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The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms

Play trailer Poster for The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms Released Jun 13, 1953 1h 20m Sci-Fi Play Trailer Watchlist
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91% Tomatometer 22 Reviews 68% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
Near the Arctic Circle researchers detonate a nuclear device and unwittingly thaw a prehistoric beast frozen for millions of years. The monster leaves a path of destruction across eastern North America as it heads straight for New York City. When heavy artillery proves ineffective against the towering creature, scientist Tom Nesbitt (Paul Christian) concocts a radioactive formula to neutralize the beast -- and ace shot Cpl. Stone (Lee Van Cleef) will deliver it by grenade.
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The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms

Critics Reviews

View All (22) Critics Reviews
Kim Newman Empire Magazine This 50s bis Beastie movie is still a romp despite obviously dated effects. Rated: 3/5 Apr 29, 2014 Full Review A.H. Weiler New York Times Despite more than a suspicion of palaver, it generates a fair portion of interest and climactic excitement ... Oct 31, 2006 Full Review Time Out Freed from the Arctic ice by atomic blasts, one of Ray Harryhausen's most loveable prehistoric beasts trundles down the US coast to stomp New York ... Jan 26, 2006 Full Review Nell Dodson Russell Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder The monster didn't look like a fish to me. He looked like the land-borne type, so how come he could swim under water from the Artic except for coming to the surface long enough to bash in a few ships and a lighthouse or two? Dec 16, 2021 Full Review Mike Massie Gone With The Twins When the beast inevitably climbs onto dry land (near Wall Street) to wreak havoc on New York City itself, it's a riotous good time. Rated: 6/10 Aug 15, 2020 Full Review Clyde Gilmour Maclean's Magazine [A] naïve but entertaining fantasy. Dec 3, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Elvis D Basada en un relato del autor Ray Bradbury, esta película fue el gran debut de Ray Harryhausen como artista de efectos especiales tras haber realizado cortometrajes animados que lo ayudaron a formar parte del equipo de animación de Mighty Joe Young. Es evidente que con la influencia que ha generado King Kong en los años 30 al replicar las técnicas usadas en The Lost World, ese motivo a que la animación stop-motion se convirtiera en un nuevo método para dar vida a criaturas fantásticas. La secuela de King Kong y Mighty Young fueron el siguiente escalón y The Beast From 20.000 Fathoms se volvió el segundo impacto más grande en la gran pantalla. Juzgando la película en sí es evidente que no se separa de los clichés del cine de ciencia ficción de la época. Es una historia de monstruos igual a la de muchas otras en el periodo cinematográfico de la era atómica. No es una película con un gran desarrollo argumental y sus personajes son bastante genéricos. No tiene una historia del todo memorable y lo único que hace que esta película sea recordada es su monstruo. Eso es porque se trata de una película que rompe un paradigma en la forma en que se hacía la ciencia ficción. Para ser claros, esta es una película de serie B como muchas otras de la época y fue realizada de forma independiente. En los años 40 y 50 era bastante común que las películas de ciencia ficción recurrieran a utilería barata como disfraces, maniquís o miniaturas debido a que el CGI todavía no existía. The Beast From 20.000 Fathoms se salió de ese reglamento por usar una criatura hecha con animación stop-motion. Siendo honestos, la criatura es lo mejor de toda la película y se nota bastante la influencia que tiene hacia The Lost World y King Kong cuando destroza la ciudad. Ese momento es lo más disfrutable de la película, puesto que al inicio todo gira al enigma de probar la existencia de la criatura. La película se orienta bastante a ese misterio hasta que en sus últimos 20 minutos ofrece el espectáculo que se espera de la criatura. Eso hizo que se volvería pionera del cine de monstruos e incluso influyó a Ishiro Honda para la realización de Godzilla. Aunque la ciencia ficción no dejo de recurrir a la utilería y otros elementos hechos a mano, esta película dejo nuevas posibilidades al descubierto que el cine iría experimentando tiempo después. Esto deja incluso en evidencia que se puede hacer una película espectacular sin tener buenos personajes o un buen guion mientras los efectos especiales ofrezcan una satisfactoria experiencia visual. El veredicto final es que The Beast From 20.000 Fathoms es una película que aun con su carente desarrollo de argumento y personajes, tiene un cierto valor por haber sido el catalizador del cine de monstruos de la época y abrir las puertas a las posibilidades que se podían llegar con la animación en el terreno de los efectos especiales. Algo que se volvió muy esencial para el nacimiento del CGI varios años después. Mi calificación final para esta película es un 8/10. