20 Million Miles to Earth gave no boost to the development of genre movies. Rewatched Apr 17, 2020. It’s time to look at a really old creature feature film. User Ratings Review Date April 4th, 2008 by High-Def Digest staff. Shame, this is a good movie. The creature is like nothing else ever before on screen with its lizard-like human head and human torso, and dinosaur like legs and tail. While 20 Million Miles to Earth may not the best film Harryhausen made, it is certainly representative of the maestro’s oeuvre. The only two survivors are a pilot (played by William Hopper) and an alien egg that soon hatches to reveal a tiny green half-reptile, half-human creature. 20 Million Miles to Earth Review By Matt Paprocki March 23, 2009 No Comments Ymir, a Venusian deposited on Earth in Italy as an American space probe crashes onto the surface, is disoriented on Earth. 20 Million Miles to Earth has great on-location in Rome travelography too! See it for that, and nothing else. Starring: William Hopper, Joan Taylor, Frank Puglia, John Zaremba, Thomas Browne Henry, Tito … Tim Burton Sits with Ray Harryhausen is a face-to-face meeting … comment. True, but the fact remains that the creature in this film is far more lifelike and believable than the human cast, and it's Harryhausen's creature that makes this film worthwhile. It resorts to bottom of the barrel tropes like animal violence and so the film quickly goes downhill. Please enter your email address and we will email you a new password. 20 Million Miles To Earth/Review From The Grindhouse Cinema Database < 20 Million Miles To Earth. A stand-out 50’s monster movie from the director of THE DEADLY MANTIS and THE SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD (amongst others), this nods to the crashed alien visitor of THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD, THE BLOB and THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT while also catering for the significant youth audience of these movies with … | DOWNLOAD OPTIONS download 1 file . 20 Million Miles to Earth gave no boost to the development of genre movies. The story naturally concentrates on capturing this creature before it destroys Italy. A purely grade B level science-fiction thriller with C level acting from William Hopper (Paul Drake on "Perry Mason") and grade A special-effects courtesy of Ray Harryhausen. Like Kong, the Ymir is taken from its own environment and placed in a world that is unjustly hostile to it. Or should I say, Ray Harryhausen's creature IS the film. Amazon.com. "It wasn't too hard," he joked, later saying he believed the performers were "competent." 82 mins. Eventually growing to enormous size, it threatens the city of Rome. Watching "20 Million Miles to Earth" as a child, it was monumentally sad when the creature fell from atop the ancient Roman structure and laid still amidst the broken stone. Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions. The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. | The first human expedition to Venus returns to Earth in a crash landing off the coast of Italy. from there. 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957) A showcase for the stop-motion talents of Ray Harryhausen (still alive this year of 2013, at age 92! Ray Harryhausen was the ultimate master of this technique, having trained under the likes of Willis O'Brian. It has a spaceship, a misunderstood alien, and romance. His work is still the inspiration for many of the special effects wizards today. The moment the film begins it draws the viewer into its story about a US mission to Venus that brings back a specimen of a creature that grows at an incredibly rapid rate in Earth's atmosphere. Sidney Poitier’s 7 Most Memorable Performances, All Harry Potter Movies Ranked Worst to Best by Tomatometer, Golden Tomato Awards: Best Movies & TV of 2020, 5 Things To Know About Cynthia Erivo’s Aretha Franklin in. All rights reserved. Don't have an account? Saw Hellboy there last night.) THE FLYING SAUCERS (1956). The narrator opens the film by proudly stating that man has advanced so far that he has journeyed 20 million miles away from Earth. I was eleven. Review by Mark Bourne Of all the Rampaging Monster B-movie potboilers from the 1950s, 20 Million Miles to Earth, showcasing the work of stop-motion animation innovator Ray Harryhausen, remains among the most fondly remembered.And rightly so. 20 Million Miles to Earth is pretty classic ’50s sci-fi. Soon 20-feet tall, the creature rampages through Rome before being destroyed as it seeks refuge in the Colosseum. Of course, nothing that was achieved in "20 Million Miles to Earth" was what you could call original. 