Private Sale on Now
Save on select products
and categories. Subscribe to our
newsletter to be notified of
private sales & discounts.  |  | |  | |  | | | It Came from Beneath the Sea | | SKU:
| | Availability:
Usually ships in 1-2 business days | | Only 1 left in stock, order soon! | | | Two years after unleashing The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms upon New York City, master special-effects creator Ray Harryhausen turned loose a giant (albeit six-armed) octopus on San Francisco, and the result is another enjoyable atom-age adventure that should please fans of vintage science fiction. Kenneth Tobey, who battled The Thing (From Another World) in 1951, stars as a Navy captain who pursues a monstrous octopoid (sextapoid?) after it attacks his atomic sub. After it wreaks havoc with shipping lanes, he tracks the creature to San Francisco for a final showdown. Scripting by George Worthing Yates (Them!) and Hal Smith and direction by Robert Gordon are perfunctory at best, which gives the always-reliable Tobey and co-star Faith Domergue little to do, but this is Harryhausen's show, and his monster, though budgetarily restrained, is still impressive. Younger audiences weaned on digital FX may find this creaky, but nostalgic viewers will enjoy its simple thrills. --Paul Gaita | | | |
List Price:
| $19.94 | |
Our Price:
| $7.69 | |
You Save:
| $12.25 (61%)
|
| | |
|
| | Product Details | | Actors: | Kenneth Tobey, Faith Domergue, Donald Curtis, Ian Keith, Dean Maddox Jr. | | Director: | Robert Gordon | | Format: | Anamorphic, Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC | | Language: | English | | Subtitle: | Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai | | Number of Discs: | 1 | | Studio: | Sony Pictures | | Run Time: | 78 minutes | | DVD Release Date: | May 06, 2003 | | Average Customer Rating: |  based on 22 reviews |
| |
| | Customer Reviews | Average Customer Review:
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
Neat vintage creature movie Jan 03, 2008
Atomic submarine commander Pete Matthews - 50's monster movie veteran Kenneth Tobey-runs into something big on the ocean depths while on maneuvers in the Pacific and two scientists are called in to investigate .They are John Carter,and Lesley Joyce (Faith Domergue).They soon discover the problem -a giant octopus is on its way to San Francisco and it is looking for something to eat.As its normal food supply has fled before its advance it needs something bigger to swallow and the human race -especially Californians -just got elected.It attacks fishing boats and eventually San Francisco docks and the Golden Gate Bridge .
This is a good little movie .Refreshingly the blame for events is not laid directly at the feet of nuclear fallout -this did not create the monster which already existed It merely reawakened it from its dormant state .Ray Harryhausen in his econd credit does sterling work on the creature despite its having only 6 tentacles (a Sexapus !),the result of budgetary restrictions .The acting is good by the standard of such movies and if the love interest between Tobey and Domergue is a little sappy its only a minor problem
Among the better science fiction /monster movies of its time with a lot of lively action
8 arms to hold you Sep 10, 2007
One of Ray Harryhausens lesser efforts is still better than most others masterpieces. Again following the slow build up of King Kong & the beast from 20,000 fathoms, this wonderful bit of fun then runs away to a frantic climax. Strange how you don't feel sorry for the giant octopus! The great kenneth Tobey puts in his usual believable performance, and Faith Domergue is, for a change, both beautiful & appealing.
 Masterful special effects in a plodding film Jul 25, 2007
"It Came From Beneath the Sea" is one of the iconic films of the golden age of sci-fi, and it enjoys this honor thanks almost entirely to Ray Harryhausen's glorious special effects. I'm sure lots of people have heard the story (possibly apocryphal) about how representatives of the city of San Francisco were reluctant to allow filming on the Golden Gate Bridge after seeing Harryhausen's test footage for the octopus- it looked so good that they couldn't believe it was just a model.
Alas, the rest of the film just doesn't match up with the wonderful effects. The plot plods along at a snail's pace and none of the characters are particularly appealing or memorable. While not unwatchable by any means, it isn't nearly as fun as some of the other films of the day, such Harryhausen's other sci-fi masterpiece "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms". This movie deserves a place in the collection of any sci-fi or giant monster fan, but, special effects aside, it's far from the best of the era.
8 of 8 found the following review helpful:
 SO IT ONLY HAD SIX TENTACLES IT IS STILL A CLASSIC! Mar 08, 2007
If Ray Harryhausen had the buget they have for FX today,who knows what he would have been able to do! The story from what I've read was that the producers of the movie didn't have enough funds to make a 8 armed Octopus. You would never really know this unless told,as the Master Harryhausen was very clever in hiding the beast's missing tentacles. One of my favorites as a kid and it still holds up. The DVD transfer is good with some very cool extras.
Uh Oh! It's a Giant. . .Sixtopus? Feb 05, 2007
Ray Harryhausen is back again in this nifty and fun Fifties monster movie. Okay, so Columbia Pictures kept slashing the budget until the only way Ray could do the beast justice was to animate SIX arms (take a look at JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS' Hydra sequence and that'll give you a good idea of how much more time, and in Hollywood that means how much more money, it would have taken to keep EIGHT arms constantly moving and in character!) Well, whether there are six or eight arms, this big ol' beastie still manages to wreak havoc on San Fransisco and the Golden Gate Bridge (classic sequence!).
The great Kenneth Tobey is in the lead, Faith Domergue and Donald Curtis bring up the rear for the main cast, cuz ya gotta have some story to keep everyone still until the Sixtopus arrives. They all handle the lines well, keeping this admittedly preposterous tale anchored on terra firma.
And the DVD has some keen bonuses, too! THIS IS DYNAMATION is a promo film made to hype THE SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD (and if you haven't, you know you gotta see this one, too!); THE HARRYHAUSEN CHRONICLES is a loving overview of the great man's career, narrated by Leonard Nimoy. There are also three trailers for Harryhausen films, and one for CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND.
The Grand Master of stop-motion animation does it again! Get yourself some popcorn and a big soft drink and check out (ooooh! scary!) IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA! BIG fun!
| |
| |
| |  | |  |
|
| You may also like ... |
