Plot: What’s it about?
An atomic powered submarine heads back to the United States after a tour in the Pacific, but the action isn’t about to slow down. The sub is a jewel of the Navy’s fleet, a creation that is cutting edge and built to withstand anything in its path. When sonar picks up a huge, unknown contact, the crew moves to take evasive action, but even the submarine’s powerful engines are unable to avoid whatever lurks in the depths. Soon enough, the ship is held motionless and this stuns the crew, since the craft has so much power inside its atomic engines. The submarine is able to escape the clutches of its captor and afterwards, a team of divers is dispatched to take damage control. The divers discover a massive piece of pink flesh wedged in a crevice, which sparks all kinds of concerns over what the crew encountered. The pink material is delivered to Dr. John Carter (Donald Curtis) and Dr. Lesley Joyce (Faith Domergue), two of the most respected individuals in their field, which happens to be marine biology. As it turns out, the pink stuff is octopus flesh and it has an immense amount of radiation. The scientists surmise that recent atomic weapons tests in the Pacific have disturbed a species of giant octopus and the radiation exposure has made feeding more difficult, as its prey can sense when it is nearby. As the massive octopus heads toward San Francisco, can anyone stop it from demolishing all in its path?
If you ask me, movies about massive, mad octopus attacks are too rare and as such, I am pleased to have It Came from Beneath the Sea on DVD. This is a typical 1950s B movie, with wooden performances, predictable dialogue, and of course, tons of nonsense talk with big science words tossed in for realism. The draw in this picture is the special effects, which were created by visual effects legend Ray Harryhausen, so you know its a fun time once the octopus shows up and starts his reign of terror. The rest of the elements serve as filler however, so the content between giant octopus scenes can be on the dull side. But I liked all the science nonsense, as I happen to enjoy the old 50s sci/fi pictures. So if you’re a fan of sci/fi B movies anyway, you’ll have fun with this one, even when the humans are the focus. If you just want to see the special effects however, you might be bored with some stretches of It Came from Beneath the Sea, as it grinds at times and seems rushed in terms of creation. The octopus madness is wild and fun however, well worth the time spent listening to bad dialogue and ham handed performances. Columbia’s disc looks awesome and has the usual Harryhausen supplements, so it is a worthwhile purchase. So for fans of 50s B movies or Harryhausen’s work, this one is more than recommended.
The special effects work of Ray Harryhausen has dazzled audiences for decades, with his unique brand of stop-motion animation. These days, we have realistic special effects in every movie, thanks to advances in computer graphics and such. So we’re not impressed too often, since every flick seems to have some kind of visual effects. But some of the computer generated effects come off as ineffective, which can pull the viewer out of the film’s world and in the process, lessen the entire movie experience. With Harryhausen’s special effects however, we can see a man whose work was so far ahead of the curve, his effects stunned audiences. Yes, the process seems simple, but it is a tedious one and without the proper craftsman, the stop-motion process lacks life and true presence. You know Harryhausen’s work when you see it, because his characters have life and personality, a rare thing in special effects. Other films worked on by Harryhausen include The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, Earth vs. The Flying Saucers, Clash of the Titans, First Men in the Moon, and 20 Million Miles to Earth. The cast here includes Kenneth Tobey (Walking Tall, Strange Invaders), Faith Domergue (The House of Seven Corpses, This Island Earth), and Donald Curtis (Spellbound, Purple Death from Outer Space).
Video: How does it look?
It Came from Beneath the Sea is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. This is a terrific visual presentation, a much better effort than expected. As this movie was made in 1955 on a very low budget, I expected the materials to be in poor condition, but that isn’t the case. Instead, the print looks quite clean and shows minimal signs of debris, grain, and other worries. A few scenes have increased amounts of debris, but most sequences look excellent. The black & white visuals have a crisp and refined texture, which is great news for a movie of this age and nature, since most of its kind look quite worn. I found contrast to be well balanced at times too, so this is simply a wonderful presentation from Columbia.
Audio: How does it sound?
As expected, the included mono option is by no means memorable, but it is solid and handles the material well enough. Although time has worn the materials somewhat, I found hiss to be minimal and no real harsh moments arise, which is good news. The dialogue is clean and never hard to understand, while the sound effects are clear and sound terrific here. I do think the music is a little confined at times, but this is mono, so we can’t expect too much. This disc also includes subtitles in English, French, Portuguese, Chinese, and Thai.
Supplements: What are the extras?
As with all of Columbia’s Harryhausen releases, this disc includes the excellent Harryhausen Chronicles documentary and the fun This is Dynamation featurette. I would have liked some new supplements here, but you can’t win them all, I suppose. This disc also includes the film’s theatrical trailer, which is a fun watch.
