Le monstre vient de la mer

1950s sci-fi monster movie about a giant octopus attacking ships and submarines. The Navy doesn't like it one bit. Slow-going with the monster octopus not fully showing up until three-quarters into the picture. Far too much focus in the first half on the nauseating romantic drama involving Kenneth Tobey's sub commander and scientists Faith Domergue and Donald Curtis. There is some fun to be had with the clichéd characters and some of their corny lines ("When you're driving that atomic submarine of yours, do you have time for romance?"). All of the octopus scenes are fun and the last quarter of the movie is the most interesting, due to the stop-motion effects from the legendary Ray Harryhausen. I normally love movies like this and would rate it higher, but it's just so talky and the romance makes me want to puke.

This was a pretty decent effort by the master of stop motion animation, Ray Harryhausen. The scenes with the giant octopus helped to add a lot of thrills to this film. The only negative aspect to are the scenes without the monster. There is basically no human chemistry between the human characters and it probably would have made the film a lot better. Also, Faith Domergue's character of Professor Joyce was hard to figure out. At first it seems as if her character wants to be taken seriously, but as the film goes on she seems to act as the typical pretty face that screams whenever danger approaches. However, the real star of the film is the monster, who was probably one of Harryhausen's finest creations.

Also, one of the more interesting things about this film was the fact that they mentioned that the monster first appeared off the coast of Japan. Of course, this film was released about a year after another monster appeared off the coast of Japan, Gojira (aka. Godzilla).

Despite all of its flaws, this was still a good effort by the master.

Ray Harryhausen wonderfully creates a giant octopus ravaging the Pacific Coast and then rooting itself in San Francisco Bay. The octopus is quite stunning and a marvel of stop-motion animation. Viewers are treated to it actually climbing on the Golden Gate Bridge(a model of course), squeezing a submarine, literally bringing a ship down to the depths, and throwing tentacles all over pedestrians in the San Francisco harbour. My only regret is that this is all too infrequent and most of it arriving at the end of the film. The rest of the story centers around Kenneth Tobey, Faith Domerge and Donald Curtis trying to discover what it is that held Tobey's submarine. There is also a weird love triangle among the three as well which enhances the story I believe. All in all this is a fine piece of classic science fiction entertainment.

Having already starred in 'The Thing from Another World' (1951) and 'The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms' (1953), Kenneth Tobey completed a memorable treble of classic Sci-Fi films with this offering.

Make no mistake, 'It Came from Beneath the Sea' is one of the classics of the genre and as such is above the mundane criticism about poor script, narrative, performances etc. We all know that these monster-flicks from the 50's and 60's had their shortcomings, but they were made to a formula for a target audience and in this respect there is little to fault and much to commend.

Here we have a giant octopus, disturbed from it's Pacific lair by atomic testing, heading for San Francisco in a foul mood. The Harryhausen effects are great, the narrative follows a course of some scientific logic and Faith Domergue, if a little too old, looks good enough in her tight blouse.

Director Robert Gordon did little else of note which is surprising - he did a good enough job here and whilst not up to the standard of '20 Million Miles to Earth' (1957), 'It Came from Beneath the Sea' is still superior for its type.

BEST SCENE - no contest; the octopus trashing the Golden Gate Bridge.

I've been a fan of Ray Harryhausen since I was old enough to appreciate movies, so I bought the DVD of "It Came From Beneath the Sea" even though I hadn't seen the film in many years. Having rewatched it, I have to admit that it's perhaps the least of his film accomplishments.

Once again, the atomic bomb provides the justification for another giant monster, though, despite what has been inaccurately reported elsewhere, the octopus in the film has not been mutated by radiation. It's simply a very large example of its kind that was living at the bottom of a deep ocean trench. When atomic testing made it radioactive, it couldn't effectively hunt because other sea creatures could somehow sense its presence. Therefore, it came to the surface in search of food.

One of the major problems with this film is that while an octopus makes a decent giant monster, it completely lacks the personality of some of Harryhausen's other creatures. Furthermore, it is confined to the sea--and, by extension, the shoreline--limiting its ability to go on a proper rampage.

Even at 79 minutes, the film moves very slowly until the climax. The opening sequence, in which the beast attacks a submarine captained by Kenneth Tobey's character, goes on for several very long minutes of inconsequential naval dialogue.

The lethargic pacing extends to the plot as well. The team of scientists assigned to determine what attacked the sub take a full two weeks to identify it as an octopus.

An odd love triangle of sorts pads the running time. Faith Domergue--who is presented as a modern feminist despite her tendency to scream on cue--seems just as interested in Tobey's navy man as she does in her fellow scientist. The two men acknowledge the triangle, but neither seems at all competitive about it.

Domergue is one of the best things about the film. She's credible as both scientist and sweater gal, and is a good example of the increasing role of female characters in science-fiction films of the period.

Once the octopus attacks in earnest, things pick up quite a bit, and Harryhausen's effects--including stop-motion-animated building demolition--are quite effective. While this is definitely a lesser effort for him, he still shows what he can do with a small budget and a relatively uninteresting monster.