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957) review. An American spaceship returns to Earth after a mission to Venus and crashes into the sea … It undoubtedly would give many of them nightmares. To slam Haryhausen's work for not looking like CGI graphics is like criticizing Rembrandt for creating pictures with a brush and paint instead of using a digital camera. Like "Frankenstein" and "King Kong," the creature seems likeable, while the humans who pursue him are the true villains. Review by Jim Dooley Patron. 20 Million Miles To Earth The first human expedition to Venus returns to Earth in a crash landing off the coast of Italy (in an ocean that is part of a set borrowed from MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY). Ray Harryhausen did a terrific job with his stop-motion animation, especially when we see the beast battle an elephant in the streets of Rome. Two fishermen and a young boy, Pepe, are nearby in their small fishing boat. Special-effects legend Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion talents and "Dynamation" (rear-projection) process are the highlights of the '50s-era creature feature 20 Million Miles to Earth. I guess the 20 million miles in the title refers to the distance to Venus. Incredible! Not only does this monster flick have amazing special effects by the master Ray Harryhausen, it also has an intelligent script and truly terrifying scenes, even by today's standards. Later, the fight to the death between the creature and the elephant is a marvel to see. Director: Nathan Juran. I rented "20 Million Miles from Earth" because it was one of the few Ray Harryhausen films I'd never seen. Overview - Special effects genius Ray Harryhausen (Jason and the Argonauts, Clash of the Titans)… The acting is decent, not as bad as some critics would argue. and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango. Blu-ray Review: 20 Million Miles to Earth / It Came from Beneath the Sea Last year’s death of Ray Harryhausen was a hard one to take for classic film fans. FAQ 20 Million Miles To Earth (1957) - Feature. Write A Review. It was made in Italy, because Ray had never been there, wanted to go, and had the studio foot the bill. Ray Harryhausen, the king of stop motion animation, presents a wonderfully realized creature from Venus in this film. Harryhausen's work is amazing and reason enough to seek it out. Two fishermen and a truly annoying little boy row out to it and the men rescue two of the crew. DVD REVIEW: 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH Tweet. It did, though, further the evolution of Harryhausen's skill and artistry, not to mention his presently exalted position as his films' auteur. Harryhausen learned from another master of F/X techniques, Willis H. O'Brien of King Kong fame. Sci-Fi rules. The creature was so believable it scared me into peeking from beneath a blanket. I wouldn't let the kiddies watch the scene between the alien creature and the mob in the barn. While NO romance movies ever have sci-fi or action. The result was 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957), a flick that faithfully subscribes to the major conventions that characterized the science fiction genre during the paranoid '50s. It stars William Hopper, Joan Taylor, Frank Puglia and a Ymir, a creation by stop-motion maestro Ray Harryhausen. The only survivor is Hopper and he's frightened that he may have lost … If it weren't for the stop-motion animation in this film, it would be simply awful. Jim Dooley’s review published on Letterboxd: Outside of his Cyclops, his Venusian Ymir is one of the most iconic of Ray Harryhausen’s fantasy creations. 20 Million Miles to Earth is written by Bob Williams and Christopher Knopf from an original treatment by Charlott Knight. If you watch the performance of the Ymir (the best in the movie! 20 Million Miles to Earth is a unique, fun film. An adequately rendered spaceship is seen, which then crashes in the ocean. We're not talking about fashion here, children, we're talking about art. in Reviews. Film, Science fiction. Hang in there long enough and you’ll be treated to one of the better giant-monster-on-the-loose films of all time, brought to life by legendary FX master Ray Harryhausen. 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH, directed by Nathan Juran (THE DEADLY MANTIS, ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN) and written by Christopher Knopf and Robert Creighton Williams (who were both used to writing only westerns) opens with some pointless narration about the distances man has traveled into space and who knows what strange things lurk, etc.A much better opening occurs moments later … Reviewed by Uncle Creepy. Save the critical eye for the more cynical, overproduced films of today. 