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Varan the Unbelievable (大怪獣バラン Daikaijū Baran) is a 1958 Japanese black-and-white science fiction-kaijū film, produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka, directed by Ishirō Honda, that stars Kôzô Nomura, Ayumi Sonoda, Fumito Matsuo, and Haruo Nakajima as Varan.
In 1962, for the American market, Crown International Pictures released a heavily re-edited adaptation of Varan the Unbelievable on a double bill with the re-edited, shortened, and retitled version of the East German/Polish science fiction film First Spaceship on Venus.
United States Navy Commander Jim Bradley is sent to Japan to test a new chemical that will desalinate water. The indigenous population, unfortunately, are against the experiments in their salt lake. They fear that the chemical will re-awaken their ancient god, Obaki. Despite their objections, the villagers are evacuated and the experiment goes on as scheduled. As they feared, the chemical reawakens their god, a giant prehistoric monster. The creature destroys the local village and then heads to the city of Oneida.
In 1962, for the American market, Crown International Pictures released a heavily re-edited adaptation of Varan the Unbelievable on a double bill with the re-edited, shortened, and retitled version of the East German/Polish science fiction film First Spaceship on Venus.
United States Navy Commander Jim Bradley is sent to Japan to test a new chemical that will desalinate water. The indigenous population, unfortunately, are against the experiments in their salt lake. They fear that the chemical will re-awaken their ancient god, Obaki. Despite their objections, the villagers are evacuated and the experiment goes on as scheduled. As they feared, the chemical reawakens their god, a giant prehistoric monster. The creature destroys the local village and then heads to the city of Oneida.
Plot
A rare species of butterfly, native only to Japan's Kitakami River area, is discovered by two Japanese students while vacationing. In response, an expedition is dispatched to the Northwest Region (The Japanese Tibet) to study the butterflies in their native habitat.
While driving to the location, two researchers come across a village. They ask the lake's location but receive no answer. The two eventually come upon the lake and find the butterflies, but are mysteriously crushed by something that police describe as "powerful". Nearby villagers of the Kitakami River insist that both deaths were a result of the wrath of their god Baradagi-sanjin (Mountain God Baradagi).
Another expedition is dispatched to the area, funded by the film company "20th Century Mysteries Solved", an organization seeking to uncover the truth behind both deaths. Reporters Motohiko Horiguchi and Yuriko Shinjo (Ayumi Sonoda), the sister of one of the men killed, and an entomologist named Dr. Kenji Uozaki (Kozo Namura) come along.
Further inland, the expedition stumbles upon a village offering a ritualistic prayer to their mountain god. The local priest warns the travelers that their presence will make the god-monster angry.
A rare species of butterfly, native only to Japan's Kitakami River area, is discovered by two Japanese students while vacationing. In response, an expedition is dispatched to the Northwest Region (The Japanese Tibet) to study the butterflies in their native habitat.
While driving to the location, two researchers come across a village. They ask the lake's location but receive no answer. The two eventually come upon the lake and find the butterflies, but are mysteriously crushed by something that police describe as "powerful". Nearby villagers of the Kitakami River insist that both deaths were a result of the wrath of their god Baradagi-sanjin (Mountain God Baradagi).
Another expedition is dispatched to the area, funded by the film company "20th Century Mysteries Solved", an organization seeking to uncover the truth behind both deaths. Reporters Motohiko Horiguchi and Yuriko Shinjo (Ayumi Sonoda), the sister of one of the men killed, and an entomologist named Dr. Kenji Uozaki (Kozo Namura) come along.
Further inland, the expedition stumbles upon a village offering a ritualistic prayer to their mountain god. The local priest warns the travelers that their presence will make the god-monster angry.
The warning falls of deaf ears. Kenji and Horiguchi later return to the village to rally the locals, telling them their beliefs are little more than superstition. Without their priest, the villagers agree, just as their god-monster Varan rises from the lake. The terrified villagers flee back to their homes, as the god-monster kills the priest at the village entrance, then proceeds to tear apart its huts. Following the destruction, Varan retreats to his underwater lair.
Reports of the monster's existence reaches Tokyo, and the National Defense Force is mobilized. The villagers are evacuated, as tanks and ground artillery units move into position. Shortly thereafter, the military begins releasing toxins into the lake to drive out the monster.
The plan is successful, and Varan emerges from the water, as tanks and artillery began to unleash their destructive fury. The conventional weapons have no effect on the monster and the military is forced to retreat. During the confusion, Yuriko gets trapped under a falling tree, placing her in Varan's path. Kenji narrowly manages to save his colleague and the two seek safety in a nearby cave. Varan pursues the two, reaching into the cavern with its large claws. The military intervenes, firing flares over the monster's head. Varan, attracted by their light, climbs a nearby mountain for a closer look. Once at its peak, the monster reveals hidden membranes of skin under its arms and leaps from the mountain top and glides towards the sea.
Reports of the monster's existence reaches Tokyo, and the National Defense Force is mobilized. The villagers are evacuated, as tanks and ground artillery units move into position. Shortly thereafter, the military begins releasing toxins into the lake to drive out the monster.
The plan is successful, and Varan emerges from the water, as tanks and artillery began to unleash their destructive fury. The conventional weapons have no effect on the monster and the military is forced to retreat. During the confusion, Yuriko gets trapped under a falling tree, placing her in Varan's path. Kenji narrowly manages to save his colleague and the two seek safety in a nearby cave. Varan pursues the two, reaching into the cavern with its large claws. The military intervenes, firing flares over the monster's head. Varan, attracted by their light, climbs a nearby mountain for a closer look. Once at its peak, the monster reveals hidden membranes of skin under its arms and leaps from the mountain top and glides towards the sea.
Varan's reign of terror continues, as he capsizes a fishing boat not far from Tokyo. The National Defense Force remobilizes, sending a squadron of jets to intercept. The monster manages to destroy one of them that flies too close. Varan submerges and continues underwater towards Tokyo. The military counterattacks by deploying naval destroyers in surrounding waters, but the ship's artillery has no effect against the monster.
Another attack is launched to stop Varan, this time using mine sweepers to seal off Tokyo Bay, which ultimately fails. Out of options, the National Defense Force again mobilizes its forces around Tokyo bay. It lines the water with landing-ships carrying rocket artillery vehicles, while dispatching a battalion of tanks to nearby Haneda Airport. A large amount of Special Gun Powder, which is hoped will destroy the monster, is also readied. Tokyo is evacuated while the military awaits Varan's appearance.
The monster emerges from the water and is immediately shelled by the surrounding forces, but the assault does not stop Varan. Kenji drives a truck filled with Special Gun Powder to the runway of Haneda airport. The monster advances on the vehicle and Kenji escapes to a safe distance. With Varan now directly over the loaded truck, its detonation trigger is activated, causing the monster to be knocked flat. The military celebrates, prematurely, as Varan rises seemingly unfazed and begins another assault.
Flares are once again used to attract the monster, but this time the National Defense Force witnesses Varan consuming one of the flares. Using dropped bombs filled with the Special Gun Powder, the monster swallows two of them. Shortly thereafter, the first one detonates, causing Varan to retreat back to the sea. The second ingested bomb detonates while the monster is underwater. A short while later the National Defense Force declares Varan finally destroyed.
Another attack is launched to stop Varan, this time using mine sweepers to seal off Tokyo Bay, which ultimately fails. Out of options, the National Defense Force again mobilizes its forces around Tokyo bay. It lines the water with landing-ships carrying rocket artillery vehicles, while dispatching a battalion of tanks to nearby Haneda Airport. A large amount of Special Gun Powder, which is hoped will destroy the monster, is also readied. Tokyo is evacuated while the military awaits Varan's appearance.
The monster emerges from the water and is immediately shelled by the surrounding forces, but the assault does not stop Varan. Kenji drives a truck filled with Special Gun Powder to the runway of Haneda airport. The monster advances on the vehicle and Kenji escapes to a safe distance. With Varan now directly over the loaded truck, its detonation trigger is activated, causing the monster to be knocked flat. The military celebrates, prematurely, as Varan rises seemingly unfazed and begins another assault.
Flares are once again used to attract the monster, but this time the National Defense Force witnesses Varan consuming one of the flares. Using dropped bombs filled with the Special Gun Powder, the monster swallows two of them. Shortly thereafter, the first one detonates, causing Varan to retreat back to the sea. The second ingested bomb detonates while the monster is underwater. A short while later the National Defense Force declares Varan finally destroyed.
Cast
- Kozo Nomura as Kenji Uozaki
- Ayumi Sonoda as Yuriko Sinjo
- Fumindo Matsuo as Motohiko Horiguti
- Hisaya Ito as Ichiro Sinjo
- Nadao Kirino as Yutaka Kawata
- Koreya Senda as Dr. Sugimoto
- Fuyuki Murakami as Dr. Majima
- Akihiko Hirata as Dr. Fujimura
- Minosuke Yamada as Director General of the Defense Agency
- Akio Kusama as Colonel Kusama
- Yoshio Tsuchiya as Katsumoto, Lieutenant Commander
- Yoshifumi Tajima as Captain Maritime, Self-Defense Force
- Kin Sugai as Medium
Production
Varan the Unbelievable was originally planned as a Japanese and American co-production for American television. When American financing did not happen, the film resumed being shot in TohoScope. It was the only film shot in "Toho Pan Scan", a 2.35:1 aspect ratio.
During filming, monster suit actor Haruo Nakajima was injured by an explosives mishap and had to be replaced for the remainder of the shoot.
Varan the Unbelievable was originally planned as a Japanese and American co-production for American television. When American financing did not happen, the film resumed being shot in TohoScope. It was the only film shot in "Toho Pan Scan", a 2.35:1 aspect ratio.
During filming, monster suit actor Haruo Nakajima was injured by an explosives mishap and had to be replaced for the remainder of the shoot.
Release
Varan was distributed theatrically in Japan by Toho on October 14, 1958. An English-dubbed version was also produced by Toho, but does not appear to have been released in North America.
The American theatrical release on December 12, 1962, under the title Varan the Unbelievable, has a 70-minute running time. The film's storyline is substantially changed, omitting much of the original dramatic footage, retaining the special effects, and adding new footage. It bears little resemblance to the Toho original. Varan the Unbelievable was directed by Jerry A Baerwitz, written by Sid Harris, and stars an American cast, including Myron Healey, Tsuruko Kobayashi, Clifford Kawada, and Derick Shimazu.
The original Japanese version of the film was released in 2005 to the United States home video market by Tokyo Shock.
Varan was distributed theatrically in Japan by Toho on October 14, 1958. An English-dubbed version was also produced by Toho, but does not appear to have been released in North America.
The American theatrical release on December 12, 1962, under the title Varan the Unbelievable, has a 70-minute running time. The film's storyline is substantially changed, omitting much of the original dramatic footage, retaining the special effects, and adding new footage. It bears little resemblance to the Toho original. Varan the Unbelievable was directed by Jerry A Baerwitz, written by Sid Harris, and stars an American cast, including Myron Healey, Tsuruko Kobayashi, Clifford Kawada, and Derick Shimazu.
The original Japanese version of the film was released in 2005 to the United States home video market by Tokyo Shock.
Reception
In a contemporary review, Variety referred to the film as an "uninspired monster meller for saturation supporting niches" and after Godzilla, Gorgo and Dinosaurus!. The review was of the American version of the film, where they stated that "Neither Harris' scenario nor Baewritz's direction of it can sustain interest."
In a contemporary review, Variety referred to the film as an "uninspired monster meller for saturation supporting niches" and after Godzilla, Gorgo and Dinosaurus!. The review was of the American version of the film, where they stated that "Neither Harris' scenario nor Baewritz's direction of it can sustain interest."
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The Mysterians (地球防衛軍 Chikyū Bōeigun, lit. Earth Defense Force) is a 1957 Japanese science fiction film directed by Ishirō Honda.
Plot
Astrophysicist Ryoichi Shiraishi, his fiancee Hiroko, his sister Etsuko, and his friend Joji Atsumi attend a festival at a local village near Mount Fuji. Shiraishi then tells Atsumi that he has broken off his engagement with Hiroko but gives no reason other than an undisclosed obligation to remain in the village. Then, a mysterious forest fire flares up, burning more rapidly than normal and emanating from the ground, and Shiraishi rushes out to investigate and disappears during the confusion.
The next day, Atsumi is at the local observatory, where he meets with his mentor, head astronomer, Tanjiro Adachi. He hands the doctor a report written by Shiraishi which concerns a newly discovered asteroid that Shiraishi theorized was once a planet between Mars and Jupiter. He has named it Mysteroid. However, Adachi does not believe in his radical theory and also points out that the report is not complete.
Astrophysicist Ryoichi Shiraishi, his fiancee Hiroko, his sister Etsuko, and his friend Joji Atsumi attend a festival at a local village near Mount Fuji. Shiraishi then tells Atsumi that he has broken off his engagement with Hiroko but gives no reason other than an undisclosed obligation to remain in the village. Then, a mysterious forest fire flares up, burning more rapidly than normal and emanating from the ground, and Shiraishi rushes out to investigate and disappears during the confusion.
The next day, Atsumi is at the local observatory, where he meets with his mentor, head astronomer, Tanjiro Adachi. He hands the doctor a report written by Shiraishi which concerns a newly discovered asteroid that Shiraishi theorized was once a planet between Mars and Jupiter. He has named it Mysteroid. However, Adachi does not believe in his radical theory and also points out that the report is not complete.
Meanwhile, the village in which the festival was held is completely wiped out by a massive earthquake. While investigating the area, Atsumi and a group of police officers stumble upon a giant robot, Moguera, which bursts from the side of a hill.
It emits rays which decimate the investigation team; only Atsumi and the lead policeman survive. The robot then advances to a town near Koyama Bridge that night, and is met by heavy resistance from Japan's self-defense force. However, the conventional artillery has no effect on the war machine, and the automaton continues its rampage until it tries to cross the Koyama Bridge, which is detonated sending the machine crashing down to the ground below, destroying it.
At the Diet Building, Atsumi briefs officials on what has been learned about the robot. The remains of the giant machine reveal that it was manufactured out of an unknown chemical compound. Shortly afterwards, astronomers witness activity in outer space around the moon. They alert the world to this discovery, and not long after the aliens emerge, their gigantic dome breaking through the Earth's crust near Mount Fuji. As a combined military and scientific entourage observe the dome, a voice calls out to request five scientists, including Dr. Adachi, who is among the observers, come to the dome for a conference. The men agree to this meeting and are formally ushered into the dome, where the Mysterians, a scientifically advanced humanoid alien race, list their demands from the people of Earth: a two-mile radius strip of land and the right to marry women on Earth. The reason for this is that 100,000 years ago their planet - Mysteriod, the once fifth planet from the sun - was destroyed by a nuclear war. Fortunately, some Mysterians were able to escape to Mars before their planet was rendered uninhabitable. However, due to the nuclear war, Stronium-90 has left 80 percent of the aliens' population deformed and crippled. The proposed interbreeding with women on Earth would produce healthier offspring and keep their race alive. The latter part of their demands is downplayed as they admit to already taking three women captive and reveal two others that they are interested in, one of which is Etsuko.
At the Diet Building, Atsumi briefs officials on what has been learned about the robot. The remains of the giant machine reveal that it was manufactured out of an unknown chemical compound. Shortly afterwards, astronomers witness activity in outer space around the moon. They alert the world to this discovery, and not long after the aliens emerge, their gigantic dome breaking through the Earth's crust near Mount Fuji. As a combined military and scientific entourage observe the dome, a voice calls out to request five scientists, including Dr. Adachi, who is among the observers, come to the dome for a conference. The men agree to this meeting and are formally ushered into the dome, where the Mysterians, a scientifically advanced humanoid alien race, list their demands from the people of Earth: a two-mile radius strip of land and the right to marry women on Earth. The reason for this is that 100,000 years ago their planet - Mysteriod, the once fifth planet from the sun - was destroyed by a nuclear war. Fortunately, some Mysterians were able to escape to Mars before their planet was rendered uninhabitable. However, due to the nuclear war, Stronium-90 has left 80 percent of the aliens' population deformed and crippled. The proposed interbreeding with women on Earth would produce healthier offspring and keep their race alive. The latter part of their demands is downplayed as they admit to already taking three women captive and reveal two others that they are interested in, one of which is Etsuko.
