The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms

Starring: Paul Hubschmid, Paula Raymond, Cecil Kellaway, Lee Van Cleef
Directed by: Eugene Lourie
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Horror, Science Fiction
1953

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A scientist (Paul Hubschmid) believes he saw a giant dinosaur while on a mission in the north Artic. No one believes him, but after a series of strange events, some in the military start to consider that perhaps a strange beast did indeed emerge from the ice.

Review:

Tim: The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms is one of the most influential monster movies of all time. The film came out in 1953, and represented the first movie to tie giant monsters to atomic weapons. In many ways, this is the film responsible for launching the monster movie craze of the 1950s. It directly inspired the Japanese to start making their Godzilla movies (Gojira came out a year later, in '54). I always love watching movies that are deemed influential, because you can easily see how they impacted the movies that came after them.

I was surprised that this movie was actually pretty good. The special effects are obviously dated, but were impressive for the time. We see the giant monster (actually, a fictional Rhedosaurus) destroy ships, a lighthouse, buildings, cars, a roller coaster, and eating people. The special effects, done by the legendary Ray Harryhausen are very, very impressive. The movie is obviously science fiction, but I appreciate it trying to stay true to the science of the day. Much of the "science" seems ridiculous now, but this movie is much more realistic than the Godzilla movies that would come afterward.

While there were monster movies long before this one, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms inspired dozens of monsters movies after. I was impressed that this was the first film to connect nuclear weapons to the giant monsters, ushering in the age of giant monster movies that were so prevalent in the 1950s. You can look at this movie as a stupid, silly film- there are certainly many flaws, laughable dialogue, and absurd science. However, by putting yourself in the shoes of the audiences of the early 1950s, you can see how this movie might have been impactful. Humanity had just recently harnessed the power of the atom, and there was no telling where human ingenuity would lead us. There was also fear, too- perhaps we had grown too smart as a species, and our intelligence would be our downfall. The implications and consequences of nuclear weapons were not clearly understood by many. Giant monsters brought to life by radioactivity certainly seemed like a more real concept than it does today.

This movie gives us mostly what we want out of a monster movie. There are a number good good monster scenes, where the titular beast destroys various property and eats people. There's the typical "What could it be?" conversations. There is a scientific attempt to understand the beast. There is a decent amount of character development, so we actually care a bit about the people we watch on screen. The film delivers.

I was surprised that I enjoyed this movie as much as I did. The film is flawed and is very often silly, but it does enough right that it makes sense that this film became a classic and a very inspirational film.


Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Gojira, King Kong, Them!