WAR OF THE COLOSSAL BEAST (1958)

The Burgomaster · April 20, 2006, 08:42:13 PM

They used to show this sequel to THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN on TV quite frequently on Saturday afternoons when I was a kid. Now, it is available in all of its wonderful badness on a double feature DVD with EARTH VS. THE SPIDER!

I watched my copy a few days ago, and sure enough, the movie is as bad as ever. The best part of the DVD version is the end when the movie switches from black and white to color for about 1 minute (I guess that's all the color film they could afford).

If you're in the mood for a super cheesy 50s sci-fi flick with terrible "giant man" special effects, you might want to get your hands on a copy of this movie. Plus, it has a running time of a little over an hour, so you can easily squeeze it into your busy schedule!

Scott · April 20, 2006, 09:11:55 PM

I remember THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN very much as a kid. Remember him getting bigger in that tent. Left quite an impression on me. Must have been under 8 years old when I saw this one for the first time.

peter johnson · April 20, 2006, 10:23:45 PM

This is a deeply wonderful movie!
I just had reason to watch it recently --
Man, you just gotta love the whole idea of a guy who can make a footprint the size of a bus, and yet still be invisible in the countryside . . .
peter johnson/denny crane

trekgeezer · April 21, 2006, 09:09:15 AM

Yes, they used the old double exposure trick, so in many shots he is the Amazingly See-Through Colossal Man/Beast.

Earth vs. The Spider is good one too. It has Ed Kimmer, one of my B-movie heroes.

Just Plain Horse · April 21, 2006, 12:06:24 PM

peter johnson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This is a deeply wonderful movie!
> I just had reason to watch it recently --
> Man, you just gotta love the whole idea of a guy
> who can make a footprint the size of a bus, and
> yet still be invisible in the countryside . . .

My favorite moment is when the so-called doctor nonchalantly "compares" his foot with Glen's footprint by quickly raising his leg and then half-assed guessing the man's size. He automatically could tell the man was ten times his size?!?! I wonder how he does with the metric system...

Mitch McAfee · April 22, 2006, 04:49:51 AM

Burgo - what's the print quality like on this release?

I have both COLOSSAL BEAST & EARTH VS THE SPIDER on VHS & the quality isn't too bad, but am curious to know if I should upgrade?

The Burgomaster · April 22, 2006, 06:26:36 AM

The quality is great. This is part of a series of "cult classics" double feature DVDs that have recently been released by Lion's Gate. I also have these "cult classics" double features:

* THE DAY THE WORLD ENDED / THE SHE CREATURE

* THE VIKING WOMEN AND THE SEA SERPENT / TEENAGE CAVEMAN

* HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER / BLOOD OF DRACULA

The ones I have watched so far are all top quality. WAR OF THE COLOSSAL BEAST and HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER have color segments like they did when they were shown theatrically. They are also in their theatrical aspect ratios. Last night I watched THE DAY THE WORLD ENDED and it is a high quality widescreen transfer.

Mitch McAfee · April 22, 2006, 10:10:54 AM

Thanks Burgo - muchly appreciated. I'm heading over to Amazon now & placing an order! :-)

Andrew · April 23, 2006, 03:40:27 PM

I recently received this DVD too and am looking forward to seeing it. I do not believe that I ever have before, only the first "Amazing Colossal Man."

You know, the running time is one thing that classic b-movies usually got right. They kept it to 70 or 75 minutes, cutting out the 15 minutes of extra (worthless) crud that newer movies seem intent on inflicting upon us.

peter johnson · April 23, 2006, 08:45:42 PM

Oh, as you will see, this thing moves at a rapid/rabid clip --
And, like some other monster flicks of the late '50's/early '60's, (Black Scorpion, Valley of Gwangi, etc.), it has a Mexican setting -- guess that was a cheap "exotic" location for low-budget LA-based films.
Gotta love that face . . .
peter johnson/denny crane

Just Plain Horse · April 25, 2006, 11:31:17 AM

Gwangi was fun, Beginning of the End had a few good moments, Black Scorpian absolutely sucked... except for the ending in the football stadium...

Flangepart · April 25, 2006, 12:01:49 PM

Perhaps, but END and SCORPION made good MST3K.
In fact, BLACK SCORPION was my first MST. Laughed my galaxy spanning ass off!
Same with WAR and its "prequil".

Just Plain Horse · April 26, 2006, 07:00:58 PM

True enough... My first MST3k ep was Cave Dwellers. I was like "Woah, what is this trippy concoction?" My only regret: to this day, I haven't seen one MSTing of a single Gamera movie...

Just Plain Horse · April 26, 2006, 07:15:17 PM

True enough... My first MST3k ep was Cave Dwellers. I was like "Woah, what is this trippy concoction?" My only regret: to this day, I haven't seen one MSTing of a single Gamera movie...