It Came From Beneath The Sea

This review is specific to the colourised version of the film, released in 2007, ASIN: B001NFN5TE. This version can also be found on the box set the Ray Harryhausen Collection.

Another entertaining creature feature with special effects by Ray Harryhausen. The basic plot is along the lines of giant squid is forced to rise from the depths in search of food, and finds man to be a tasty snack. The American Navy set out to stop it, and there is a final show down in San Francisco involving the destruction of the Golden Gate bridge and a rail station. For various reasons of the plot, the navy decide the only safe way of destroying it is to explode a bomb inside the creature's brain. It's supremely daft hokum, but as entertaining an 80 minutes as you are likely to watch.

The real joy of this film is Harryhausen's special effects. These never fail to entertain and amaze. The giant squid is pretty well realised and this lends a certain air of professionalism to the film. A must see for all creature feature fans.

This version has been colourised, though there is an option to watch the original black and white version, and one can even toggle between the two using the angle button on the remote. The colourisation works very very well. The film was originally conceived in colour, and would have been filmed as such except that the cost of colour film was prohibitive, and apparently colour film stock of the era was not of a good enough quality for Harryhausen to make his special effects. I feel that seeing it in colour is how it was originally intended, and the colourisation process has been done so proficiently you cannot see any running or overlay. The second disc of special features contains a short piece about the process which is interesting, an interview between Tim Burton and Harryhausen and a short piece about the composer. All in all it is an excellent package.

the picture shows the 2 disc edition of this 50s classic but for some reason there is no mention of this in amazons product description.It comes with both b/w and colour versions(the colour version looks fantastic) and you can flick between them as you would an audio commentary so you can see the difference.It also has an audio commentary with ray harryhausen and other modern special effects men.The second disc has a wealth of extras, a making of..(21:44),a talk between ray harry hausen and tim burton(27:10),a stop motion featurette(11:38),a featurette on music in 50s sci-fi(22:33),a featurette on the original artwork and memorabilia(17:52)and galleries (29:48) also a comic strip.good set.