Gojira, I learned that the writer openly credited the Beast as part of the inspiration for the Japanese movie. However, the two movies are different enough that I am glad to have both in my collection. I also have Gorgo, so now all I need is "the giant Behemoth", "Reptilicus",and "The Valley Of Gwangi" to complete my set.

Wow, great deal........2007-03-25

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

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms/Them.......2007-02-20

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.

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