The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms

1953
Approved
1h 20m

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

9.1K

YOUR RATING

Play trailer2:34

1 Video

99+ Photos

Kaiju Monster Horror Supernatural Horror Horror Sci-Fi

A ferocious dinosaur awakened by an Arctic atomic test terrorizes the North Atlantic and, ultimately, New York City.A ferocious dinosaur awakened by an Arctic atomic test terrorizes the North Atlantic and, ultimately, New York City.A ferocious dinosaur awakened by an Arctic atomic test terrorizes the North Atlantic and, ultimately, New York City.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

9.1K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 2 nominations total

Trivia
This was said to have been one of the inspirations for Tomoyuki Tanaka to go ahead and film Godzilla (1954).

Goofs
Nesbitt, trying to persuade Prof. Elson to consider his story, says that Galileo claimed the world is round. That was accepted in Galileo's time. His claim was that the earth moves around the sun.

Quotes
Prof. Thurgood Elson: [in the diving bell, to view the monster] This is such a strange feeling, I feel as though I'm leaving a world of untold tomorrows for a world of countless yesterdays.

Alternate versions
The original 1953 version cuts the shot where the cop is swallowed whole. This shot is restored in the video version of the film.

Connections
Edited from Samarang (1933)

Soundtracks
Don't Take Your Love From Me
(uncredited)
Written by Henry Nemo

User reviews134

Review

Featured review

6/10

Decent and Historically Important

A ferocious dinosaur awakened by an Arctic atomic test terrorizes the North Atlantic and, ultimately, New York City.

When producers Dietz and Chester were negotiating with Bradbury to rewrite their screenplay, he reminded them that both works shared a similar theme of a prehistoric sea monster and a lighthouse being destroyed. The producers, who wished to share Bradbury's reputation and popularity, promptly bought the rights to his story and changed the film's title.

The film is worth watching because of the involvement of Bradbury and Ray Harryhausen, as well as having a supporting role from Lee Van Cleef. It may not be amazing, but the effects are rather good and it is a piece of 1950s science cheese that can be enjoyed if you just suspend disbelief for an hour.

Most interesting is the alleged influence this movie had on "Godzilla". This film is semi-forgotten, or at least not widely seen. But it had a dinosaur rise following an atomic blast and then destroy a city, trampling the army and electricity in its path. Sounds like Godzilla! And indeed, this was a primary influence on the Japanese monster film, which has since become one of the most culturally important films in horror / monster history. So maybe "Beast" needs to be respected just a little bit more.