The Beast Unleashed in question is the unknown impact and power of the Atomic Bomb. It was on July 16th, 1945 that the United States detonated its first atomic bomb in a desert region near Alamogordo, New Mexico. This was a new weapon in the arsenal of US military forces. What destructive powers could be released by this furious weapon?
We get a partial answer to this conundrum in “Beast From 20,000 Fathoms” (1953). An atomic bomb is being tested in the Arctic Circle region. Its explosive power frees a frozen dinosaur embedded in ice. The creature is revived and finds an ocean route to New York City! There, havoc is naturally wrought as The Beast spreads death and destruction in its wake.
This movie is notable for allowing the talents of writer Ray Bradbury and stop motion animator Ray Harryhausen to share the screen.
Great Saturday afternoon fare!
This picture was made on a small budget and sports some Ray Harryhausen style stop motion animation effects. Pretty good effects at that. Sometimes the figures and models look out of scale with their background but the motion achieved is more than adequate. This is a good flick for a lazy Saturday afternoon: enough thrills to keep you occupied but nothing spectacular either. Kid finds blaster in the desert which allows him to blow things to smithereens. Cool! The unfortunate side effect of the weapon is that it turns the kid into a hideous green- hued monster. The alien owners of the weapon show up and reclaim it from the kid but not without a fight. I suppose it is a cautionary tale: don’t mess with what you don’t understand. An otherwise innocent youth not even in his prime is corrupted by the awesome force he uncovers and is corrupted absolutely. Sounds like too much TV, movies, and Internet usage.
A varied collection of unusual movie and music video clips.
