Customer Reviews

20 Million Miles to Earth

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

There is a handful of horror/big bug movies from the 50s that the astute viewer can usually spot right away. A large and dangerous creature is either brought to earth from outer space or is roused from a long state of suspended animation to wreak havoc on a densely populated city. Army units are trucked in to battle the creature and soldiers carrying M1 rifles leap out to face a monster that is given face and form by the master of slow motion animatronics, Ray Harryhausen. In 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH, the obvious dating of the film does not detract from the audience's enjoyment of a creature that curiously enough brings in a number of cinematic subtexts. The first is the punishment that humanity invariably incurs when it dares to Learn Things Man Was Not Meant To Uncover. In this case, a seventeen crewman rocket ship returns from Venus to crash into the sea off Sicily. A tiny reptile/human hybrid survives the crash only to grow every day to outsized proportions. The havoc the reptile dumps on Rome is a not so subtle reminder of the dangers that Prometheus faced when he too tried to steal fire and thunder from the gods. A second subtext is the constant clashing between scientists who wish to study a dangerous creature and the military who wish to kill it for the same reason. Remember in THE THING when scientist Robert Cornthwaite dashed up to the marauding plantman to shout, 'You are wiser than we. They (pointing to the miliary types) wish to kill you.' In 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH, director Nathan Juran tries a clever reverse by having a US Army colonel played by William Hopper take on the politically myopic scientist role who begs the Italian mayor to spare the creature in the name of science. Then finally there is the eternal Hollywood custom of subordinating the educated and lovely female scientist (Joan Taylor) to the two-fisted uniformed manly male (Hopper) so that a romance blossoms even as the creature romps in their very midst.

I had not seen this movie for nearly twenty years until I bought it on VC, and I was astonished at how well I remembered the plot. The special effects by Ray Harryhausen are still second to none. In fact, Harryhausen's genius brought in a final subtext. His ability to make the creature bounce and move gave it a personality that I immediately connected to King Kong. Both were creatures that ruled their respective home planets. Both were neither evil nor amoral. They simply acted in accordance to a nature that humanity refused to acknowledge. And both sought higher ground at the end with each trumpeting out a final roar of defiance before overwhelming military might. The emotions that well up in the one's heart as he sees what happens when strong and independent animals clash against man and his infinitely confusing artificial laws leave one with the unsettling notion that perhaps there really are Things Man Is Not Supposed to Know. 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH says this as well as any film can.

My review is aimed primarily at viewers who have not seen this film and who are serious Harryhausen fans ( I mean viewers who realize that Harryhausen is a genuine artist and not just a Hollywood entertainer) and who are willing to make the effort to deepen their understanding and appreciation of his work.
Let me begin by noting that 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH has, unfortunately, some of those characteristics that make so many 50's sci-fi/monster films very stimulating and very frustrating at once: it wastes so much precious time on all that typical tiresome tripe instead of feeding and building those essential sparks that alone make it worthwhile into the real and gratifying fire it could be. By the time it gets around to what matters the film is basically over.
This is one of those films.
BUT, BUT, dear reader, I am not contradicting myself in saying that this is one of Harryhausen's really important films because in spite of the mediocre work that other people bring to it, this is the film in which Harryhausen's genius fully breaks through into clear visibility. It is with the creation of the 'Ymir', the alien creature that is the CENTRAL CHARACTER of this film, that we first fully see Harryhausen's essential gift and vision. The Ymir is one of Harryhausen's finest and most sensitive creations. And ironically it is because of the mediocrity of the rest of this film that one can get a particularly focused look at the creature: It is like an eruption of deep, intense color and form against a bland gray background that is haunting and unforgettable. Don't buy this film because it is a great genre film, it isn't. Buy it because it is a fabulous introduction to the genius of Ray Harryhausen. Don't buy it for what it should have been: a classic of its type. Buy it for what it is: an unexpected little miracle in the midst of banality.
I can only laugh when people refer to Harryhausen's creations as 'dated'. The Ymir is alive, is en-souled, as no computer generated creature ever has been or probably ever will be.
Long live Ray Harryhausen!