Japan quickly dismisses this request and begins the mobilization of its armed forces around Mount Fuji. It is also discovered that the missing Shiraishi has sided with the advance race due to their technological achievements. Japan wastes no time, though, and quickly launches a full-scale attack against the Mysterians' dome. However, the modern weaponry is no match for their technology, and Japan's forces are easily fought back. Distraught by this setback, Japan sends their plea to other nations that they might join together to remove the threat of the Mysterians from Earth. The nations around the world answer the plea, and in no time issue another raid against the Mysterians' dome, this time utilizing the newly developed Alpha and Beta class airships. Sadly, this attack meets failure as well.
The Mysterians then increase their demand, asking for a 75-mile radius of land, as the Earth continues to develop a new method of attack. Earth's efforts in this matter pay off as a Markalite FAHP (Flying Atomic Heat Projector), a gigantic lens that can reflect the Mysterians’ weaponry, is designed. Meanwhile, the Mysterians kidnap Etsuko and Hiroko, causing Atsumi to search for, and locate, a cave entrance to a tunnel under Mysterians' dome.
In the meantime, the Markalite FAHP's are deployed by large Markalite GYRO rockets and the final battle against the Mysterians' base of operations commences. Atsumi enters the dome and finds the women, alive and unharmed, in an unguarded room. Taking them back to the tunnel, Atsumi finds Shirashi, who admits the Mysterians duped him and have no good intentions, then returns to the dome and sacrifices himself in a final attack on the base from the inside while the Markalite FAHP's assault the base from above ground. The dome collapses and then explodes as Adachi and the women reach safety in the hills above the Mysterians' occupied land. A few enemy spaceships are observed fleeing into space, out of range of Earth weaponry, and Dr. Adachi comments on the need for continued vigilance.
The Mysterians then increase their demand, asking for a 75-mile radius of land, as the Earth continues to develop a new method of attack. Earth's efforts in this matter pay off as a Markalite FAHP (Flying Atomic Heat Projector), a gigantic lens that can reflect the Mysterians’ weaponry, is designed. Meanwhile, the Mysterians kidnap Etsuko and Hiroko, causing Atsumi to search for, and locate, a cave entrance to a tunnel under Mysterians' dome.
In the meantime, the Markalite FAHP's are deployed by large Markalite GYRO rockets and the final battle against the Mysterians' base of operations commences. Atsumi enters the dome and finds the women, alive and unharmed, in an unguarded room. Taking them back to the tunnel, Atsumi finds Shirashi, who admits the Mysterians duped him and have no good intentions, then returns to the dome and sacrifices himself in a final attack on the base from the inside while the Markalite FAHP's assault the base from above ground. The dome collapses and then explodes as Adachi and the women reach safety in the hills above the Mysterians' occupied land. A few enemy spaceships are observed fleeing into space, out of range of Earth weaponry, and Dr. Adachi comments on the need for continued vigilance.
Cast
- Kenji Sahara as Jōji Atsumi
- Yumi Shirakawa as Etsuko Shiraishi
- Momoko Kōchi as Hiroko Iwamoto
- Akihiko Hirata as Ryōichi Shiraishi
- Takashi Shimura as Dr. Kenjirō Adachi
- Susumu Fujita as General Morita
- Hisaya Itō as Captain Seki
- Yoshio Kosugi as Commander Sugimoto
- Fuyuki Murakami as Dr. Nobu Kawanami
- Tetsu Nakamura as Dr. Kōda
- Yoshio Tsuchiya as Mysterian Leader
Production
Director Ishiro Honda described the film, saying it was "larger in scale compared to Godzilla or Rodan and is aimed to be a more of a true science fiction film...I would like to wipe away the [Cold War-era] notion of East versus West and convey a simple, universal aspiration for peace, the coming together of all humankind as one to create a peaceful society." For The Mysterians, producer Tomoyuki Tanaka recruited Jojiro Okami, an aeronautical engineer and military test pilot who later became a science fiction writer. Reflecting on the period of developing the film, Honda stated that he respected scientists, but "feared the danger of science, that whoever controlled it could take over the entire Earth."
The Mysterians marks the first collaboration between Honda and special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya that was shot in anamorphic Tohoscope, which the studio had just recently introduced. In their book on Honda, Ryfle and Godziszewski stated that accurate budget figures for The Mysterians are elusive. Honda had stated that the film was more expensive than Godzilla and Rodan.
Director Ishiro Honda described the film, saying it was "larger in scale compared to Godzilla or Rodan and is aimed to be a more of a true science fiction film...I would like to wipe away the [Cold War-era] notion of East versus West and convey a simple, universal aspiration for peace, the coming together of all humankind as one to create a peaceful society." For The Mysterians, producer Tomoyuki Tanaka recruited Jojiro Okami, an aeronautical engineer and military test pilot who later became a science fiction writer. Reflecting on the period of developing the film, Honda stated that he respected scientists, but "feared the danger of science, that whoever controlled it could take over the entire Earth."
The Mysterians marks the first collaboration between Honda and special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya that was shot in anamorphic Tohoscope, which the studio had just recently introduced. In their book on Honda, Ryfle and Godziszewski stated that accurate budget figures for The Mysterians are elusive. Honda had stated that the film was more expensive than Godzilla and Rodan.
Release
The Mysterians was released in 28 December 1957 in Japan. The film was re-issued theatrically in Japan on 18 March 1978. The film was described by Ryfle and Godziszewski as a "significant hit", earning 193 million yen in the domestic box office. It was Toho's second highest grossing film of the year, only being behind Hiroshi Inagaki's Rickshaw Man, and was the tenth highest grossing film in Japan overall.
In the United States, The Mysterians was originally purchased by RKO Radio Pictures, which provided the dubbing, but was sold to Loew's Inc. for release due to RKO's failing fortunes. The film was double-billed with Watusi and released in 15 May 1959 via MGM. According to MGM records the film made the studio a profit of only $58,000 in the USA.
The Mysterians was released in 28 December 1957 in Japan. The film was re-issued theatrically in Japan on 18 March 1978. The film was described by Ryfle and Godziszewski as a "significant hit", earning 193 million yen in the domestic box office. It was Toho's second highest grossing film of the year, only being behind Hiroshi Inagaki's Rickshaw Man, and was the tenth highest grossing film in Japan overall.
In the United States, The Mysterians was originally purchased by RKO Radio Pictures, which provided the dubbing, but was sold to Loew's Inc. for release due to RKO's failing fortunes. The film was double-billed with Watusi and released in 15 May 1959 via MGM. According to MGM records the film made the studio a profit of only $58,000 in the USA.
Reception
From contemporary reviews, The New York Times called the film "an ear-splitting Japanese-made fantasy, photographed in runny color and dubbed English," and concluded: "This Metro release is crammed with routine footage of death rays and scrambling civilians, not one of whom can act." Variety called it "well-produced", noting "special effects involving sliding land, quaking earth and melting mortars are realistically accomplished proving the facility with the Japanese filmmakers deal in miniatures." but found the film "As corny as it is furious" noting that "While Junior may be moved by the arrival of outer-space gremlins, big brother and all like him will laugh their heads off." The review commented on the English dub, stating that it was "understandable enough, but one might easily believe something was lost in translation." The Monthly Film Bulletin noted that the version the reviewer viewed was a "banal American-dubbed version" and that its "main weaknesses are a slight and confused plot, under-developed characterisation and artless acting;" The review praised the films "imaginative art direction and spectacular staging" which the review stated as "possibly the most dazzling display of pyrotechnics in the genre to date."
In a retrospective on Soviet science fiction film, British director Alex Cox compared The Mysterians to First Spaceship on Venus but remarked the latter as "more complex and morally ambiguous." AllMovie praises the film for its special effects. In a retrospective review, Sight & Sound found that "Its space-age visuals and colourful design anticipate the spectacular fantasies Honda would go on to make for Toho in the [1960s], including Mothra, Godzilla vs. The Thing, Ghidrah The Three-Headed Monster and Invasion of the Astro-Monsters."
From contemporary reviews, The New York Times called the film "an ear-splitting Japanese-made fantasy, photographed in runny color and dubbed English," and concluded: "This Metro release is crammed with routine footage of death rays and scrambling civilians, not one of whom can act." Variety called it "well-produced", noting "special effects involving sliding land, quaking earth and melting mortars are realistically accomplished proving the facility with the Japanese filmmakers deal in miniatures." but found the film "As corny as it is furious" noting that "While Junior may be moved by the arrival of outer-space gremlins, big brother and all like him will laugh their heads off." The review commented on the English dub, stating that it was "understandable enough, but one might easily believe something was lost in translation." The Monthly Film Bulletin noted that the version the reviewer viewed was a "banal American-dubbed version" and that its "main weaknesses are a slight and confused plot, under-developed characterisation and artless acting;" The review praised the films "imaginative art direction and spectacular staging" which the review stated as "possibly the most dazzling display of pyrotechnics in the genre to date."
In a retrospective on Soviet science fiction film, British director Alex Cox compared The Mysterians to First Spaceship on Venus but remarked the latter as "more complex and morally ambiguous." AllMovie praises the film for its special effects. In a retrospective review, Sight & Sound found that "Its space-age visuals and colourful design anticipate the spectacular fantasies Honda would go on to make for Toho in the [1960s], including Mothra, Godzilla vs. The Thing, Ghidrah The Three-Headed Monster and Invasion of the Astro-Monsters."
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The Black Scorpion is a 1957 black-and-white Mexican-American giant insect horror film from Warner Bros., produced by Jack Dietz and Frank Melford, directed by Edward Ludwig, that stars Richard Denning, Mara Corday, Carlos Rivas and Mario Navarro.
The film's stop motion animation special effects were created by Willis O'Brien.
The film's stop motion animation special effects were created by Willis O'Brien.
Plot
An earthquake strikes Mexico, resulting in the overnight birth of a new volcano. Geologists Dr. Hank Scott and Dr. Arturo Ramos are dispatched to study this crisis. En route to the village of San Lorenzo, the two men witness a destroyed house and a totaled police car. They find a dead policeman nearby, as well as an abandoned and seemingly orphaned infant.
They take the infant to San Lorenzo and give it to friends of the child's now missing parents; they are welcomed by the village's priest, Father Delgado. In addition to the disappearances of locals and the destruction of their homes, there have been wholesale slaughter of livestock and strange roaring noises in the night. The villagers believe that the culprit to be a demon bull and have been pestering Delgado for divine assistance. Undaunted, Hank and Arturo begin their geological survey as members of the Mexican army, led by Major Cosio, arrive in San Lorenzo to begin disaster relief efforts. Hank meets and falls in love with local rancher Teresa Alvarez, and makes friends with a young boy named Juanito.
The volcano erupts again, with the true culprits behind the disappearances and deaths are revealed as giant prehistoric scorpions.
An earthquake strikes Mexico, resulting in the overnight birth of a new volcano. Geologists Dr. Hank Scott and Dr. Arturo Ramos are dispatched to study this crisis. En route to the village of San Lorenzo, the two men witness a destroyed house and a totaled police car. They find a dead policeman nearby, as well as an abandoned and seemingly orphaned infant.
They take the infant to San Lorenzo and give it to friends of the child's now missing parents; they are welcomed by the village's priest, Father Delgado. In addition to the disappearances of locals and the destruction of their homes, there have been wholesale slaughter of livestock and strange roaring noises in the night. The villagers believe that the culprit to be a demon bull and have been pestering Delgado for divine assistance. Undaunted, Hank and Arturo begin their geological survey as members of the Mexican army, led by Major Cosio, arrive in San Lorenzo to begin disaster relief efforts. Hank meets and falls in love with local rancher Teresa Alvarez, and makes friends with a young boy named Juanito.
The volcano erupts again, with the true culprits behind the disappearances and deaths are revealed as giant prehistoric scorpions.
After killing a crew of telephone repairmen, the scorpions turn their attention to San Lorenzo itself, with the guns of Major Cosio's troops having no effect on them. The next morning, the scorpions have returned to their underground lair (which, in addition to the scorpions, is home to giant worms and spiders), leaving the authorities to seek the help of renowned entomologist Dr. Velasco. It is up to him, Hank, and Arturo to figure out a way to either destroy the scorpions or seal off the entrance to their cavern home, before more innocent lives are put at risk.
Despite collapsing the cave entrance, the giant scorpions make it to the surface and destroy a train, killing some passengers, and before fighting among themselves. In the end, one scorpion, the largest of the group, kills all of the smaller ones, and heads for Mexico City. Hank and Arturo come up with a plan to lure it to a stadium, where the military is waiting with tanks and helicopters. Using a truckload of meat from a butcher shop, they manage to lure the scorpion into the stadium where the military's weapons again prove useless against its armor. However, Hank manages to finish it off by using an electric cable attached to a spear and shooting it into its throat, which is its only vulnerable spot. After destroying several tanks and helicopters, the surviving fighters detonate the electric charge, finally slaying the last scorpion.
Cast
- Richard Denning as Dr. Hank Scott
- Mara Corday as Teresa Alvarez
- Carlos Rivas as Dr. Arturo Ramos
- Mario Navarro as Juanito
- Carlos Múzquiz as Dr. Velasco
- Pascual García Peña as Dr. Delacruz
- Pedro Galván as Father Delgado
- Arturo Martínez as Major Cosio
- Fanny Schiller as Florentina
Production
Special effects
Willis O'Brien, creator of the stop-motion effects for the original King Kong, was the special effects supervisor, albeit on a smaller budget. Pete Peterson, who worked with O'Brien on Mighty Joe Young and would again on The Giant Behemoth, did most of the actual hands-on animation. O'Brien borrowed heavily from other previous movies for the special effects in this film. The models used for the trapdoor spider and the giant tentacled worm have been reported to be the same ones that were used in the famous "Lost Spider Pit Sequence" from the original King Kong. However, biographers dispute whether O'Brien saved his models, and Ray Harryhausen's An Animated Life noted that many models used in Kong were still in storage at RKO in the 1950s, by which time many were decayed. The sounds made by the scorpions were recycled from the ant sound effects from the movie Them! A large-scale scorpion "head" was used for close-up reaction shots, but the head's human-like features distracted from the realism of O'Brien's animated models.
Special effects
Willis O'Brien, creator of the stop-motion effects for the original King Kong, was the special effects supervisor, albeit on a smaller budget. Pete Peterson, who worked with O'Brien on Mighty Joe Young and would again on The Giant Behemoth, did most of the actual hands-on animation. O'Brien borrowed heavily from other previous movies for the special effects in this film. The models used for the trapdoor spider and the giant tentacled worm have been reported to be the same ones that were used in the famous "Lost Spider Pit Sequence" from the original King Kong. However, biographers dispute whether O'Brien saved his models, and Ray Harryhausen's An Animated Life noted that many models used in Kong were still in storage at RKO in the 1950s, by which time many were decayed. The sounds made by the scorpions were recycled from the ant sound effects from the movie Them! A large-scale scorpion "head" was used for close-up reaction shots, but the head's human-like features distracted from the realism of O'Brien's animated models.
Trivia
Willis H. O'Brien and Pete Peterson began filming the special effects of this film in a large remodeled dressing room at the Tepeac Studios in Mexico City, but when money became tight they finished the picture in Peterson's garage in Encino, California.
