An octopus and an atomic bomb meet in the ocean…
Ever since I was a child, I have loved octopus. Ironically I have never watched this movie before.
This movie is a Harry Harryhausen production, and broadly speaking, you do not go to Harryhausen movie to watch the scenes he did not create.
That being said, every other element of the movie is condensed to the Essentials: a group of scientists and soldiers gather to figure out what is going on, and then proceed to argue over what to do for the next hour until they come up with a solution.
There really is not that much to talk about. The character arc of the movie is our military hard man realising that the woman scientist is someone worth listening to.
This movie is almost as stripped down as Earth vs The Flying Saucers.
Redundant statement: The stop-motion sequences are the best part of this movie.
The one (slight) drawback is that the Octopus does not have as much character as Harryhausen’s other creations. This might have to do with the fact that octopus are not the most expressive animals - but who goes to the movies for realism?
The octopus is much more of a menace that must be overwhelmed.
That does add to the movie’s slightness - one of the best elements of a movie like Jason and the Argonauts or 20 Million Miles to Earth is that the creatures feel like characters in their own right. Even Talos the statue feels weirdly alive.
The octopus is still iconic, but it does lack that strong sense of characterisation.
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