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It Came From Beneath the Sea (DVD, 2003)
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- Buy It NowIt Came From Beneath the Sea (OOP DVD) Ray Harryhausen
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If you love 1950s B&W Sci Fi then add this to your collection. MST3K fans will recognize Faith Domergue from "This Island Earth". She plays a similar character in this story. This film is a good example of the stop motion special effects developed by Ron Harryhausen. The disk I purchased included a review of his work.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
It Came From Beneath The Sea marked the beginning of the historic partnership between Special Effects Master Ray Harryhausen and Producer Charles Schneer. It is a pedestrian story about a giant RADIOACTIVE octopus that threatens everything alive in the Pacific. It ultimately is lead out of the depths to be destroyed by the same atomic submarine that first encountered it. But not before IT destroyed the Golden Gate Bridge along with other spectacular thrills that only Ray Harryhausen could deliver at that time. The film itself is hurt to some degree with lack luster direction,not uncommon then,or now. Later films like 20 Million Miles to Earth and 7th Voyage Of Sinbad showed how much better Harryhausens work looks with solid direction. Nathan Juran would helm the cast and pacing,setting the stage with the suspence or dread nesesary to create the amazement the audience would soon recieve. But the greatest single flaw with this DVD has nothing to do with its content. The movie is what it is and those of us who love B Sci Fi Movies will always love this movie. All the extras,including the interview with Harryhausen himself, make this a must have for the die hard collecters. But sadly Columbia mutilated the presentation of this film by "Matting" the film to "restore" its original theatrical presentation.This is a blatant marketting lie. The 35mm frame unchanged by any kind of widescreen augmentation is roughly the same rectangular shape as a standerd TV screen. There was no Anamorphic wide screen used on any of Harryhausen's films exept First Men In The Moon. To present these films properly and honestly they should all be marketed with the choice of "widescreen" or "standard" format on every disc.We all know there is enough room on the thing for the data.That way the folks who want all their movies to fill their screens can happily do so. But to do this is a tragic mistake. The heart of Harryhausen's vision was always to put his impossible creations INSIDE the reality of the rest each scene. One of the most subtle ways he accomplished this was to create the illusion that the monsters feet are in contact with the same surface of soil, sand, or stone that the human cast members are standing on. Otherwise it can very easily look like the old cheep way of putting actors in front of a rear screen as was all too often done in that time period in all kinds of movies. The point being made here sounds picky.In fact the flaw is quite profound.To see a Harryhausen movie the way it was seen in the theaters and drive ins of the 50s and 60s is to see it in STANDARD Format so that the top and bottom of the frame can be seen. Those dust puffs under the monsters feet and empty spaces over their heads where there are no wires add a great deal to the viewers experience. In fact, "Matting" chops over twenty percent off the top and bottom of the picture.The total information loss is almost as great as cropping off the ends of wide screen films and almost as dammaging. Any of these films that are offered only in wide screen are better viewed in their VHS versions. Compare the two viewings picking any of the special effects scenes and you will see what I mean quite clearly. Don't believe me. Go rent this film or 7th Voyage of Sinbad in both formats. You cannot help but see for yourself. We watch Harryhausen films to SEE the special effects. Not to see them spoiled.Read full review
I hadn't seen this movie since I was a kid. To us, movies with Ray Harryhausen's special effects were very realistic and frightening. He gave a lot of 50's and 60's kids some whopping nightmares! So, other than for the memories this movie will conger up for us baby boomers, there really isn't much to see here. It's not the fault of the actors. The script drags and drags. I will say that its was rather progressive for these movies to have lady scientists, but I'm sure that's so they have a love interest for those quiet moments when the monster is taking a break!
This is a really good SIFI movie, instead of Tokyo being attacked it's San Francisco. This movie was done by the greatest stop animation artists of all time, Ray Harryhausen. He has brought more figures to life. Must see movie.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Good sci-fi movie if one likes this kind
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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