That giant worm with the "octopus-like arms" seen in this film is a prop from the unused spider pit sequence from the original King Kong (1933).
The sounds of the scorpions are the same sounds as the ant chirps in Them! (1954).
The volcano shown at the beginning was Paricutin which erupted in 1943 and was active for about a decade.
The trapdoor spider that attacks Juanito in the scorpions' underground home is one of the original models left over from the famous deleted spider sequence in King Kong (1933).
While filming the stop-motion effects at Tepeac Studios, O'Brien and Peterson were assisted with miniature set construction by Ralph Hammeras, who was at the same studio filming the visual effects for The Giant Claw (1957).
Willis H. O'Brien and Pete Peterson began filming the special effects of this film in a large remodeled dressing room at the Tepeac Studios in Mexico City, but when money became tight they finished the picture in Peterson's garage in Encino, California.
That giant worm with the "octopus-like arms" seen in this film is a prop from the unused spider pit sequence from the original King Kong (1933).
The sounds of the scorpions are the same sounds as the ant chirps in Them! (1954).
The volcano shown at the beginning was Paricutin which erupted in 1943 and was active for about a decade.
The trapdoor spider that attacks Juanito in the scorpions' underground home is one of the original models left over from the famous deleted spider sequence in King Kong (1933).
While filming the stop-motion effects at Tepeac Studios, O'Brien and Peterson were assisted with miniature set construction by Ralph Hammeras, who was at the same studio filming the visual effects for The Giant Claw (1957).
- Published on
Beginning of the End is a 1957 independently made American black-and-white science fiction giant insects film, produced and directed by Bert I. Gordon. It stars Peter Graves, Peggie Castle, and Morris Ankrum. The film's storyline concerns an agricultural scientist (Graves) who has successfully grown gigantic vegetables using radiation. Unfortunately, the vegetables are eaten by locusts (the swarming phase of short-horned grasshoppers), which quickly grow to a gigantic size and attack the nearby city of Chicago. Beginning of the End is generally known for its "atrocious" special effects and is considered to be one of the most poorly written and acted science fiction films of the 1950s.
Plot
The film opens with newspaper photojournalist Audrey Aimes (Castle) accidentally stumbling upon a small town (Ludlow, Illinois) which has been inexplicably destroyed. All 150 people in the town are missing, and the evidence indicates they are dead. Incredibly, the local fields are also barren, as if a swarm of locusts had eaten all the crops. Aimes suspects that the military is covering something up, and travels to a nearby United States Department of Agriculture experimental farm to learn what creature might have caused the agricultural destruction. She meets Dr. Ed Wainwright (Graves), who is experimenting with radiation as a means of growing gigantic fruits and vegetables to end world hunger. Dr. Wainwright reports that there have been a number of mysterious incidents nearby, and that locusts have eaten all the radioactive wheat stored in a nearby grain silo.
Gigantic mutant locusts rampage over the countryside. Dr. Wainwright and Ms. Aimes begin to track down the source of the mysterious occurrences, and quickly discover that the locusts which ate the grain have grown to the size of a city bus. The monsters have eaten all the crops in the area, and now are seeking human beings as a means of sustenance. It is also clear that they are headed for the city of Chicago. Wainwright and Aimes meet with General Hanson (Ankrum), Colonel Sturgeon (Henry), and Captain Barton (Seay) to strategize a solution.
The film opens with newspaper photojournalist Audrey Aimes (Castle) accidentally stumbling upon a small town (Ludlow, Illinois) which has been inexplicably destroyed. All 150 people in the town are missing, and the evidence indicates they are dead. Incredibly, the local fields are also barren, as if a swarm of locusts had eaten all the crops. Aimes suspects that the military is covering something up, and travels to a nearby United States Department of Agriculture experimental farm to learn what creature might have caused the agricultural destruction. She meets Dr. Ed Wainwright (Graves), who is experimenting with radiation as a means of growing gigantic fruits and vegetables to end world hunger. Dr. Wainwright reports that there have been a number of mysterious incidents nearby, and that locusts have eaten all the radioactive wheat stored in a nearby grain silo.
Gigantic mutant locusts rampage over the countryside. Dr. Wainwright and Ms. Aimes begin to track down the source of the mysterious occurrences, and quickly discover that the locusts which ate the grain have grown to the size of a city bus. The monsters have eaten all the crops in the area, and now are seeking human beings as a means of sustenance. It is also clear that they are headed for the city of Chicago. Wainwright and Aimes meet with General Hanson (Ankrum), Colonel Sturgeon (Henry), and Captain Barton (Seay) to strategize a solution.
Machine gun and artillery fire seem ineffective against the creatures, and there are far too many to effectively deal with all at once. The United States Army and Illinois National Guard are called upon to help protect the city. But the monsters quickly invade Chicago, and begin to feast on human flesh as well as several buildings.
General Hanson concludes that the only way to destroy the beasts en masse is to use a nuclear weapon and destroy Chicago. However, Dr. Wainwright realizes that the locusts are warm-weather creatures. He concludes that he might be able to lure the locusts into Lake Michigan. There, the cold water will incapacitate them, and they will drown. The lure itself will be a decoy locust mating call, generated electronically with test-tone oscillators. The plan is put into effect, and it works at the last possible moment. The monstrous locusts drown, but Dr. Wainwright and Ms. Aimes wonder if other insects or animals might have eaten other radioactive crops. They ponder whether the whole world might be facing an attack of monstrous creatures.
General Hanson concludes that the only way to destroy the beasts en masse is to use a nuclear weapon and destroy Chicago. However, Dr. Wainwright realizes that the locusts are warm-weather creatures. He concludes that he might be able to lure the locusts into Lake Michigan. There, the cold water will incapacitate them, and they will drown. The lure itself will be a decoy locust mating call, generated electronically with test-tone oscillators. The plan is put into effect, and it works at the last possible moment. The monstrous locusts drown, but Dr. Wainwright and Ms. Aimes wonder if other insects or animals might have eaten other radioactive crops. They ponder whether the whole world might be facing an attack of monstrous creatures.
Cast
- Peter Graves as Dr. Ed Wainwright
- Peggie Castle as Audrey Aimes
- Morris Ankrum as Gen. John Hanson
- Than Wyenn as Frank Johnson
- Thomas Browne Henry (appearing as "Thomas B. Henry") as Colonel Sturgeon
- Richard Benedict as Corporal Mathias
- James Seay as Captain James Barton
Production
Films with a science fiction theme were an uncommon but well-established genre of motion picture long before the 1950s. By one film historian's count, the "modern" era of science fiction film began in 1951 with the release of The Day the Earth Stood Still and When Worlds Collide. In 1952, King Kong was re-released theatrically. King Kong proved immensely popular, holding its own against new releases such as Cecil B. DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth (which later won the Academy Award for Best Picture). King Kong earned $2 million to $3 million (estimates vary) that year, roughly double the box office gross of its initial release and making the re-release very highly profitable for RKO Pictures. In response to the success of King Kong, many film studios rushed science fiction-themed films into production. The following year saw the release of four highly influential motion pictures: The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, It Came from Outer Space, Invaders from Mars, and The War of the Worlds. The financial success of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (distributed by Warner Bros.) sparked an interest in giant monster films, and in 1954 Warner Bros. released another very profitable monster film, Them! With the success of these two films, giant insect pictures became a distinct subgenre of science fiction films in the 1950s.
Beginning of the End was financed by American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres (AB-PT). The company had been formed in February 1953 when the American Broadcasting Company and United Paramount Theatres merged. In September 1956, AB-PT (sometimes also called "Am-Par") announced the formation of a movie studio, and revealed a slate of six films a year in January 1957. The studio's focus was on low-budget features which it could place in its theatres in the Northeast and South. AB-PT hoped to expand to a yearly slate of 20 pictures, and signed a distribution deal with Republic Pictures to get them into theatres.
Beginning of the End went into production in 1956, the first of the "boom years" for science fiction films in the United States. Its production was a direct outcome of the success of Them!
AB-PT announced on November 29, 1956, that it had approved production of its first film, Beginning of the End and announced on December 2, 1956, that production would begin immediately. The company said it had hired 34-year-old Bert I. Gordon to direct and produce. Gordon had gotten his start as a supervising producer for televised commercials and network TV shows, had produced his first feature film (Serpent Island) in 1954, and directed his first feature film (King Dinosaur) in 1955.
Films with a science fiction theme were an uncommon but well-established genre of motion picture long before the 1950s. By one film historian's count, the "modern" era of science fiction film began in 1951 with the release of The Day the Earth Stood Still and When Worlds Collide. In 1952, King Kong was re-released theatrically. King Kong proved immensely popular, holding its own against new releases such as Cecil B. DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth (which later won the Academy Award for Best Picture). King Kong earned $2 million to $3 million (estimates vary) that year, roughly double the box office gross of its initial release and making the re-release very highly profitable for RKO Pictures. In response to the success of King Kong, many film studios rushed science fiction-themed films into production. The following year saw the release of four highly influential motion pictures: The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, It Came from Outer Space, Invaders from Mars, and The War of the Worlds. The financial success of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (distributed by Warner Bros.) sparked an interest in giant monster films, and in 1954 Warner Bros. released another very profitable monster film, Them! With the success of these two films, giant insect pictures became a distinct subgenre of science fiction films in the 1950s.
Beginning of the End was financed by American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres (AB-PT). The company had been formed in February 1953 when the American Broadcasting Company and United Paramount Theatres merged. In September 1956, AB-PT (sometimes also called "Am-Par") announced the formation of a movie studio, and revealed a slate of six films a year in January 1957. The studio's focus was on low-budget features which it could place in its theatres in the Northeast and South. AB-PT hoped to expand to a yearly slate of 20 pictures, and signed a distribution deal with Republic Pictures to get them into theatres.
Beginning of the End went into production in 1956, the first of the "boom years" for science fiction films in the United States. Its production was a direct outcome of the success of Them!
AB-PT announced on November 29, 1956, that it had approved production of its first film, Beginning of the End and announced on December 2, 1956, that production would begin immediately. The company said it had hired 34-year-old Bert I. Gordon to direct and produce. Gordon had gotten his start as a supervising producer for televised commercials and network TV shows, had produced his first feature film (Serpent Island) in 1954, and directed his first feature film (King Dinosaur) in 1955.
The story was already set, according to press reports, with Variety claiming that Bert I. Gordon had already completed the script. Press sources noted that the studio was clearly attempting to cash-in on the science fiction movie craze. However, the final screenplay is credited to Fred Frieberger (a veteran writer of B movies) and Lester Gorn. The screen story bears a striking resemblance to the 1904 H. G. Wells novel The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth. (Gordon would adapt this novel twice more, once for Embassy Pictures in 1965's Village of the Giants and again for American International Pictures in 1976's The Food of the Gods.)
Casting was complete within two weeks of the start of production. In late November, AB-PT said actress Mala Powers was being considered for the female lead. But on December 2, the studio revealed that Peter Graves and Peggie Castle had been cast as the leads. Three days later, AB-PT announced that Don C. Harvey, Morris Ankrum, Pierre Watkin, Ralph Sanford, and Richard Benedict had also been cast. The studio also said that Pat Dean, its "sexboat" discovery (and a former dancer at the El Rancho Vegas hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada) would also appear in the picture. Larry Blake, Duane Cress, James Douglas, Eileen Jannsen, John Kranston, Ann Loos, and Jeanne Wood were added to the cast a few days later. Ankrum, Henry, and Seay were cast because they usually played military men in B movies, roles they portrayed in Beginning of the End as well.
John A. Marta, a veteran cinematographer, and Aaron Stell, a long-time film editor, also worked on the film. Marta had shot close to 150 B movies for Republic Pictures by this time, which is probably why he was hired (given AB-PT's relationship with that studio and Marta's fast-and-quick shooting style). Albert Glasser composed the musical score. Glasser worked in the same office building where Gordon had his offices, and Gordon admired his score for the 1956 war film Huk! (a B movie from Pan Pacific Productions). Gordon had already used Glasser to score his 1957 monster movie The Cyclops. Glasser wrote the musical score for Beginning of the End as well as five more of Gordon's films. Glasser was paid $4,000 for his work on The Cyclops, which may indicate how much he was paid for the musical score for Beginning of the End. The musical soundtrack included the song "Natural, Natural Baby." The art director was Walter Keller.
It is not clear what the budget for the picture was, although descriptions often use the term "low budget" or "ultra-low-budget." According to a statement by AB-PT President Leonard Goldenson in 1957, the average cost of the AB-PT pictures greenlit to date was $300,000. In comparison, Invaders From Mars was budgeted at $150,000, The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms cost $400,000, It Came From Outer Space cost $532,000, Them! came in at under $1 million, and 1953's The War of the Worlds cost $2 million.
Casting was complete within two weeks of the start of production. In late November, AB-PT said actress Mala Powers was being considered for the female lead. But on December 2, the studio revealed that Peter Graves and Peggie Castle had been cast as the leads. Three days later, AB-PT announced that Don C. Harvey, Morris Ankrum, Pierre Watkin, Ralph Sanford, and Richard Benedict had also been cast. The studio also said that Pat Dean, its "sexboat" discovery (and a former dancer at the El Rancho Vegas hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada) would also appear in the picture. Larry Blake, Duane Cress, James Douglas, Eileen Jannsen, John Kranston, Ann Loos, and Jeanne Wood were added to the cast a few days later. Ankrum, Henry, and Seay were cast because they usually played military men in B movies, roles they portrayed in Beginning of the End as well.
John A. Marta, a veteran cinematographer, and Aaron Stell, a long-time film editor, also worked on the film. Marta had shot close to 150 B movies for Republic Pictures by this time, which is probably why he was hired (given AB-PT's relationship with that studio and Marta's fast-and-quick shooting style). Albert Glasser composed the musical score. Glasser worked in the same office building where Gordon had his offices, and Gordon admired his score for the 1956 war film Huk! (a B movie from Pan Pacific Productions). Gordon had already used Glasser to score his 1957 monster movie The Cyclops. Glasser wrote the musical score for Beginning of the End as well as five more of Gordon's films. Glasser was paid $4,000 for his work on The Cyclops, which may indicate how much he was paid for the musical score for Beginning of the End. The musical soundtrack included the song "Natural, Natural Baby." The art director was Walter Keller.
It is not clear what the budget for the picture was, although descriptions often use the term "low budget" or "ultra-low-budget." According to a statement by AB-PT President Leonard Goldenson in 1957, the average cost of the AB-PT pictures greenlit to date was $300,000. In comparison, Invaders From Mars was budgeted at $150,000, The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms cost $400,000, It Came From Outer Space cost $532,000, Them! came in at under $1 million, and 1953's The War of the Worlds cost $2 million.
Filming began December 3, 1956. Shooting took place on the Republic Pictures backlot at 4024 Radford Avenue in Los Angeles, California (built by Mack Sennett and now home to CBS Studio Center). Actor Peter Graves said Gordon "was okay, he was a good director." He also had praise for actress Peggie Castle, and said he felt privileged to be working with an actor of Morris Ankrum's stature.
Gordon himself provided the special effects for the film. According to composer Glasser, Gordon literally worked out of his home garage. Animated grasshoppers were considered, but the idea rejected as too costly. So Gordon relied heavily on split screen, static mattes, and rear projection effects for the film. But his most important effort was one he had used in King Dinosaur: placing live creatures on still photographs, and blowing air at them to encourage the creatures to move. Gordon purchased 200 non-hopping, non-flying live grasshoppers in Texas (which had recently seen an outbreak of a species of exceptionally large locusts) for the film. But when he attempted to bring them into California for filming, state agricultural officials required that every single one of the animals be inspected and sexed. He later described his efforts:
"I had to get my grasshoppers from Waco, Texas. They had the only species large enough to carry focus. I could only import males because they didn't want the things to start breeding. They even had someone from the agricultural department or some place like that come out to take a head count, or wing count. The grasshoppers turned cannibalistic."