Do you like tack "B" Sci fi? If so ... this is for you. It's fun! A Venusian blob of glue becomes a type of Godzilla that grows and grows and grows. The critter is state of the art for the time as Ray Hausenhower (sp?) created him and he's the best before computers took over. Think of Clash of the Titans and Sinbad. The story is simple but well written. The Sicilian scenery is mostly beach but the people are well-casted and are probably Sicilian. The inevitable bumbling professor-type and the always presents screaming female are perfect in their roles. This movie is a great way to spend a rainy afternoon and don't forget the popcorn.

This is the type of film I love. Good story,good effects and a GREAT monster THE YMIR to boot. This is what hollywood needs to do is go back look at films like this and realize that its substance to a movie not CGI effects that tell and make a story. Im 24 and have a old school style when it comes to sci-fi/horror which I TRULY LOVE. If you are a monster fan or a sci-fi/horror movie collector this is a must see and have movie either for the first time or for your movie collection. To me this is one of Harryhausens best creature designs and the creature himself has substance that makes you want to root for him. For the sci-fi lover in you rent this or buy this but whatever you do see this masterpiece from the golden-age of science fiction. Bring back the old school!

OF COURSE the monster is the star of this HARRYHAUSEN puppetfest! Even on video, my girls S H R I E K E D and freaked in the barn scene. This was originally released on a double bill; how well I remember enduring "The Twenty Seventh Day" to get to the premier space monster amokflik of the fifties. (And whatever happened to the '27th'?) This movie MUST be seen on the biggest set you can find - preferably outside on the patio on a moonless night!

This movie is a classic that belongs in every horror/scifi collection. This movie ranks up there with Jurassic Park and Alien for its thrills and special effects.The fight scene with the elephant is a classic.

Ray Harryhausen created the best Alien creature of it's time with the Ymir! And unlike many sci-fi films of the fifties where you only see the monsters really good in the last ten minutes of the movie, the Ymir is actually as much the star in this film as King Kong was in that old classic. Speaking of King Kong, the ending of this one seems familiar eh? Never the less, I enjoyed this movie as a child, and I never get tired of seeing it over and over again. 8^D

A boy (Bart Bradley) on the beach finds a canister form a wayward spaceship that crashed in the sea. Hence the title "20 Million Miles to Earth" It yields a cute little creature that just loves to eat sulfur. He just wants to be friends and is intrigued with his environment. As with all innocent space creatures just as he is beginning to trust us, he is enslaved abused and thoroughly disenchanted. This is just an enjoyable creature movie with some people interaction and a question of what you do with a misplaced Ymir.

As you have guessed this movie is packed with Ray Harryhausen's stop motion. See more of Ray's work in "Clash of the Titans" notice how that there titan from the sea looks like the Ymir.

See William Hopper tackle something a bit bigger in "The Deadly Mantis" (1957)

This typical nice 50's scince fiction thriller is about this spacecraft crashing in Italy from Venus that uncovers only 1 human survivor, and a growing organism brought back from the planet. The survivor meets a girl in a hospital and falls in love with her. Then, the otganism starts growing, and finally gets in the stage of a human sized monster. In one of my favorite scenes, after the monster had killed a farmer stabbing him in the back with a pitchfork, the scientist and his men go by the torn up body of the dog and the farmer without even flinching!!! Ha ha! I like the later parts in the film when the monster as big as King Kong throws stone bricks on soldiers, crushing the life out of them!!! Finally, foreign gasfire overcomes the monster, and the scientist marries the girl. No more info needed, so enjoy this little campy sci fi flick with popcorn and Root Beer...

Great movie with amazing special effects by Ray Harryhausen the world's greatest