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 09/03/24 Full Review Omar LK A A classic movie, it's sheer simpleness, passion of creating it, gives good vibes. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/03/23 Full Review CodyZamboni Z Solid 1950s influential monster action, Still fascinating fx, Predates Godzilla as thousands of New Yorkers run down the streets, Good Coney Island rollercoaser fiery climax, Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 08/07/24 Full Review dave s An early entry in the ‘atomic testing leads to nothing good' genre of science fiction, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms is a typical cautionary tale of the horrors brought about by the ignorance of humanity. After testing atomic weapons in the Arctic, a large reptile is roused from its lair and begins migrating down the Atlantic seaboard, creating mayhem along the way, ultimately finding an appropriate wrecking ground in New York. Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion effects are impressive when considering the time period in which the film was shot and the movie is decent enough as far as production values are concerned. However, the whole thing is terribly predictable and filled with some brutal dialogue ("I feel as though I'm leaving a world of untold tomorrows for a world of countless yesterdays"), making it a mixed bag as far as entertainment value is concerned. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review steven a This tightly edited monster tale was influential on the genre with its echoes seen in the following year's GODZILLA amongst many others throughout the decade, despite itself being derivative of KING KONG (1933), which had been re-released to theatres the previous year. The script offers little depth, but the lead cast performances are solid, and the effects work is respectable for its age. Russell's cinematography occasionally gives the film a documentary look, but Lourie's camera movement is frequently static due to the demands of the effects work. The Coney Island climax is well shot however and generates excitement. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Taylor L A slumbering prehistoric monster is awoken after American scientific researchers drop a full-on nuke in the Arctic Circle. They don't even explain what it is they're studying, it's just the '50s so nuclear = "wow, science!" The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms is a direct inspiration for Godzilla (released the following year) as well as one of the earliest gargantuan-monster movies; no longer are you dealing with the Wolfman on a studio lot, the audiences want us to start demolishing tiny models of cities. It's mostly interesting as a direct comparison to the Ishirō Honda classic that it inspired; where the vague, hopeful musings on nuclear testing do bring about the release of a monster, it's not the melancholic and terrified response that the Japanese version would carry with the direct aftermath of a nuclear blast as thematic fuel. Two sides of the first atomic bomb drop, told through a similar story with completely different interpretations. As the first live-action monster film of its kind, The Beast is sort of a baby-steps project. Swiss actor Paul Christian is a leading man who occasionally lets his accent slip through, and the majority of the human elements of the story are there to check boxes (such as Paula Raymond's token love interest) or to pad for time rather than to add to the story. The effects were delivered by the legend Ray Harryhausen, which boast slighlty jagged motions alongside a less-than-perfect marriage to live-action, but it's still a major accomplishment given that it hadn't been done before; notably, the 'Beast' model would actually be recycled as the dragon in the better-remembered 1958 adventure film, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. (2.5/5) Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 10/15/22 Full Review Read all reviews
The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms

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Movie Info

Synopsis Near the Arctic Circle researchers detonate a nuclear device and unwittingly thaw a prehistoric beast frozen for millions of years. The monster leaves a path of destruction across eastern North America as it heads straight for New York City. When heavy artillery proves ineffective against the towering creature, scientist Tom Nesbitt (Paul Christian) concocts a radioactive formula to neutralize the beast -- and ace shot Cpl. Stone (Lee Van Cleef) will deliver it by grenade.
Director
Eugène Lourié
Producer
Hal E. Chester, Jack Dietz, Bernard W. Burton
Distributor
Warner Bros.
Production Co
Warner Brothers/Seven Arts
Genre
Sci-Fi
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 13, 1953, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 19, 2016
Runtime
1h 20m
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