Gordon kept the grasshoppers in a box for only a few days, but during that time the grasshoppers devoured one another and only 12 were left when Gordon finally got around to shooting them. Gordon also considered building miniatures for the grasshoppers to climb on, but this, too, was deemed too expensive. Instead, Gordon used still photographs of the Wrigley Building and other noted Chicago landmarks and simply filmed the grasshoppers moving about on top of the photograph. When the monsters are supposed to be wounded or killed by gunfire, Gordon merely tipped the photograph and the grasshoppers slid down it. According to one film historian, "the effect looks (almost) real" until one of the grasshoppers steps off the "building" into what is supposed to be thin air.
Gordon himself provided the special effects for the film. According to composer Glasser, Gordon literally worked out of his home garage. Animated grasshoppers were considered, but the idea rejected as too costly. So Gordon relied heavily on split screen, static mattes, and rear projection effects for the film. But his most important effort was one he had used in King Dinosaur: placing live creatures on still photographs, and blowing air at them to encourage the creatures to move. Gordon purchased 200 non-hopping, non-flying live grasshoppers in Texas (which had recently seen an outbreak of a species of exceptionally large locusts) for the film. But when he attempted to bring them into California for filming, state agricultural officials required that every single one of the animals be inspected and sexed. He later described his efforts:
"I had to get my grasshoppers from Waco, Texas. They had the only species large enough to carry focus. I could only import males because they didn't want the things to start breeding. They even had someone from the agricultural department or some place like that come out to take a head count, or wing count. The grasshoppers turned cannibalistic."
Gordon kept the grasshoppers in a box for only a few days, but during that time the grasshoppers devoured one another and only 12 were left when Gordon finally got around to shooting them. Gordon also considered building miniatures for the grasshoppers to climb on, but this, too, was deemed too expensive. Instead, Gordon used still photographs of the Wrigley Building and other noted Chicago landmarks and simply filmed the grasshoppers moving about on top of the photograph. When the monsters are supposed to be wounded or killed by gunfire, Gordon merely tipped the photograph and the grasshoppers slid down it. According to one film historian, "the effect looks (almost) real" until one of the grasshoppers steps off the "building" into what is supposed to be thin air.
Release
Beginning of the End premiered in Chicago on June 16, 1957. Stars Peter Graves and Peggie Castle were both on hand for the premiere. The film opened widely in 244 theaters in the South and Midwest on June 20. It played as part of a double feature with The Unearthly (a film based loosely on 1932's Island of Lost Souls and 1956's The Black Sleep), another AB-PT production. As planned, it was distributed by Republic Pictures. Two taglines were used to promote the film. The first was "New Thrills! New Shocks! New Terror!" This tagline is depicted on the film poster (see the infobox, above). The other tagline used was "The screen's first full-length science-fiction feature with real-live creatures!" There is some discrepancy as to how long the film ran. Some sources cite 73 minutes, some 74 minutes, and some 76 minutes.
The film was a modest hit, and profitable for AB-PT. For example, in its first week playing in San Francisco, California, it made $16,000—just behind the top-ranked movie of the week for the area, the reissue of Bambi (which grossed $18,500). The film's debut in Los Angeles saw its gross reach $16,500, although this was a soft movie-going market.
Beginning of the End proved an apt title for its parent studio. AB-PT shuttered its operations immediately after releasing the film, for reasons which are still unclear. Gordon's work for AB-PT landed him a new contract with American International Pictures (AIP). The week Beginning of the End opened, Gordon began shooting his next feature film, The Amazing Colossal Man, for AIP.
Beginning of the End premiered in Chicago on June 16, 1957. Stars Peter Graves and Peggie Castle were both on hand for the premiere. The film opened widely in 244 theaters in the South and Midwest on June 20. It played as part of a double feature with The Unearthly (a film based loosely on 1932's Island of Lost Souls and 1956's The Black Sleep), another AB-PT production. As planned, it was distributed by Republic Pictures. Two taglines were used to promote the film. The first was "New Thrills! New Shocks! New Terror!" This tagline is depicted on the film poster (see the infobox, above). The other tagline used was "The screen's first full-length science-fiction feature with real-live creatures!" There is some discrepancy as to how long the film ran. Some sources cite 73 minutes, some 74 minutes, and some 76 minutes.
The film was a modest hit, and profitable for AB-PT. For example, in its first week playing in San Francisco, California, it made $16,000—just behind the top-ranked movie of the week for the area, the reissue of Bambi (which grossed $18,500). The film's debut in Los Angeles saw its gross reach $16,500, although this was a soft movie-going market.
Beginning of the End proved an apt title for its parent studio. AB-PT shuttered its operations immediately after releasing the film, for reasons which are still unclear. Gordon's work for AB-PT landed him a new contract with American International Pictures (AIP). The week Beginning of the End opened, Gordon began shooting his next feature film, The Amazing Colossal Man, for AIP.
Critical reception
Beginning of the End made Bert I. Gordon famous for his giant monster films. Critics and film historians point out that the film is only one of many which drew heavily on most Americans' fear about atomic weapons, open-air nuclear tests, and the possibility of nuclear war. However, Beginning of the End had very little of the metaphorical creativity of films such as Godzilla or Them! A more recent assessment, however, concludes that the film taps more deeply into 1950s Americans' worries over invasive species and growing unease over pesticides (like DDT).
The film received extensive negative reviews at the time of its release and by modern film historians. Variety was particularly negative. Calling the movie "derivative", the industry trade publication said, "Summarizing the plot of Beginning of the End is like rehashing the story of several dozen similar films." The publication felt that not much effort had been put into the film. "Even taken on its own terms—as a low-budget exploitation feature—Beginning of the End hardly reflects the best effort of a major theatre circuit." It called the special effects "obvious" and decried the use of stock footage. The reviewer felt the screenplay was "ludicrous" and cliché-ridden. The magazine believed Peter Graves had turned in a decent performance, but described Peggie Castle's performance as "unconvincing" and Morris Ankrum's as "artificial". The cinematography and editing were, it concluded, average. Mae Tinnee, reviewing the motion picture for the Chicago Tribune had several negative comments. "The film obviously was made on a shoestring budget, and the people in it are no more than props for the magnified insects. I doubt if it will fool anyone. But youngsters will probably think it's great stuff." The Los Angeles Times was far harsher in its assessment. Its unsigned review concluded: "The audience is cheated in the production. The conclusion is never in doubt and the process shots are so obvious that one is startled the first time a buffalo-sized grasshopper hits the screen but never again. And at no time are there more than a half-dozen of the things shown at once, although the script avers that there are thousands about and more coming." As of 2008, Beginning of the End is still "one of the most excoriated creature features." Leonard Maltin summed up his review in one word: "awful". Another recent film guide called it "Bottom-of-the-sci-fi-barrel rubbish, very boring to watch." One review pointed out that Gordon didn't even bother to hide the mountains in the background of the shots (Central Illinois is mostly flat prairie land). Some have also been upset with film's lack of horrifying images. The derivative nature of the picture has also upset some critics. Critics say the film covered almost the same ground as the far superior monster movie Them!, and it is clear that Gordon merely wanted to "cash in" on giant bug craze rather than come up with a story that was fresh and creative.
Beginning of the End made Bert I. Gordon famous for his giant monster films. Critics and film historians point out that the film is only one of many which drew heavily on most Americans' fear about atomic weapons, open-air nuclear tests, and the possibility of nuclear war. However, Beginning of the End had very little of the metaphorical creativity of films such as Godzilla or Them! A more recent assessment, however, concludes that the film taps more deeply into 1950s Americans' worries over invasive species and growing unease over pesticides (like DDT).
The film received extensive negative reviews at the time of its release and by modern film historians. Variety was particularly negative. Calling the movie "derivative", the industry trade publication said, "Summarizing the plot of Beginning of the End is like rehashing the story of several dozen similar films." The publication felt that not much effort had been put into the film. "Even taken on its own terms—as a low-budget exploitation feature—Beginning of the End hardly reflects the best effort of a major theatre circuit." It called the special effects "obvious" and decried the use of stock footage. The reviewer felt the screenplay was "ludicrous" and cliché-ridden. The magazine believed Peter Graves had turned in a decent performance, but described Peggie Castle's performance as "unconvincing" and Morris Ankrum's as "artificial". The cinematography and editing were, it concluded, average. Mae Tinnee, reviewing the motion picture for the Chicago Tribune had several negative comments. "The film obviously was made on a shoestring budget, and the people in it are no more than props for the magnified insects. I doubt if it will fool anyone. But youngsters will probably think it's great stuff." The Los Angeles Times was far harsher in its assessment. Its unsigned review concluded: "The audience is cheated in the production. The conclusion is never in doubt and the process shots are so obvious that one is startled the first time a buffalo-sized grasshopper hits the screen but never again. And at no time are there more than a half-dozen of the things shown at once, although the script avers that there are thousands about and more coming." As of 2008, Beginning of the End is still "one of the most excoriated creature features." Leonard Maltin summed up his review in one word: "awful". Another recent film guide called it "Bottom-of-the-sci-fi-barrel rubbish, very boring to watch." One review pointed out that Gordon didn't even bother to hide the mountains in the background of the shots (Central Illinois is mostly flat prairie land). Some have also been upset with film's lack of horrifying images. The derivative nature of the picture has also upset some critics. Critics say the film covered almost the same ground as the far superior monster movie Them!, and it is clear that Gordon merely wanted to "cash in" on giant bug craze rather than come up with a story that was fresh and creative.
There have been some positive reviews, however. One modern critic said "the story is adequately paced, the acting is engaging, and we still get a thrill seeing the Army guys empty their cartridges at the unstoppable insects." Another modern reviewer found the screenplay effective, especially the beginning: "As in Deadly Mantis, the complete disappearance of the victims is especially chilling, as is the notion of 150 men, women and children being devoured overnight while in their beds. This aspect is like something out of Lovecraft, although it is not exploited as well as it could have been." Producer-director Bert I. Gordon said he did not care whether reviews were bad; what mattered was whether people went to see the film: "The movie audience these days consists almost entirely of teenagers. Either they're naïve and go to get scared, or they're sophisticated and enjoy scoffing at the pictures. There isn't much a teenager can scoff at these days, you know." Lead actor Peter Graves also felt the film worked on a certain level. "I think they played OK. ... All of that was ludicrous, but there were a certain amount of people who 'bought' it and loved it."
Beginning of the End has become somewhat infamous because of its notoriously poor production values and unrealistic plot. The movie was parodied in the 11th season of the hit animated television program The Simpsons in the episode "E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt)." In that episode, Homer Simpson grows giant vegetables using radioactive materials, and automatically assumes that any animal eating the food will become monstrous. Homer even attempts to recall Beginning of the End as evidence of his claim, although he misremembers the title as Grasshopperus and the star as Chad Everett (another blond, all-American actor similar to Peter Graves).
Beginning of the End has become somewhat infamous because of its notoriously poor production values and unrealistic plot. The movie was parodied in the 11th season of the hit animated television program The Simpsons in the episode "E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt)." In that episode, Homer Simpson grows giant vegetables using radioactive materials, and automatically assumes that any animal eating the food will become monstrous. Homer even attempts to recall Beginning of the End as evidence of his claim, although he misremembers the title as Grasshopperus and the star as Chad Everett (another blond, all-American actor similar to Peter Graves).
Home video releases
Beginning of the End was released on DVD in March 2003 by Image Entertainment. However, this print was considered "smeary" and not a very high quality issue.
The film was the basis of an episode of the cable television show Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) during its fifth season. This episode of MST3K was released on DVD in 2001.
Beginning of the End was released on DVD in March 2003 by Image Entertainment. However, this print was considered "smeary" and not a very high quality issue.
The film was the basis of an episode of the cable television show Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) during its fifth season. This episode of MST3K was released on DVD in 2001.
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The Giant Claw (a.k.a. The Mark of the Claw) is a 1957 American black-and-white science fiction giant monster film from Columbia Pictures, produced by Sam Katzman, directed by Fred F. Sears, that stars Jeff Morrow and Mara Corday. Both Sears and Katzman were well known as low-budget B film genre filmmakers. The film was released on a double bill with The Night the World Exploded.
Plot
Mitch MacAfee (Morrow), a civil aeronautical engineer, while engaged in a radar test flight near the North Pole, spots an unidentified flying object. Three jet fighter aircraft are scrambled to pursue and identify the object but one aircraft goes missing. Officials are initially angry at MacAfee over the loss of a pilot and jet over what they believe to be a hoax.
When MacAfee and mathematician Sally Caldwell (Corday) fly back to New York, their aircraft also comes under attack by a UFO. With their pilot dead, they crash-land in the Adirondacks, where Pierre Broussard (Lou Merrill), a French-Canadian farmer, comes to their rescue. MacAfee's report is met with bewilderment and skepticism, but the military authorities are forced to take his story seriously after several more aircraft disappear.
They discover that a gigantic bird "as big as a battleship", purported to come from an antimatter galaxy, is responsible for all the incidents. MacAfee, Caldwell, Dr. Karol Noymann (Edgar Barrier), Gen. Considine (Morris Ankrum), and Gen. Van Buskirk (Robert Shayne) work feverishly to develop a way to defeat the seemingly invincible creature.
Mitch MacAfee (Morrow), a civil aeronautical engineer, while engaged in a radar test flight near the North Pole, spots an unidentified flying object. Three jet fighter aircraft are scrambled to pursue and identify the object but one aircraft goes missing. Officials are initially angry at MacAfee over the loss of a pilot and jet over what they believe to be a hoax.
When MacAfee and mathematician Sally Caldwell (Corday) fly back to New York, their aircraft also comes under attack by a UFO. With their pilot dead, they crash-land in the Adirondacks, where Pierre Broussard (Lou Merrill), a French-Canadian farmer, comes to their rescue. MacAfee's report is met with bewilderment and skepticism, but the military authorities are forced to take his story seriously after several more aircraft disappear.
They discover that a gigantic bird "as big as a battleship", purported to come from an antimatter galaxy, is responsible for all the incidents. MacAfee, Caldwell, Dr. Karol Noymann (Edgar Barrier), Gen. Considine (Morris Ankrum), and Gen. Van Buskirk (Robert Shayne) work feverishly to develop a way to defeat the seemingly invincible creature.
The climactic showdown takes place in Manhattan, when the gigantic bird attacks both the Empire State Building and United Nations buildings. It is defeated by a special type of isotope, deployed from the tail gun position of a B-25 bomber aircraft, which successfully collapses the creature's antimatter shield and allows missiles to hit and kill the monster. The giant bird plummets into the Atlantic Ocean outside New York, and the last sight of it is a claw sinking beneath the ocean.
Cast
- Jeff Morrow as Mitch MacAfee
- Mara Corday as Sally Caldwell
- Morris Ankrum as Lieutenant General Edward Considine
- Lou Merrill as Pierre Broussard
- Edgar Barrier as Dr. Karol Noymann
- Robert Shayne as General Van Buskirk
- Frank Griffin as Pete, the missing pilot (credited as Ruell Shayne)
- Clark Howat as Maj. Bergen
- Morgan Jones as Lieutenant, Radar Officer
Production
According to Richard Harland Smith of Turner Classic Movies, the inspiration for the story may have been taken from media reports about scientific discoveries in the field of particle physics, dealing with matter and antimatter. Other influences included the Japanese film Rodan (1956), and the Samuel Hopkins Adams story "Grandfather and a Winter's Tale", about la Carcagne, the mythical bird-like banshee from French-Canadian folklore. The Hopkins story was published in The New Yorker in January 1951.
