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War of the Colossal Beast
USA 1958
produced by Bert I. Gordon, Samuel Z. Arkoff (executive), James H. Nicholson (executive) for Carmel/AIP
directed by Bert I. Gordon
starring Sally Fraser, Roger Pace, Duncan 'Dean' Parkin, Russ Bender, Rico Alaniz, George Becwar, Robert Hernandez, Charles Stewart, June Jocelyn, John McNamara, Loretta Nicholson, Raymond Winston, Jack Kosslyn, George Navarro, Bob Garnet, Stan Chambers, June Burt, Howard Wright, Mary Hennessy, George Alexander, Bill Giorgio, Hal Torey, George Milan, Warren Frost, Bob Tetrick, Rob Dana, Roy Gordon
story by Bert I. Gordon, screenplay by George Worthing Yates, music by Albert Glasser, special makeup by Jack H.Young, special effects by Bert I. Gordon
Amazing Colossal Man, Bert I. Gordon's giant creature films
review by Mike Haberfelner
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At the end of The Amazing Colossal Man, the colossal man fell of
Boulder Dam into the icey waters below. Now everyone thinks he is dead.
Everyone but his sister Joyce (Sally Fraser) that is, who just can't
accept his death, and therefore, when she heaqrs about a truck that has
disappeared in Mexico, she quickly concludes that must be her giant
brother's doing ... and somehow she manages to convince army Major Baird
(Roger Pace) and esteemed scientist Doctor Carmichael (Russ Bender) to
help her look for her brother.
Of course, before long the giant brother (Duncan 'Dean' Parkin), who
now also suffers from amnesia, is found, drugged, brought back to the USA
- where the 60 foot tall man almost gets lost in the wheels of bureaucracy
- and kept in an airplane hangar, where he repeatedly breaks out.
Half of the military soon wants to kil the giant, and its only thanks
to Joyce with the help of Mahjor Baird that it is decided that he will be
exiled on a desert island. Before that can happen though, the colossal man
breaks out once more and wreaks havoc in Los Angeles, until in Griffith
Park he finds a schoolbus full of children as a plaything, and it seems
the children have breathed their last ... when Joyce arrives on the scene
and calms her brother - but when he realizes just what an abomination he
has become he goes and hurls himself into the next powerline to be
electrocuted to death (in the only colour scene in this black-and-white
movie) ...
Like most 1950's drive-in science fiction films, this one often borders
the ridiculous and some of the dialogue is unintentionally hilarious (e.g.
"Giants can run fast, they have long legs."). If
you know what to expect from 1950's drive-in science fiction films though,
this one isn't even half bad: The effects are decent considering the low
budget, and much of an improvement over The Amazing Colossal Man, the
script, silly as it may be, is also stringent, the whole thing is
well-paced and there is plenty of giant action in this one.
Of course, if you can't accept the concept of an amazing colossal
man, don't even watch this one, if you like 1950's science fiction
though, this is highly recommended ...
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