20 Million Miles to Earth is pretty classic ’50s sci-fi. The sulphur- eating, reptilian-like Venusian creature, "the Ymir's" titanic struggle with an elephant in the streets of Rome, preceding the climatic confrontation in the Colosseum with mankind, remains one of the greatest one-to-one creature battles of all time. Briskly paced with about as seamless as I've ever seen stop motion done, 20 Million Miles to Earth was wildly inventive with how they utilized the spectacular effects in conjunction with innovative filming techniques. It is because of these similarities that I consider the two films companion pieces. Like all of Harryhausen's canon, "20 Million Miles to Earth" is worth watching, but it's unfortunate that the same imagination and effort that went into the special effects were not applied to the rest of the film (but then again, who really cares about the frame when the picture is a masterpiece). Compared to the creature, the human habitants here don't have a chance to emote and are only what one might charitably call "adequate" to the task. They get right to it and stay on track for almost all of the 82 minutes. I will definitely find that DVD - and thanks to someone for noting the Full screen version is best, the "Wide-screen" is actually cropped top and bottom. Leonard Maltin calls the film one of the best monster-on-the- loose movies ever made and I certainly agree. ), you can really see that it's essentially a non-violent creature that's highly confused and just looking for it's home (and some food!). Definitely recommended for the 1950s sci-fi connoisseur. Posted on May 22, 2018 by dreager1. One of the reasons the film takes place in Italy is that Ray always wanted to vacation there but could never afford to go on his own. Blu-ray Review: 20 Million Miles to Earth / It Came from Beneath the Sea Last year’s death of Ray Harryhausen was a hard one to take for classic film fans. 20 Million Miles To Earth. Director: Nathan Juran Released: 1957 Rating: ... 20 Million Miles to Earth Tim Burton sits down... See All Videos. Excellent example of the work of Ray Harryhausen. 20 Million Miles to Earth (a.k.a.The Beast from Space) is a 1957 American horror science fiction monster film directed by Nathan H. Juran and starring William Hopper, Joan Taylor, and Frank Puglia.It was produced by Charles H. Schneer's Morningside Productions for Columbia Pictures.The screenplay was written by Bob Williams and Christopher Knopf from an original treatment by Charlott Knight. 20 Million Miles to Earth. By Christopher … According to Norse mythology, "Ymir" is one of the primary creation gods. Nathan Juran's film differs from most sci-fi monster movies of the period in that the monster shows up early and often. This movie is a prime example of the work of one of the masters of stop-motion animation, a form of art that is rapidly being supplanted by CGI. 20 Million Miles to Earth (DVD) by Steve Barton July 27, 2007, 5:02 am 1k Views. Remembering 20 Million Miles to Earth is the making-of feature, running near a half hour. A bunch of Italian fisherman are minding their own business when a silver rocket comes flashing out of the sky and hits the water, a large portion still sticking out of the surface. Sony have released a special double disc DVD edition of 20 Million Miles to Earth, a 1957 low-budget sci-fi "epic" that has only one claim to fame - but it is an impressive one.The film represented one of Ray Harryhausen's early successes in pioneering his distinctive work in stop motion animation. There's nothing that master animator Ray Harryhausen likes more than going on a wrecking spree. It stars William Hopper, Joan Taylor, Frank Puglia and a Ymir, a creation by stop-motion maestro Ray Harryhausen. download 1 file . A secret space flight to Venus leads, of course, to disaster when the specimen Hopper brings back to Earth grows into an impressive and surprisingly sympathetic creature. Now I want a "Texas hat!" What makes it worth watching is the character of the Ymir, the creature from Venus. | ITEM TILE download. Nifty effects and the usual 1950s sci-fi acting. 20 Million Miles to Earth is written by Bob Williams and Christopher Knopf from an original treatment by Charlott Knight. 20 Million Miles to Earth Review. Good for you, Ray! 20 Million Miles to Earth starts as an American spaceship crashes into the sea near Sicilly after the first manned flight to Venus, local fishermen rescue two survivors Col. Robert Calder (William Hopper) & Dr. Sharman (Arthur Space) who are both taken to hospital as the spaceship sinks to the bottom of the sea. 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