A character in The Giant Claw mistakes the menacing bird for la Carcagne, said to be a monster resembling a giant woman with a wolf's head and bat-like black wings and which, like the banshee, is a harbinger of death.
Under the working title Mark of the Claw, principal photography took place at Griffith Park, subbing for the New York-Canada border, with interiors filmed at the Columbia Annex near Monogram Studios from February 1–20, 1957. Katzman originally planned to utilize stop motion effects by Ray Harryhausen, but due to budget constraints, he instead hired a low-budget special effects studio in Mexico City, Mexico to create the mythical creature that would be the showpiece of the production. The result, however, was a poorly made "marionette".
Morrow later confessed in an interview that no one in the film knew what the titular monster looked like until the film's premiere. Morrow himself first saw the film in his hometown, and hearing the audience laugh every time the monster appeared on screen, he left the theater early, embarrassed that anyone there might recognize him (he allegedly went home and began drinking).
According to Richard Harland Smith of Turner Classic Movies, the inspiration for the story may have been taken from media reports about scientific discoveries in the field of particle physics, dealing with matter and antimatter. Other influences included the Japanese film Rodan (1956), and the Samuel Hopkins Adams story "Grandfather and a Winter's Tale", about la Carcagne, the mythical bird-like banshee from French-Canadian folklore. The Hopkins story was published in The New Yorker in January 1951.
A character in The Giant Claw mistakes the menacing bird for la Carcagne, said to be a monster resembling a giant woman with a wolf's head and bat-like black wings and which, like the banshee, is a harbinger of death.
Under the working title Mark of the Claw, principal photography took place at Griffith Park, subbing for the New York-Canada border, with interiors filmed at the Columbia Annex near Monogram Studios from February 1–20, 1957. Katzman originally planned to utilize stop motion effects by Ray Harryhausen, but due to budget constraints, he instead hired a low-budget special effects studio in Mexico City, Mexico to create the mythical creature that would be the showpiece of the production. The result, however, was a poorly made "marionette".
Morrow later confessed in an interview that no one in the film knew what the titular monster looked like until the film's premiere. Morrow himself first saw the film in his hometown, and hearing the audience laugh every time the monster appeared on screen, he left the theater early, embarrassed that anyone there might recognize him (he allegedly went home and began drinking).
Reception
Critical reception was very negative, with Bill Warren of The New York Times later commenting, "This would have been an ordinarily bad movie of its type, with a good performance by Jeff Morrow, if the special effects had been industry standard for the time. That, however, is not what happened. The Claw is not just badly rendered, it is hilariously rendered, resembling nothing so much as Warner Bros. cartoon-character Beaky Buzzard. Once seen, you will never forget this awesomely silly creation".
The Giant Claw has been mocked for the quality of its special effects. The menacing bird, in particular, is considered by many to be badly made, being a puppet with a very odd face. Film critic Leonard Maltin noted that the film disappointed for those reasons, "(a) lack of decent special effects ruins the running battle between colossal bird and fighter jets. Big bird is laughable". TV Guide panned the film, awarding it a score of 1 out of 4, criticizing the film's monster as "preposterous-looking".
Not all reviews of the film were negative. Allmovie gave the film a positive review, stating, "The Giant Claw has a terrible reputation that isn't entirely deserved – to be sure, producer Sam Katzman opted for the cheapest, worst-looking monster that one could imagine, a ridiculous-looking giant bird puppet that makes the movie seem ludicrous. But except for those moments when the title monster is on the screen, the movie isn't bad – so for the first 27 minutes, until it appears for the first time and evokes its first rounds of laughter, the picture is working just fine within the confines of its budget, script, and cast". Allmovie also complimented Morrow's performance as "the best thing in the picture".
Critical reception was very negative, with Bill Warren of The New York Times later commenting, "This would have been an ordinarily bad movie of its type, with a good performance by Jeff Morrow, if the special effects had been industry standard for the time. That, however, is not what happened. The Claw is not just badly rendered, it is hilariously rendered, resembling nothing so much as Warner Bros. cartoon-character Beaky Buzzard. Once seen, you will never forget this awesomely silly creation".
The Giant Claw has been mocked for the quality of its special effects. The menacing bird, in particular, is considered by many to be badly made, being a puppet with a very odd face. Film critic Leonard Maltin noted that the film disappointed for those reasons, "(a) lack of decent special effects ruins the running battle between colossal bird and fighter jets. Big bird is laughable". TV Guide panned the film, awarding it a score of 1 out of 4, criticizing the film's monster as "preposterous-looking".
Not all reviews of the film were negative. Allmovie gave the film a positive review, stating, "The Giant Claw has a terrible reputation that isn't entirely deserved – to be sure, producer Sam Katzman opted for the cheapest, worst-looking monster that one could imagine, a ridiculous-looking giant bird puppet that makes the movie seem ludicrous. But except for those moments when the title monster is on the screen, the movie isn't bad – so for the first 27 minutes, until it appears for the first time and evokes its first rounds of laughter, the picture is working just fine within the confines of its budget, script, and cast". Allmovie also complimented Morrow's performance as "the best thing in the picture".
Video and DVD release
The Giant Claw had been a staple of the bootleg video market, with only two official VHS releases (one in the USA by Goodtimes Home Video and the other by Screamtime in the United Kingdom).
In October 2007, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the film on DVD as part of the two-disc, four-film set, Icons of Horror Collection: Sam Katzman, along with three other films produced by Katzman: Creature with the Atom Brain (1955), The Werewolf (1956) and Zombies of Mora Tau (1957).
The Giant Claw had been a staple of the bootleg video market, with only two official VHS releases (one in the USA by Goodtimes Home Video and the other by Screamtime in the United Kingdom).
In October 2007, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the film on DVD as part of the two-disc, four-film set, Icons of Horror Collection: Sam Katzman, along with three other films produced by Katzman: Creature with the Atom Brain (1955), The Werewolf (1956) and Zombies of Mora Tau (1957).
Trivia
- In an interview, star Jeff Morrow said that neither he nor anyone on the film saw the title "monster" until they went to the film's premiere in Morrow's home town. It turned out that producer Sam Katzman had contracted with a low-budget model-maker in Mexico City to construct the "Giant Claw" and no one in the cast or crew had any idea it would come out looking as bizarre and, frankly, laughable as it did. Morrow said that the audience roared with laughter every time the "monster" made an appearance, and he wound up slinking in embarrassment out of the theater before the film was over so that no one who knew him would recognize him.
- The producers originally planned to use a stop-motion model created by Ray Harryhausen for the bird. However, due to budgetary limitations they were forced to use a marionette.
- The poster artists were purportedly not shown the puppet nor any other artwork from the film's production and concluded that the monster was a giant eagle or hawk. Thus, the creature in the posters looks nothing like the beast in the film.
- Some of the better special effects are recycled from Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956).
- Some of the stock footage of panicked crowds running was taken from the film The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951).
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20 Million Miles to Earth (a.k.a. The Beast from Space) is a 1957 American black-and-white science fiction giant monster film, produced by Charles H. Schneer's Morningside Productions for Columbia Pictures, directed by Nathan H. Juran, that stars William Hopper, Joan Taylor, and Frank Puglia. The screenplay was written by Bob Williams and Christopher Knopf from an original treatment by Charlott Knight. As with several other Schneer-Columbia collaborations, the film was developed to showcase the stop-motion animation of Ray Harryhausen.
Plot
Off the coast of Sicily, fishermen watch as a spaceship crashes into the sea. They row out to the site and pull two spaceman from the nose-down craft before it completely sinks into the sea.
In Washington, D.C., Major General A.D. McIntosh discovers that the missing spaceship, piloted by Colonel Bob Calder, has been located. As McIntosh flies to the site, Pepe, a little boy, finds and opens a metal capsule on the beach. It contains a gelatinous mass, which he sells to Dr. Leonardo, a zoologist studying sea creatures. Meanwhile, Leonardo's granddaughter Marisa, a third year medical student, is summoned to take care of the injured spacemen. When Calder regains consciousness, he finds his crew mate, Dr. Sharman, in the last throes of the fatal disease that killed his other eight crewmen.
After Marisa returns to the trailer shared with her grandfather, a small creature hatches from the mass, and Leonardo locks it in a cage; by morning, the creature has tripled in size. McIntosh arrives, accompanied by scientist Dr. Justin Uhl, and meets with two representatives of the Italian government, informing them the spaceship has returned from Venus. Leonardo and Marisa hitch the trailer to their truck and head for Rome.
Off the coast of Sicily, fishermen watch as a spaceship crashes into the sea. They row out to the site and pull two spaceman from the nose-down craft before it completely sinks into the sea.
In Washington, D.C., Major General A.D. McIntosh discovers that the missing spaceship, piloted by Colonel Bob Calder, has been located. As McIntosh flies to the site, Pepe, a little boy, finds and opens a metal capsule on the beach. It contains a gelatinous mass, which he sells to Dr. Leonardo, a zoologist studying sea creatures. Meanwhile, Leonardo's granddaughter Marisa, a third year medical student, is summoned to take care of the injured spacemen. When Calder regains consciousness, he finds his crew mate, Dr. Sharman, in the last throes of the fatal disease that killed his other eight crewmen.
After Marisa returns to the trailer shared with her grandfather, a small creature hatches from the mass, and Leonardo locks it in a cage; by morning, the creature has tripled in size. McIntosh arrives, accompanied by scientist Dr. Justin Uhl, and meets with two representatives of the Italian government, informing them the spaceship has returned from Venus. Leonardo and Marisa hitch the trailer to their truck and head for Rome.
Calder's spacecraft carried a sealed metal container bearing an unborn Venusian species. As police divers begin to search for it, McIntosh offers a reward for the capsule's recovery, prompting Pepe to lead them to the empty container. When Pepe tells them that he sold the mass to Dr. Leonardo, McIntosh and Calder pursue him.
That night, Leonardo discovers that the creature has grown to human size. Soon after, it breaks out of the cage and flees. Confused, the beast blunders onto a nearby farm, terrorizing the animals. The creature eats sulfur and rips open several bags it discovers. While feeding, the creature encounters the farm dog and kills it, alerting the farmer. Calder and the others reach the barn, trapping the beast inside. Calder explains that the creature is not dangerous unless provoked. However, he immediately provokes it by trying to prod the creature into a cage, and it injures the farmer when he stabs it with a pitchfork. After the creature breaks out of the barn and disappears into the countryside, the police commissario insists that it be destroyed.
That night, Leonardo discovers that the creature has grown to human size. Soon after, it breaks out of the cage and flees. Confused, the beast blunders onto a nearby farm, terrorizing the animals. The creature eats sulfur and rips open several bags it discovers. While feeding, the creature encounters the farm dog and kills it, alerting the farmer. Calder and the others reach the barn, trapping the beast inside. Calder explains that the creature is not dangerous unless provoked. However, he immediately provokes it by trying to prod the creature into a cage, and it injures the farmer when he stabs it with a pitchfork. After the creature breaks out of the barn and disappears into the countryside, the police commissario insists that it be destroyed.
After the Italian government grants Calder permission to capture the creature, he devises a plan to ensnare it in a giant electric net dropped from a helicopter. The Italian police conduct their own pursuit, shooting at it with flamethrowers. Aware that sulfur is the creature's food of choice, Calder uses it as bait, luring the creature to a secluded site and subduing it with an electric jolt from the net. Later, at the American Embassy in Rome, McIntosh briefs the press corps and allows three reporters to view the creature, which has been placed in the Rome Zoo. There, Calder explains that the creature is being sedated with a continuous electric shock so it can be studied. Marisa, who is aiding her uncle, begins flirting with Calder. Suddenly, electrical equipment shorts out and the creature awakens.
Now huge, the creature battles an elephant and sends the panicked patrons scurrying. Taking their fight to the streets of Rome, the two destroy cars and damage buildings. The creature finally kills the elephant and continues its rampage. Calder tracks the beast to the River Tiber, where it submerges. Grenades are lobbed into the river, and it surfaces. It heads for the Colosseum and destroys an ancient temple, killing many soldiers. As the creature disappears into the ruins, Calder charges after it with a group of bazooka-carrying soldiers, driving it to the top of the structure. Calder scores a direct bazooka hit, then fires a second time and scores another critical hit, and the creature plunges to its death. A relieved Marisa runs into Calder's arms.
Now huge, the creature battles an elephant and sends the panicked patrons scurrying. Taking their fight to the streets of Rome, the two destroy cars and damage buildings. The creature finally kills the elephant and continues its rampage. Calder tracks the beast to the River Tiber, where it submerges. Grenades are lobbed into the river, and it surfaces. It heads for the Colosseum and destroys an ancient temple, killing many soldiers. As the creature disappears into the ruins, Calder charges after it with a group of bazooka-carrying soldiers, driving it to the top of the structure. Calder scores a direct bazooka hit, then fires a second time and scores another critical hit, and the creature plunges to its death. A relieved Marisa runs into Calder's arms.
Cast
- William Hopper as Robert Calder
- Joan Taylor as Marisa Leonardo
- Frank Puglia as Dr. Leonardo
- John Zaremba as Dr. Judson Uhl
- Thomas Browne Henry as Maj. Gen. A.D. McIntosh
- Tito Vuolo as Police Commissioner Unte
- Jan Arvan as Contino
- Arthur Space as Dr. Sharman
- Bart Bradley as Pepe
- Ray Harryhausen cameo (uncredited)
Production
20 Million Miles to Earth was in production in Rome, Italy in September 1956, using only William Hopper of the main cast, and in the U.S. from October 30 to November 9 of that year. Rome was chosen as the location for filming because Harryhausen wanted to vacation there. The working title of the film was The Giant Ymir, and it has also been released as The Beast from Space. All references to the name Ymir were removed from the released version of the film, as Harryhausen was concerned that audiences might confuse it with the Arabic title "Emir".
Ray Harryhausen wanted the film to be shot in color, but the filmmakers were not given a budget large enough to accommodate color film. In 2007, five years after the death of the film's director, Harryhausen worked with restoration and colorization company Legend Films to create a colorized version of the film. That version, along with the original theatrical black-and-white version, was released as part of a 50th Anniversary Edition of the film on July 31, 2007.
There are minor differences between the two versions. One example: the black-and-white version begins in "A Fishing Village in Sicily", not Sperlonga, Italy.
It was the first of three collaborations between Harryhausen, Schneer and Nathan Juran. Juran only directed the American sequences - Schneer and Harryhausen directed the Italian ones.
20 Million Miles to Earth was in production in Rome, Italy in September 1956, using only William Hopper of the main cast, and in the U.S. from October 30 to November 9 of that year. Rome was chosen as the location for filming because Harryhausen wanted to vacation there. The working title of the film was The Giant Ymir, and it has also been released as The Beast from Space. All references to the name Ymir were removed from the released version of the film, as Harryhausen was concerned that audiences might confuse it with the Arabic title "Emir".
Ray Harryhausen wanted the film to be shot in color, but the filmmakers were not given a budget large enough to accommodate color film. In 2007, five years after the death of the film's director, Harryhausen worked with restoration and colorization company Legend Films to create a colorized version of the film. That version, along with the original theatrical black-and-white version, was released as part of a 50th Anniversary Edition of the film on July 31, 2007.
There are minor differences between the two versions. One example: the black-and-white version begins in "A Fishing Village in Sicily", not Sperlonga, Italy.
It was the first of three collaborations between Harryhausen, Schneer and Nathan Juran. Juran only directed the American sequences - Schneer and Harryhausen directed the Italian ones.
Reception
20 Million Miles to Earth has an 80% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on ten reviews. Marco Lanzagorta of PopMatters gave the film nine out of ten stars, calling it "required viewing for those interested in modern cinema."
