It Came from beneath the Sea (DVD)

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1955´s "It Came from Beneath the Sea" is the historically significant film that united stop-motion guru Ray Harryhausen with producer Charles H. Schnner, creating a partnership that would last for twenty-six years and change the face of genre films forever. Harryhausen is best known for his work on 1963´s "Jason and the Argonauts," but eight years before he created that iconic skeleton sword fight, he had a six-legged giant octopus crawl out from the Pacific Ocean and wreak havoc on the City by the Bay. While "It Came from Beneath the Sea" may not be the most entertaining film Harryhausen worked his magic on, the moments without his creature showcase what an otherwise forgettable film it would have been.

The submarine of Commander Pete Mathews (Kenneth Tobey) becomes mysteriously disabled during maneuvers in the Pacific Ocean and docks at Pearl Harbor for repairs. Upon inspection a large mass of unidentifiable animal tissue is found inside the propellers. Professors Lesleyl Joyce (Faith Domergue) and John Carter (Donald Curtis) are called in to identify the origins of the propeller-destroying creature. After declaring the material to be part of a giant octopus, the military dismiss the marine biologists´ findings as irrational, but they quickly change their minds once ships and swimmers are reported being pulled under the water by something beneath the waves. Eventually, the creature makes itself known to the public by emerging from the watery depths and attacking San Francisco. The military quickly responds by creating a torpedo strong enough to pierce its hide, but where can they detonate such a device without creating collateral damage? Why undersea, of course! But is it enough to end the monster´s reign of terror, or will it survive to rise again and attack the unsuspecting coast?

The first twenty-seven minutes of "It Came from Beneath the Sea" are fairly unremarkable, but as soon as the audience gets a glimpse of the Harryhausen-designed cephalopod, it becomes a different film entirely. The plot, acting, and dialogue in "It Came from Beneath the Sea" are fairly routine for the world of B movies. Upon its initial release, the film was booked on a double bill with the Sam Katzman produced "Creature with the Atom Brain." Without Harryhausen´s brilliant special effects, "It Came" would have ended up as just another B movie like "Atom Brain" and not the cherished film it has become.

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This two-disc DVD set boasts that it is the first time "It Came from Beneath the Sea" has been presented in color. While this may be true, it´s not something I´d want to brag about. The anamorphic widescreen color presentation featuring a 1.85:1 aspect ratio looks just as bad as anything else I´ve seen unnecessarily colorized. Thankfully, Sony was smart enough to include the original black-and-white version that may show its age in places but is ultimately better than the unnatural look of fake color. I don´t understand why it was even colorized in the first place. Who would want to watch the film like that? It must be the same people who prefer fullscreen to widescreen. What´s the technical term for them? Oh, yeah, morons.