The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms [1953] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

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Before Godzilla, there was The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms.......2007-12-20

It may come as a surprise to many, but Godzilla was not the first ancient "monster" reawakened by the testing of nuclear weapons; in fact, there is reason to believe that Godzilla was influenced to a significant extent by this 1953 classic. Produced on a miniscule budget of some two hundred thousand dollars, The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms features high quality all across the board: an intelligent script, some pretty good acting, and wonderful direction (by first-time director Eugene Lourie) - the film even showcases a rare example of beneficial stock footage. What make it particularly special and memorable, however, are the special effects by Ray Harryhausen, the veritable king of stop-motion animation. Remember the incredible animation of King Kong in the original 1933 film? Well, Harryhausen took those same animation techniques to a whole new level, using actual footage as the backdrops for scenes featuring the beast wreaking havoc in New York City. I actually prefer great stop-motion animation like this to today's CGI, as a Harryhausen beast such as this one seems more real to me.

The story opens in the Arctic Circle, where scientists are conducting nuclear weapons tests. Two scientists go out to check readings, but only one comes back. The survivor is rushed to a hospital in the States, and as soon as he is awake he starts telling people about the gigantic dinosaur he saw before he collapsed in the snow. Not surprisingly, no one believes his story. As a scientist, though, Tom Nesbitt (Paul Hubschmid) knows that what he saw was real. After hearing the account of a fishing boat up north being attacked by a "sea serpent," he goes to see Professor Thurgood Elson (Cecil Kellaway), one of the most renowned paleontologists in the world, but the professor refuses to believe the impossible. The same goes for all of Nesbitt's superiors, who dismiss his "hallucination" as a mere product of shock. Dr. Elson's assistant, Lee Hunter (Paula Raymond), is a little more sympathetic to Nesbitt's account (and not only because she's obviously attracted to him), though, and the two of them work to gather the proof needed to convince others of the prehistoric creature's existence.

Don't ask me how a cold-blooded reptile, no matter how large he is, can possibly survive the freezing temperatures of the Arctic for very long or how he can stay under water for as long as he wants without breathing. Just know that this beast, identified as a Rhedosaurus (not a real dinosaur, so don't bother looking it up), does these things - and he comes ashore in New York City about the same time that Nesbitt finally manages to get anyone important to believe his story. New York's finest quickly learn that standard guns and ammo just aren't going to work, and things only get worse when scientists discover that the creature's newly-shed blood is potentially even more dangerous than the physical destruction the beast leaves in his wake. The final showdown, which takes place at Coney Island, is actually rather sad and tragic, especially for those of us who sympathize with the beast.

The only thing I don't like about this film is the fact that it identifies Ray Bradbury as one of the writers. It just so happened that one scene in the film ended up sounding a lot like a scene from one of Bradbury's stories ("The Foghorn"), and so the studio bought the rights to it - to avoid a possible lawsuit, one must assume. It's also no secret that Bradbury and Harryhausen were good friends. My point, though, is that any reference to this film being written by Bradbury is a vast overstatement. In practical terms, he did little more than read over the script and remark that one scene sounded like a scene in one of his stories.

The bottom line is that The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms is one of the best - and certainly one of the most influential - monster movies ever made, and I find it regrettable that it gets far less attention than the monsters and monster movies that came after it. Despite (and in many ways because of) its comparatively small budget, The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms more than deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Godzilla.

Just about very well known Sci-Fi personality.......2005-06-02

This film has all the 50's Sci-Fi standards except the flame thrower. We start off with a narrative that shows an atomic test taking place in the frozen north. Two people go out to take readings after the test. One does not come back and the other is delusional, talking of a monster. Naturally he needs curing and is almost well with a female paleontologist starts to believe him and offers to let him eat her sandwiches and look at mug shots of mobsters past. Can the authorities be convinced before it is too late?

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