Time Out wrote, "Don't worry about the dotty script or cardboard performances - just sit back and watch this gelatinous blob in action"; while the Radio Times called it "one of animation master Ray Harryhausen's best fantasy films, and his own personal favourite. The snake-tailed giant Ymir monster is also one of Harryhausen's finest creations: it has a well-defined personality and manages to evoke sympathy for its bewildered plight. The Ymir's fight with an elephant and the Roman locations - especially the climactic Colosseum battle - add unique touches to this minor classic."
20 Million Miles to Earth has an 80% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on ten reviews. Marco Lanzagorta of PopMatters gave the film nine out of ten stars, calling it "required viewing for those interested in modern cinema."
Time Out wrote, "Don't worry about the dotty script or cardboard performances - just sit back and watch this gelatinous blob in action"; while the Radio Times called it "one of animation master Ray Harryhausen's best fantasy films, and his own personal favourite. The snake-tailed giant Ymir monster is also one of Harryhausen's finest creations: it has a well-defined personality and manages to evoke sympathy for its bewildered plight. The Ymir's fight with an elephant and the Roman locations - especially the climactic Colosseum battle - add unique touches to this minor classic."
Legacy
The four-issue comic book mini-series 20 Million Miles More (2008), released by TidalWave Productions as part of their Ray Harryhausen Signature Series, picked up the story 50 years after the events of the film. A preview of the first issue was included on the 50th Anniversary DVD release of the film.
The four-issue comic book mini-series 20 Million Miles More (2008), released by TidalWave Productions as part of their Ray Harryhausen Signature Series, picked up the story 50 years after the events of the film. A preview of the first issue was included on the 50th Anniversary DVD release of the film.
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The Monster That Challenged the World (a.k.a. The Jagged Edge and The Kraken) is a 1957 black-and-white science-fiction monster film from Gramercy Pictures, produced by Arthur Gardner, Jules V. Levy, and Arnold Laven (who also directed), and starring Tim Holt and Audrey Dalton. The film was distributed by United Artists on a double bill with The Vampire.
The film concerns an army of giant mollusks that emerge from California's Salton Sea.
The film concerns an army of giant mollusks that emerge from California's Salton Sea.
Plot
In the Salton Sea, an underwater earthquake causes a crevice to open, releasing prehistoric giant mollusks. A rescue training parachute jump is conducted, but the patrol boat sent to pick up the jumper finds only a floating parachute. One sailor dives in but also disappears. The other sailor screams in terror as something rises from the water.
When the patrol boat does not answer radio calls, Lt. Cmdr. John "Twill" Twillinger (Tim Holt) takes a rescue party out on a second patrol boat to investigate. They find the deserted patrol boat covered in a strange slime; the jumper's body then floats to the surface, now blackened and drained of bodily fluids. Twill takes a sample of the slime to the base lab for analysis, where he teams up with recently widowed Gail MacKenzie (Audrey Dalton) and Dr. Jess Rogers (Hans Conried).
A young couple disappear after going for a swim. U.S. Navy divers investigate and discover a giant egg and the body of one of the victims on the ocean floor. The divers are attacked by a giant mollusk, which kills one of the divers. The mollusk attacks the boat, but Twill stabs it in the eye with a grappling hook. The egg is taken to the U.S. Navy lab for study and kept under temperature control to prevent it from hatching.
In the Salton Sea, an underwater earthquake causes a crevice to open, releasing prehistoric giant mollusks. A rescue training parachute jump is conducted, but the patrol boat sent to pick up the jumper finds only a floating parachute. One sailor dives in but also disappears. The other sailor screams in terror as something rises from the water.
When the patrol boat does not answer radio calls, Lt. Cmdr. John "Twill" Twillinger (Tim Holt) takes a rescue party out on a second patrol boat to investigate. They find the deserted patrol boat covered in a strange slime; the jumper's body then floats to the surface, now blackened and drained of bodily fluids. Twill takes a sample of the slime to the base lab for analysis, where he teams up with recently widowed Gail MacKenzie (Audrey Dalton) and Dr. Jess Rogers (Hans Conried).
A young couple disappear after going for a swim. U.S. Navy divers investigate and discover a giant egg and the body of one of the victims on the ocean floor. The divers are attacked by a giant mollusk, which kills one of the divers. The mollusk attacks the boat, but Twill stabs it in the eye with a grappling hook. The egg is taken to the U.S. Navy lab for study and kept under temperature control to prevent it from hatching.
The mollusks escape into an irrigation canal system, attacking livestock, a lock keeper, a trysting couple, and others. Navy divers locate a group of mollusks in the canal system, and use explosives to destroy them.
In the meantime, Gail is at the lab with her young daughter, Sandy (Mimi Gibson). Worried about the lab rabbits being cold in the lab's lowered temperature, Sandy surreptitiously turns up the thermostat. Twill calls the lab and gets no answer. He arrives and finds that the hatched mollusk has Gail and Sandy cornered in a closet, where they ran to escape from the monster. He fights it with lab chemicals and a CO2 fire extinguisher until other Navy personnel arrive and shoot the mollusk.
In the meantime, Gail is at the lab with her young daughter, Sandy (Mimi Gibson). Worried about the lab rabbits being cold in the lab's lowered temperature, Sandy surreptitiously turns up the thermostat. Twill calls the lab and gets no answer. He arrives and finds that the hatched mollusk has Gail and Sandy cornered in a closet, where they ran to escape from the monster. He fights it with lab chemicals and a CO2 fire extinguisher until other Navy personnel arrive and shoot the mollusk.
Cast
- Tim Holt as Lt. Cmdr. John "Twill" Twillinger
- Audrey Dalton as Gail MacKenzie
- Mimi Gibson as Sandy MacKenzie
- Hans Conried as Dr. Jess Rogers
- Harlan Warde as Lt. Robert "Clem" Clemens
- Max Showalter as Dr. Tad Johns
- Gordon Jones as Sheriff Josh Peters
- Marjorie Stapp as Connie Blake
- Dennis McCarthy as George Blake
- Barbara Darrow as Jody Simms
- Robert Beneveds as Seaman Morty Beatty
- Charles Herbert as Boy with Morty's Cap
- Jody McCrea as Seaman Fred Johnson
- Wallace Earl as Sally (credited as Eileen Harvey)
Production
The story for The Monster That Challenged the World came from David Duncan, who also went on to pen screenplays for The Time Machine (1960) and Fantastic Voyage (1966). During production, Duncan's original work was titled The Jagged Edge, before the screenplay was renamed The Kraken. Prior to the film's release, it was once more retitled, this time to The Monster That Challenged the World.
Filming took place in 16 days on a budget of $200,000. A majority of the underwater scenes in the production were shot at Catalina Island off the coast of Los Angeles. Other primary filming locations included the Salton Sea, as well as Brawley and Barstow, California. The close-ups were later filmed in a tank filled with water and plastic seaweed.
In a 2016 interview, star Audrey Dalton recalled: "I thought it was a very interesting experience - as all my movies were in different ways. The director, Arnold Laven, had formed a production company with Jules Levy and Arthur Gardner. The monster stuff was fun, crouching behind a desk with a monster breaking down the wall. But you had to play it very straight. Once you start seeing the funny side of it, it doesn't work. Tim Holt had come out of retirement to do this movie. He was a quiet, very nice man - the most 'unactor' actor that I ever worked with. The film's poster features a woman in a bathing suit. People think it's me, but it was the actress whose character was drowned in the opening sequence. She's pulled into the water by the monster. We shot down on the beach for that. I think the rest of it was filmed along the California Aqueduct."
The story for The Monster That Challenged the World came from David Duncan, who also went on to pen screenplays for The Time Machine (1960) and Fantastic Voyage (1966). During production, Duncan's original work was titled The Jagged Edge, before the screenplay was renamed The Kraken. Prior to the film's release, it was once more retitled, this time to The Monster That Challenged the World.
Filming took place in 16 days on a budget of $200,000. A majority of the underwater scenes in the production were shot at Catalina Island off the coast of Los Angeles. Other primary filming locations included the Salton Sea, as well as Brawley and Barstow, California. The close-ups were later filmed in a tank filled with water and plastic seaweed.
In a 2016 interview, star Audrey Dalton recalled: "I thought it was a very interesting experience - as all my movies were in different ways. The director, Arnold Laven, had formed a production company with Jules Levy and Arthur Gardner. The monster stuff was fun, crouching behind a desk with a monster breaking down the wall. But you had to play it very straight. Once you start seeing the funny side of it, it doesn't work. Tim Holt had come out of retirement to do this movie. He was a quiet, very nice man - the most 'unactor' actor that I ever worked with. The film's poster features a woman in a bathing suit. People think it's me, but it was the actress whose character was drowned in the opening sequence. She's pulled into the water by the monster. We shot down on the beach for that. I think the rest of it was filmed along the California Aqueduct."
Reception
A TV Guide review of The Monster That Challenged the World noted, "Fine special effects help this film along by adding an atmosphere of impending danger." A later review by author Dave Sindelar of Fantastic Film Musings and Ramblings remarked: "For some reason, this fifties monster movie doesn't get much respect, but I think it holds up extraordinarily well. For one thing, I think the characters are unusually well drawn for this type of movie, and they're given a dimension and a sense of realness that adds a lot to the proceedings".
Respect for the "monster" also dominated a later review of The Monster That Challenged the World in the Video Movie Guide: "This late-1950s sci-fi programmer is set apart by only one thing: the giant monster, which is life-size (not a miniature), and given plenty of screen time."
A TV Guide review of The Monster That Challenged the World noted, "Fine special effects help this film along by adding an atmosphere of impending danger." A later review by author Dave Sindelar of Fantastic Film Musings and Ramblings remarked: "For some reason, this fifties monster movie doesn't get much respect, but I think it holds up extraordinarily well. For one thing, I think the characters are unusually well drawn for this type of movie, and they're given a dimension and a sense of realness that adds a lot to the proceedings".
Respect for the "monster" also dominated a later review of The Monster That Challenged the World in the Video Movie Guide: "This late-1950s sci-fi programmer is set apart by only one thing: the giant monster, which is life-size (not a miniature), and given plenty of screen time."
DVD release
As of 2015, the film was available on DVD as part of Metro-Goldwyn Mayer's Midnite Movies collection.
Note: The Monster That Challenged the World's Gramercy Pictures is not related to the former PolyGram division of the same name.
As of 2015, the film was available on DVD as part of Metro-Goldwyn Mayer's Midnite Movies collection.
Note: The Monster That Challenged the World's Gramercy Pictures is not related to the former PolyGram division of the same name.
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The Deadly Mantis is a 1957 American science-fiction monster film produced by William Alland for Universal-International. It was directed by Nathan Juran from a screenplay by Martin Berkeley based on a story by producer William Alland. The film stars Craig Stevens, William Hopper, Alix Talton, and Pat Conway.
The film was released in 1957 as a double feature with the spy film The Girl in the Kremlin. In February 1997, The Deadly Mantis was featured on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
The film was released in 1957 as a double feature with the spy film The Girl in the Kremlin. In February 1997, The Deadly Mantis was featured on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Plot
In the South Seas, a volcano explodes, eventually causing North Pole icebergs to shift. Below the melting polar ice caps, a 200-foot-long praying mantis, trapped in the ice for millions of years, begins to stir.
Soon after, the military personnel at Red Eagle One, a military station in northern Canada that monitors information gathered from the Distant Early Warning Line, realize that the men at one of their outposts are not responding to calls. Commanding officer Col. Joe Parkman (Craig Stevens) flies there to investigate, and finds the post destroyed, its men gone, and giant slashes left in the snow outside.
When a radar blip is sighted, Joe sends his pilots out to investigate, but their intended target disappears. Soon an Air Force plane is attacked by the deadly mantis. He searches the wreckage, and this time, in addition to the huge slashes, finds a five-foot-long pointed object in the snow. He takes it to General Mark Ford (Donald Randolph) at the Continental Air Defense (CONAD) in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
In the South Seas, a volcano explodes, eventually causing North Pole icebergs to shift. Below the melting polar ice caps, a 200-foot-long praying mantis, trapped in the ice for millions of years, begins to stir.
Soon after, the military personnel at Red Eagle One, a military station in northern Canada that monitors information gathered from the Distant Early Warning Line, realize that the men at one of their outposts are not responding to calls. Commanding officer Col. Joe Parkman (Craig Stevens) flies there to investigate, and finds the post destroyed, its men gone, and giant slashes left in the snow outside.
When a radar blip is sighted, Joe sends his pilots out to investigate, but their intended target disappears. Soon an Air Force plane is attacked by the deadly mantis. He searches the wreckage, and this time, in addition to the huge slashes, finds a five-foot-long pointed object in the snow. He takes it to General Mark Ford (Donald Randolph) at the Continental Air Defense (CONAD) in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Ford gathers top scientists, including Professor Anton Gunther (Florenz Ames), to examine the object, but when they cannot identify it, Gunther recommends calling in Dr. Nedrick Jackson (William Hopper), a paleontologist at the Museum of Natural History.
When Ned gets the call from Ford, he is helping museum magazine editor Marge Blaine (Alix Talton) plan her next issue, and dodges her questions as she begs him for a big scoop. Later, after examining the object, Ned recognizes it as a torn-off spur from an insect's leg, and soon guesses, from evidence that the creature ate human flesh, that it must be a gigantic praying mantis. Meanwhile, in the Arctic, the people of an Eskimo village spot the mantis in the sky, and although they hurry to their boats to escape, it swoops down and kills several men.
Ned is sent to Red Eagle One to investigate further, and upon leaving, discovers that Marge has managed to get permission to accompany him as his photographer. They reach the base, where all the men, including Joe, are smitten by Marge. That night, Marge and Joe join Ned in his office and discuss the creature, not realizing that it is drawing close to the office window. Marge suddenly catches sight of it and screams, and the bug attacks the building. Although the full unit opens fire on the mantis with automatic rifles and a flame-thrower, it is unscathed and moves away only after planes encircle it.
When Ned gets the call from Ford, he is helping museum magazine editor Marge Blaine (Alix Talton) plan her next issue, and dodges her questions as she begs him for a big scoop. Later, after examining the object, Ned recognizes it as a torn-off spur from an insect's leg, and soon guesses, from evidence that the creature ate human flesh, that it must be a gigantic praying mantis. Meanwhile, in the Arctic, the people of an Eskimo village spot the mantis in the sky, and although they hurry to their boats to escape, it swoops down and kills several men.
Ned is sent to Red Eagle One to investigate further, and upon leaving, discovers that Marge has managed to get permission to accompany him as his photographer. They reach the base, where all the men, including Joe, are smitten by Marge. That night, Marge and Joe join Ned in his office and discuss the creature, not realizing that it is drawing close to the office window. Marge suddenly catches sight of it and screams, and the bug attacks the building. Although the full unit opens fire on the mantis with automatic rifles and a flame-thrower, it is unscathed and moves away only after planes encircle it.
Hours later, the base remains on red alert, but they finally hear that the bug has attacked a boat off the Canadian coast, which means, Ned calculates, that it is flying at a speed of 200 miles an hour. Ford calls a press conference to announce the bug's existence, and asks the Ground Observer Corps to track its whereabouts. Over the next few days, Ned, Marge and Joe track the bug's progress with the help of military and civilian observers. Late one night, Joe drives Marge home, stopping briefly to ask for, and receive, a kiss. They are distracted by a report of a nearby train wreck, and although they assume it to be an ordinary accident, soon after, a woman leaving a bus sees the mantis, and all emergency personnel are put on alert. The mantis is then sighted in Washington, D.C., atop the Washington Monument.
Joe is one of the pilots who attempt to drive the mantis toward the sea, but a dense fog throws him off course, and he flies directly into it. As the wounded mantis drops to the ground and crawls into the Manhattan Tunnel, Joe safely parachutes to the ground. Ford leads a team that seals off the tunnel, filling it with smoke to provide cover for Joe and his special unit of men, who enter the tunnel armed with rifles and three chemical bombs. They creep past wrecked cars until suddenly the bug appears in the fog only a few yards ahead of them. They shoot at it, but it lumbers on, forcing them backward. The mantis seems immune to the ammunition and the first chemical bombs until, only feet from the tunnel entrance, Joe throws a bomb in its face, and it collapses, dead.
Later, Ford, Ned, Joe and Marge enter the tunnel to examine the bug. Marge photographs its face while the men walk around its side, but Joe suddenly sees the mantis' arm move, and runs to protect Marge. Although Ned explains that the bug's movement was merely an autonomic reflex, Joe takes the opportunity to pull Marge into an embrace.
Joe is one of the pilots who attempt to drive the mantis toward the sea, but a dense fog throws him off course, and he flies directly into it. As the wounded mantis drops to the ground and crawls into the Manhattan Tunnel, Joe safely parachutes to the ground. Ford leads a team that seals off the tunnel, filling it with smoke to provide cover for Joe and his special unit of men, who enter the tunnel armed with rifles and three chemical bombs. They creep past wrecked cars until suddenly the bug appears in the fog only a few yards ahead of them. They shoot at it, but it lumbers on, forcing them backward. The mantis seems immune to the ammunition and the first chemical bombs until, only feet from the tunnel entrance, Joe throws a bomb in its face, and it collapses, dead.
Later, Ford, Ned, Joe and Marge enter the tunnel to examine the bug. Marge photographs its face while the men walk around its side, but Joe suddenly sees the mantis' arm move, and runs to protect Marge. Although Ned explains that the bug's movement was merely an autonomic reflex, Joe takes the opportunity to pull Marge into an embrace.
Cast
- Craig Stevens as Col. Joe Parkman
- William Hopper as Dr. Nedrick 'Ned' Jackson
- Alix Talton as Marge Blaine
- Donald Randolph as Gen. Mark Ford
- Pat Conway as Sgt. Pete Allen
- Florenz Ames as Prof. Anton Gunther
- Paul Smith as Corporal, Parkman's Clerk
- Phil Harvey as Lou, Radar Man
- Floyd Simmons as Army Sergeant
- Paul Campbell as Lt. Fred Pizar
- Helen Jay as Mrs. Farley
Production
The Deadly Mantis was the first science fiction film made by director Nathan Juran, who says the opening sequence was his idea.
To create the film's special effects, a 200-foot (61 m) by 40-foot (12 m) long papier-maché model of a mantis, with a wingspan of 150 feet (46 m) and fitted with a hydraulic system, was built. Two smaller models were also built, one that was 6 feet (1.8 m) long, and another than was 1 foot (0.30 m) long; these were used for the scenes where the mantis walked or flew. Shots of a real praying mantis were used for the scene in which the deadly mantis climbs the Washington Monument.
The film utilized stock Air Force footage taken from short films such as "Guardians All", "One Plane - One Bond", and "SFP308." The footage of the Eskimo village was taken from Universal's 1933 film S.O.S. Iceberg.
The Deadly Mantis was the first science fiction film made by director Nathan Juran, who says the opening sequence was his idea.
To create the film's special effects, a 200-foot (61 m) by 40-foot (12 m) long papier-maché model of a mantis, with a wingspan of 150 feet (46 m) and fitted with a hydraulic system, was built. Two smaller models were also built, one that was 6 feet (1.8 m) long, and another than was 1 foot (0.30 m) long; these were used for the scenes where the mantis walked or flew. Shots of a real praying mantis were used for the scene in which the deadly mantis climbs the Washington Monument.
The film utilized stock Air Force footage taken from short films such as "Guardians All", "One Plane - One Bond", and "SFP308." The footage of the Eskimo village was taken from Universal's 1933 film S.O.S. Iceberg.
Reception
The film received a rating of 4.5/10 on IMDb and has a current rating of 38% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. The website Atomic Monsters looked at the film in a somewhat positive light, giving it a "radioactive rating of 5 atomic blasts out of 5".
Home media
Universal released The Deadly Mantis on DVD in a boxed set called The Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection Vol. 2, which includes four other films: (Dr. Cyclops, The Land Unknown, Cult of the Cobra, and The Leech Woman).
The film received a rating of 4.5/10 on IMDb and has a current rating of 38% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. The website Atomic Monsters looked at the film in a somewhat positive light, giving it a "radioactive rating of 5 atomic blasts out of 5".
Home media
Universal released The Deadly Mantis on DVD in a boxed set called The Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection Vol. 2, which includes four other films: (Dr. Cyclops, The Land Unknown, Cult of the Cobra, and The Leech Woman).
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Monster from Green Hell is a 1957 science fiction B movie originally released as a double feature with the 1957 film The Brain from Planet Arous. It was then re-released in 1958 as the top half of another double feature with the English-dubbed and re-edited version of the Japanese kaiju film Half Human.
Plot
In preparation for sending a manned rocket into space, American scientists Dr. Quent Brady and Dan Morgan are put in charge of a program that sends various animals and insects into space to test their survival rates. After one of their rockets carrying wasps malfunctions and goes off course, a computer calculates that the rocket is likely to land somewhere off the coast of Africa.
Some time later, in a remote part of Africa, Dr. Lorentz and his daughter Lorna perform an autopsy on a native and determine that he died of paralysis of the nerve centers caused by an injection of a massive amount of venom. Arobi, Lorentz's African assistant, then informs him that a monster is believed to be terrorizing people and animals in an area known as Green Hell.
Several months later, Brady reads a newspaper account of turmoil in Central Africa caused by gigantic monsters and surmises that the wasps in the missing rocket were exposed to huge amounts of cosmic radiation because an earlier, minimal overexposure had resulted in the birth of a spider crab twice the size of its mother. Brady and Morgan request a leave of absence from Washington and head for Africa to investigate.
In preparation for sending a manned rocket into space, American scientists Dr. Quent Brady and Dan Morgan are put in charge of a program that sends various animals and insects into space to test their survival rates. After one of their rockets carrying wasps malfunctions and goes off course, a computer calculates that the rocket is likely to land somewhere off the coast of Africa.
Some time later, in a remote part of Africa, Dr. Lorentz and his daughter Lorna perform an autopsy on a native and determine that he died of paralysis of the nerve centers caused by an injection of a massive amount of venom. Arobi, Lorentz's African assistant, then informs him that a monster is believed to be terrorizing people and animals in an area known as Green Hell.
Several months later, Brady reads a newspaper account of turmoil in Central Africa caused by gigantic monsters and surmises that the wasps in the missing rocket were exposed to huge amounts of cosmic radiation because an earlier, minimal overexposure had resulted in the birth of a spider crab twice the size of its mother. Brady and Morgan request a leave of absence from Washington and head for Africa to investigate.
In Libreville, equatorial Africa, the territorial agent makes plans for them to travel to meet Dr. Lorentz. Once the safari is ready, Mahri, an Arab, leads Brady and Morgan on the four-hundred mile trek to Lorentz's hospital. The safari battles brush fires, fever, drought and storms, eventually reaching the Lorentz compound where Lorna informs them that her father has not returned from a journey to Green Hell. Later, Arobi arrives with the news that Lorentz has been killed by a monster living in the cauldron of a volcano and gives Brady a giant stinger he removed from the doctor's shoulder. After Brady analyzes the stinger, he confirms that it belongs to a giant, deadly wasp. Although Brady advises Lorna to stay at the hospital, she insists on accompanying him, Morgan, Mahri and Arobi to Green Hell.
When the native bearers learn of the destination, they desert, and although Lorna is able to shame several local villagers into helping, they, too, run off when the group comes upon a deserted native village littered with dead bodies. After Brady expresses his concern that the insects may be multiplying rapidly and could eventually overrun all of Africa, he states that they must destroy the queen and her immediate colony. Brady then explains to Mahri that he has brought small grenade-like bombs, filled with a special explosive, to use against the monsters. As they move closer to the base of the volcano, which shows signs of an imminent eruption, they hear a very loud, buzzing sound.
When Brady looks down from a ridge above the volcano, he finds the queen wasp and several gigantic workers. The four men toss grenades into the bowl, but the explosions only serve to anger the wasps. Lorna and the men are pursued by one of the wasps, the size of a large building, but hide in a cave that it cannot enter. The group escapes through another entrance and, just as they emerge, the volcano erupts, spewing massive lava flows that destroy all the wasps in the conflagration. Morgan then notes that nature has a way of destroying its mistakes.
When Brady looks down from a ridge above the volcano, he finds the queen wasp and several gigantic workers. The four men toss grenades into the bowl, but the explosions only serve to anger the wasps. Lorna and the men are pursued by one of the wasps, the size of a large building, but hide in a cave that it cannot enter. The group escapes through another entrance and, just as they emerge, the volcano erupts, spewing massive lava flows that destroy all the wasps in the conflagration. Morgan then notes that nature has a way of destroying its mistakes.
Cast
- Jim Davis as Dr. Quent Brady
- Robert Griffin as Dan Morgan
- Joel Fluellen as Arobi
- Barbara Turner as Lorna Lorentz
- Eduardo Ciannelli as Mahri
- Vladimir Sokoloff as Dr. Lorentz
Production and reception
Monster from Green Hell contains stock-footage from the 1939 film Stanley and Livingstone. One of the filming locations was Bronson Caves located in Griffith Park, Hollywood.
The film's working title was alternately Creatures from Green Hell or The Beast From Green Hell. Although the print viewed included a 1956 copyright statement for Gross-Krasne, Inc., the film was not registered for copyright at the time of its release. However, the film was registered for copyright years later by Wade Williams on November 26, 1984, under number PA 180-809.
Monster from Green Hell has received negative reviews from the few critics on Rotten Tomatoes. It holds a 2/5 average rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a low 3,3/10 on the Internet Movie Database.
Monster from Green Hell contains stock-footage from the 1939 film Stanley and Livingstone. One of the filming locations was Bronson Caves located in Griffith Park, Hollywood.
The film's working title was alternately Creatures from Green Hell or The Beast From Green Hell. Although the print viewed included a 1956 copyright statement for Gross-Krasne, Inc., the film was not registered for copyright at the time of its release. However, the film was registered for copyright years later by Wade Williams on November 26, 1984, under number PA 180-809.
Monster from Green Hell has received negative reviews from the few critics on Rotten Tomatoes. It holds a 2/5 average rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a low 3,3/10 on the Internet Movie Database.
In popular culture
In the Pop Culture; The 1960s toy line from Remco which featured giant bugs vs. the military, the largest of the mechanical bugs 'Horrible Hamilton' is designed after the giant wasps in this film. Another of the mechanical bug toys in this line included a giant 'ant' or 'spider' which was designed after the giant ants in the film Them!, 'The Spooky Spider'.
In the Pop Culture; The 1960s toy line from Remco which featured giant bugs vs. the military, the largest of the mechanical bugs 'Horrible Hamilton' is designed after the giant wasps in this film. Another of the mechanical bug toys in this line included a giant 'ant' or 'spider' which was designed after the giant ants in the film Them!, 'The Spooky Spider'.
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Rodan, released in Japan as Sora no Daikaijū Radon (空の大怪獣 ラドン, lit. "Radon, Giant Monster of the Sky"), is a 1956 science fiction kaiju film produced by Toho Studios. It was the studio's first Kaiju movie filmed in color (though Toho's first color tokusatsu film, Madame White Snake, was released earlier that year). It is one of a series of "giant monster" movies that found an audience outside Japan, especially in the United States, where it was originally released in 1957 as Rodan! The Flying Monster!. (It was re-released later in some drive-ins in the U.S. in 1959 on a double bill with Gigantis the Fire Monster.)
Plot
In the small mining village of Kitamatsu, on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu, two miners have gone missing. The two men, Goro and Yoshi, had brawled earlier that day, and after they entered the mine to start their shift, the shaft had quickly flooded. Shigeru Kawamura (Kenji Sahara), a tunneling and safety engineer at the mine, heads below to investigate and makes a gruesome discovery: Yoshi's lacerated corpse. Above ground, a doctor examines Yoshi, and discovers the cause of death to be a series of deep gashes caused by an abnormally sharp object. Some of the miners and their families begin to discuss the possibility of the involvement of Goro, who is still unaccounted for, in the death. Shigeru is personally affected by this incident, since his fiancée Kiyo (Yumi Shirakawa) is also Goro's sister.
Two local miners and a policeman are stationed inside the mine, just before the waterline of the flooded shaft. Suddenly, they hear a splash in the flooded mine, and venture into the water to investigate. All three, however, are then attacked and slain by an unseen assailant. Soon after, the bodies of the three men are recovered and examined. The doctor announces that they, too, were killed by a sharp object that simply sliced them apart.
In the small mining village of Kitamatsu, on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu, two miners have gone missing. The two men, Goro and Yoshi, had brawled earlier that day, and after they entered the mine to start their shift, the shaft had quickly flooded. Shigeru Kawamura (Kenji Sahara), a tunneling and safety engineer at the mine, heads below to investigate and makes a gruesome discovery: Yoshi's lacerated corpse. Above ground, a doctor examines Yoshi, and discovers the cause of death to be a series of deep gashes caused by an abnormally sharp object. Some of the miners and their families begin to discuss the possibility of the involvement of Goro, who is still unaccounted for, in the death. Shigeru is personally affected by this incident, since his fiancée Kiyo (Yumi Shirakawa) is also Goro's sister.
Two local miners and a policeman are stationed inside the mine, just before the waterline of the flooded shaft. Suddenly, they hear a splash in the flooded mine, and venture into the water to investigate. All three, however, are then attacked and slain by an unseen assailant. Soon after, the bodies of the three men are recovered and examined. The doctor announces that they, too, were killed by a sharp object that simply sliced them apart.
Later that night, after a small incident with the widow of one of the slain, Shigeru and Kiyo are suddenly attacked by an unknown creature, resembling a gigantic insect larva, at Kiyo's home. Kiyo and Shigeru manage to flee, and soon the police starts hunting the creature. It kills and drags off two officers before it escapes back into the mine. When the police and Shigeru reach the officers, they discover that their wounds match the wounds of the murdered.
Soon after, Shigeru and a group of the metro police and army head back into the mine to confront the insect monster and attempt to locate Goro, dead or alive. As they enter the deepest part of the mine shaft, they discover the butchered body of Goro laying on the floor of the mine. As they approach, the giant insect emerges and chases the men back up the mine shaft. Even worse, the thing seems impervious to any kind of gunfire. Taking action, Shigeru releases the mine cart, which rolls down the shaft and collides with the insect, crushing it. When the men venture back into the shaft to remove Goro's body, Shigeru is threatened by another giant insect. The soldiers fire at it with no effect; but an earthquake strikes and the tunnel begins to cave in, killing the insect and trapping Shigeru in the mine.
Soon after, Shigeru and a group of the metro police and army head back into the mine to confront the insect monster and attempt to locate Goro, dead or alive. As they enter the deepest part of the mine shaft, they discover the butchered body of Goro laying on the floor of the mine. As they approach, the giant insect emerges and chases the men back up the mine shaft. Even worse, the thing seems impervious to any kind of gunfire. Taking action, Shigeru releases the mine cart, which rolls down the shaft and collides with the insect, crushing it. When the men venture back into the shaft to remove Goro's body, Shigeru is threatened by another giant insect. The soldiers fire at it with no effect; but an earthquake strikes and the tunnel begins to cave in, killing the insect and trapping Shigeru in the mine.
The next day, the police investigate the recent happenings. Dr. Kashiwagi identifies the giant insect as a Meganulon, an ancient species of dragonfly larvae that had lived on the Earth millions of years earlier. Then an earthquake suddenly strikes the area, and rumors begin to circulate that Mt. Aso, the volcano that eclipses Kitamatsu, might be on the verge of an eruption. When the police arrive at the base of the volcano to investigate the damage caused by the earthquake, they discover Shigeru wandering around the epicenter, totally amnesic from a blow to his head. The doctors are not optimistic about his chances for recovery, but nevertheless do their best to try to help him any way that they can.
Several miles away, in Kyushu, an air base receives an alert from one of their jets. The pilot has observed an unidentified flying object performing impossible maneuvers at supersonic speeds. He is ordered to pursue the object at distance, but as he follows it, the object suddenly changes course and turns around, flying straight towards the jet and destroying it. Soon after, reports from all over the world come in about the UFO, and rumors of a secret military weapon test begin to circulate. In addition, a newly married couple disappears in Japan, as well as several head of cattle around Mt. Aso. When the authorities develop the film from the newly-weds' camera, they discover a photograph of what appears to be a gigantic wing. They match the photo with a drawing of a Pteranodon, an ancient reptile thought to be extinct millions of years earlier. Although the evidence seems to point to the Pteranodon as the culprit, the theory is dismissed as being too far-fetched.
Several miles away, in Kyushu, an air base receives an alert from one of their jets. The pilot has observed an unidentified flying object performing impossible maneuvers at supersonic speeds. He is ordered to pursue the object at distance, but as he follows it, the object suddenly changes course and turns around, flying straight towards the jet and destroying it. Soon after, reports from all over the world come in about the UFO, and rumors of a secret military weapon test begin to circulate. In addition, a newly married couple disappears in Japan, as well as several head of cattle around Mt. Aso. When the authorities develop the film from the newly-weds' camera, they discover a photograph of what appears to be a gigantic wing. They match the photo with a drawing of a Pteranodon, an ancient reptile thought to be extinct millions of years earlier. Although the evidence seems to point to the Pteranodon as the culprit, the theory is dismissed as being too far-fetched.
Meanwhile, Shigeru's treatment is progressing slowly, but no one, especially not Kiyo, is giving up. One day, as Shigeru sits silently in his hospital room, Kiyo shows him the eggs that her pet birds have lain. As one of the eggs hatches, a terrible memory returns to Shigeru: deep within the mine, Shigeru awoke after the cave-in and found to his horror that he was surrounded by hundreds of Meganulon. Shigeru also discovered what appeared to be a giant egg sitting right in the middle of the cave. Suddenly, the egg began to stir, then hatched. From out of the fractured shell emerged a gigantic, winged creature with a sharp beak and a head like a bird of prey. Shigeru watched in horror as the enormous hatchling bent over and began to eat the Meganulon. The monstrous insects that had terrorized the town and had killed his friends were now nothing more than a snack to this new creature. The shock of this memory incidentally helps in restoring his full memory.
Shigeru confirms that the creature he saw did indeed resemble a Pteranodon, and that it had eaten all of the Meganulon. He and a group of police and scientists once again descend into the mine and enter the cave where the egg had been. They are able to recover a fragment of the shell before a rock slide forces them to flee back to the surface. In the lab, Dr. Kashiwagi is able to determine the size of the egg and its age: 200 million years old. After amassing the evidence, Kashiwagi calls a meeting with members of the town, along with members of the Japanese Self-Defence Force, to communicate his findings. He tells the men that the UFO seen flying all across the world at supersonic speeds is a gigantic pterosaur he has dubbed Rodan. How Rodan could have resurfaced after millions of years is also a mystery, but Kashiwagi theorizes that nuclear bomb testing, which loosened the Earth's crust and opened cavities to long buried crevices and caves, might be the possible cause.
Shigeru confirms that the creature he saw did indeed resemble a Pteranodon, and that it had eaten all of the Meganulon. He and a group of police and scientists once again descend into the mine and enter the cave where the egg had been. They are able to recover a fragment of the shell before a rock slide forces them to flee back to the surface. In the lab, Dr. Kashiwagi is able to determine the size of the egg and its age: 200 million years old. After amassing the evidence, Kashiwagi calls a meeting with members of the town, along with members of the Japanese Self-Defence Force, to communicate his findings. He tells the men that the UFO seen flying all across the world at supersonic speeds is a gigantic pterosaur he has dubbed Rodan. How Rodan could have resurfaced after millions of years is also a mystery, but Kashiwagi theorizes that nuclear bomb testing, which loosened the Earth's crust and opened cavities to long buried crevices and caves, might be the possible cause.
Soon after, Rodan emerges from the ground near Mt. Aso. The creature takes flight and begins to head for Kyushu, with a squadron of the JASDF hot on his tail. They pursue Rodan over the city, and eventually succeed in forcing him into the river by injuring one of the beast's wings. The flying reptile soon emerges, but his flight speed has been cut by half. Rodan flies over to Fukuoka, where the sonic waves and windstorms from its wings lay waste to the entire city and the attacking JSDF. Suddenly the JSDF reports that another Rodan has been spotted heading towards the city, explaining the earlier spread-out sightings. The second Rodan now flies over and rips apart the buildings. After leveling the city and leaving the remaining buildings in flames, the two Rodans fly away.
The JSDF formulate a plan to attack the Rodans. After ascertaining their location at their old nest at the base of Mt. Aso, the military plans to shell the cave opening, and bury the Rodans alive. One resident objects to this plan, fearful it might trigger the volcano into an eruption. Kitamatsu would be destroyed by the lava and rock. The military commander agrees this might happen; but insists that is preferable to letting the Rodans escape. Just moments before the strike is to begin, Shigeru is joined by Kiyo, who stays with him, refusing to evacuate the doomed town.
The two leave the area and return to safety, and the military begins its attack. Soon the volcano begins to spew smoke and lava into the sky. One of the Rodans emerges, but is soon overcome by the fumes. As the second Rodan arrives on the scene, the first one loses altitude and finally falls into the stream of lava flowing down the side of the volcano. The second Rodan descends and also lands in the lava, joining its mate in death on the slopes of the erupting volcano.
The JSDF formulate a plan to attack the Rodans. After ascertaining their location at their old nest at the base of Mt. Aso, the military plans to shell the cave opening, and bury the Rodans alive. One resident objects to this plan, fearful it might trigger the volcano into an eruption. Kitamatsu would be destroyed by the lava and rock. The military commander agrees this might happen; but insists that is preferable to letting the Rodans escape. Just moments before the strike is to begin, Shigeru is joined by Kiyo, who stays with him, refusing to evacuate the doomed town.
The two leave the area and return to safety, and the military begins its attack. Soon the volcano begins to spew smoke and lava into the sky. One of the Rodans emerges, but is soon overcome by the fumes. As the second Rodan arrives on the scene, the first one loses altitude and finally falls into the stream of lava flowing down the side of the volcano. The second Rodan descends and also lands in the lava, joining its mate in death on the slopes of the erupting volcano.
Cast
- Kenji Sahara as Shigeru Kawamura, colliery engineer (as Kenji Sawara)
- Yumi Shirakawa as Kiyo, Shigeru's lover
- Akihiko Hirata as Professor Kyouichiro Kashiwagi (biology)
- Akio Kobori as Police Chief Nishimura
- Yasuko Nakata as Female Honeymooner
- Minosuke Yamada as Colliery Chief Osaki
- Yoshifumi Tajima as Izeki, reporter of Seibu Nippou
- Kiyoharu Onaka as Male Honeymooner, Sunagawa's friend (as Kiyoharu Ohnaka)
- Haruo Nakajima as Radon (Rodan in English release)
- Shôichi Hirose as F-86F pilot
- Ichirô Chiba as Chief of police station
- Mike Daneen as American Soldier Typing
- Tazue Ichimanji as Haru, Kiyo's neighbor
- Saburo Iketani as News Reader
- Saburô Kadowaki as Sunagawa's colleague
- Tateo Kawasaki as Tsunesan, miner
- Kanta Kisaragi as Suteyan, miner
Production
Writing
Veteran writer Ken Kuronuma, who wrote the original story for this film, was inspired by an incident in Kentucky in 1948, when Captain Thomas F. Mantell, a pilot for the Kentucky Air National Guard, died in a crash while allegedly pursuing a UFO.
Filming
While shooting the scene in which Rodan flies over the Saikai Bridge (connecting Saikai City and Sasebo City in Kyushu), the pulley from which Haruo Nakajima was suspended broke. He fell from a height of twenty-five feet, but the wings and the water, which was about one and a half feet deep, absorbed much of the impact.
Writing
Veteran writer Ken Kuronuma, who wrote the original story for this film, was inspired by an incident in Kentucky in 1948, when Captain Thomas F. Mantell, a pilot for the Kentucky Air National Guard, died in a crash while allegedly pursuing a UFO.
Filming
While shooting the scene in which Rodan flies over the Saikai Bridge (connecting Saikai City and Sasebo City in Kyushu), the pulley from which Haruo Nakajima was suspended broke. He fell from a height of twenty-five feet, but the wings and the water, which was about one and a half feet deep, absorbed much of the impact.
Dubbing
George Takei, better known as Lt. Hikaru Sulu in the original Star Trek series, was one of the many voice actors employed for this film. The only other Kaiju film for which he performed voice work was Godzilla Raids Again. The main narration provided by the character of Shigeru was voiced by actor Keye Luke with additional voices provided by veteran voice actor Paul Frees. Voiceover dubbing was done at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio in Culver City, CA. Each of the four voiceover actors dubbing the voiceovers performed 8 or 9 voices.
Creature design
Many promotional stills and posters for the film depicted a Rodan that looked radically different from the one in the actual movie. Rather than the appearance of a slightly larger, more upright version of the traditional pterosaur, this version bore more of a resemblance to the bird-like Azhdarchidae family. This film marks the only time in which Rodan is seen to emit a strange burst of concentrated gas from its mouth as a form of weapon. The inclusion of this seemingly tangential ability was most likely meant to answer the popularity of Godzilla's atomic breath.
George Takei, better known as Lt. Hikaru Sulu in the original Star Trek series, was one of the many voice actors employed for this film. The only other Kaiju film for which he performed voice work was Godzilla Raids Again. The main narration provided by the character of Shigeru was voiced by actor Keye Luke with additional voices provided by veteran voice actor Paul Frees. Voiceover dubbing was done at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio in Culver City, CA. Each of the four voiceover actors dubbing the voiceovers performed 8 or 9 voices.
Creature design
Many promotional stills and posters for the film depicted a Rodan that looked radically different from the one in the actual movie. Rather than the appearance of a slightly larger, more upright version of the traditional pterosaur, this version bore more of a resemblance to the bird-like Azhdarchidae family. This film marks the only time in which Rodan is seen to emit a strange burst of concentrated gas from its mouth as a form of weapon. The inclusion of this seemingly tangential ability was most likely meant to answer the popularity of Godzilla's atomic breath.
Release
Rodan was re-released theatrically in Japan on November 28, 1982 as part of Toho's 50th anniversary.
U.S. release
The King Brothers Productions 1957 theatrical release of Rodan was quite successful in its first run in the United States. It was the first Japanese movie to receive general release on the West Coast to make a strong showing at the box-office. It later received the biggest TV advertising campaign given to a film to that date on New York's NBC flagship station WRCA-TV, where a series of commercials running 10 to 60 seconds were shown for a week before the film's opening. Television promotion included a contest to copy Rodan's outline using a piece of paper held over the screen while the outline was shown on the screen for a brief time each day.
Home media
Classic Media
Rodan was re-released theatrically in Japan on November 28, 1982 as part of Toho's 50th anniversary.
U.S. release
The King Brothers Productions 1957 theatrical release of Rodan was quite successful in its first run in the United States. It was the first Japanese movie to receive general release on the West Coast to make a strong showing at the box-office. It later received the biggest TV advertising campaign given to a film to that date on New York's NBC flagship station WRCA-TV, where a series of commercials running 10 to 60 seconds were shown for a week before the film's opening. Television promotion included a contest to copy Rodan's outline using a piece of paper held over the screen while the outline was shown on the screen for a brief time each day.
Home media
Classic Media
- Released: September 9, 2008
- Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
- Language(s): Japanese (2.0 Mono), English (2.0 Mono)
- Subtitles: English
- Extras: Bringing Godzilla Down to Size (69 Minutes)
- Notes: Contains both Rodan and The War of the Gargantuas (2-disc set)
Reception
Box office
It grossed an estimated $450,000 to $500,000 during its opening weekend at 79 theaters in the New York City metropolitan area. Several theatrical circuits, including RKO, announced that Rodan broke the records for a science-fiction film.
Influence
The giant insects featured in this film, the Meganulon, would later go on to appear in the 2000 film Godzilla vs. Megaguirus.
In It by Stephen King, the boy Mike is haunted by the image of Rodan. Mike sees a giant bird (the clown Pennywise) in the ruins of a steel mill and thinks of Rodan.
Box office
It grossed an estimated $450,000 to $500,000 during its opening weekend at 79 theaters in the New York City metropolitan area. Several theatrical circuits, including RKO, announced that Rodan broke the records for a science-fiction film.
Influence
The giant insects featured in this film, the Meganulon, would later go on to appear in the 2000 film Godzilla vs. Megaguirus.
In It by Stephen King, the boy Mike is haunted by the image of Rodan. Mike sees a giant bird (the clown Pennywise) in the ruins of a steel mill and thinks of Rodan.
Changes to the U.S. version
- Some of Akira Ifukube's music was replaced with stock music.
- A prologue showing footage of American nuclear tests was added.
- Extensive narration by Shigeru was added throughout the film.
- The fight between Goro and another miner is shortened.
- A brief shot showing mine cars traveling up a mine shaft was taken out.
- A scene of miners names being called was cut short.
- The scene leading up to when Meganulon kills a cop and two miners is shortened.
- The scene where the Meganulon attacks the village is cut short. A brief shot showing a Meganulon walking through people's backyards was taken out for the American version. When Shigeru and the soldiers walk up the incline, it shows the setting through Shigeru's eyes. He looks up the incline, and then the camera moves to the left showing the mountain, and then sees the Meganulon. A shot of Meganulon escaping afterwards is also cut.
- The scene where Professor Kashiwagi analyzes a photo of the yet-unnamed monster's wing was cut short. Kashiwagi matches the wing in the photo to that of a picture of a Pteranodon, which he truncates to "Radon" to name the monster.
- The name "Radon" was anagrammed into "Rodan" for the English audience, so as not to confuse the fictitious monster with the actual atomic element radon.
- A brief scene showing doctors walking Shigeru into the hospital after he is recovered was taken out.
- The scene where the honeymooners are eaten is much shorter, with about 30 seconds of footage removed, including a shot of Rodan's shadow passing overhead.
- The American version makes the second Rodan appear more throughout the movie. In the original Japanese version, the second Rodan does not show up until late during the attack on Fukuoka. In the scene where Shigeru and the others see Rodan up close for the first time, the second one emerges immediately thereafter, with Shigeru saying, "It has a mate!" It is this second Rodan that then causes the Jeep to crash.
- A scene of fighter jets taking off was added.
- The scene where a helicopter investigates the Rodans' lair was re-arranged. In the Japanese version, the scene appears after the assault on Fukuoka by the Rodans and just before they are killed by the volcanic eruption caused by the JSDF. In the US version, the scene is shown shortly before Rodan first emerges from Mount Aso.
- The King Brothers changed the name of the city destroyed by Rodan from Fukuoka to Sasebo because the U.S.A. had a lot of diplomatic facilities there, though one of the places Rodan flies over before Fukuoka is attacked is called Sasebo station in the Japanese version.
- The scene of Rodan emerging from his volcanic lair was altered in the American version to make it look as if he was provoked to emerge by the air force. In the original version, he emerged without any sort of provocation.
