Sci-Fi 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957)

Tom

An Old Friend
Title: 20 Million Miles to Earth

Tagline: Space nightmares!

Genre: Science Fiction, Horror

Director: Nathan H. Juran

Cast: William Hopper, Joan Taylor, Frank Puglia, John Zaremba, Thomas Browne Henry, Tito Vuolo, Jan Arvan, Arthur Space, Bart Braverman, Don Orlando, George Khoury, Darlene Fields, George Pelling, James Dime, Sid Cassel, Ray Harryhausen, Noel Drayton, Rollin Moriyama

Release: 1957-02-08

Runtime: 82

Plot: When the first manned flight to Venus returns to Earth, the rocket crash-lands in the Mediterranean near a small Italian fishing village. The locals manage to save one of the astronauts Colonel Calder, the mission commander. A young boy also recovers what turns out to be a specimen of an alien creature. Growing at a fantastic rate, it manages to escape and eventually threatens the city of Rome.
20 Million Miles to Earth (1957)

 
The Ymir (That's what the creature is called) was one of the best unique monsters that should be redone by today's graphics. Get rid of the kid - so irritating. This is one old movie that I would pay money to see remade.
 
Am unsure if I have ever seen this,,am 100% sure my father has :D
When I saw the post ,I was thinking it was the 5 million years to earth film.
Five Million Years to Earth (1967) - IMDb

this is one I will always remember. unsure as to when I may have first watched it,,but am sure it was
before SW's ANH EpIV.
I thought it fascinating.

Usually though, remakes have fallen short of expectations.
But why kill the fantasy. I dream of remakes of old games too :D
How much better they would be if made now.


Example. XCOM UFO Defense/Enemy Unknown-Terror from the deep-Apocalypse-
2 Remakes have been made of this great series of a game.
one is a 3d shooter that has nothing of the original in it.it's a 50's alien blob attack.
and the other (Xcom-Enemy Unknown), is more XCOM, but it is Unreal Tournament totally.
No Replay value. No Real Strategy.Tiny maps.A game that plays itself,you are not required.

Nice some of the old stuff is remembered and valued though.

Regards,
Randal R.
 
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Whenever I watch this movie I use my DVD instead of my Blu-ray, because the old DVD allows the viewer to chose "fullscreen" or "widescreen".

The Blu-ray doesn't have this feature, and I think that's a shame. Here's why.

The fullscreen version on the old DVD offers images of the Ymir that are very different from the ones in the widescreen version — and sometimes that's a genuine bonus.

Consider these examples. Here's the widescreen version. It looks a bit too much like exactly what it is: a model being animated in front of a rear projection screen.

Y4EnmOe.jpg.png


But the fullscreen version shows the way the ground slopes up towards the creature, thus convincing us that the Venusian is standing on a hill, looking down at the farm.

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And notice how much more of that gorgeous creature we get to see — including its writhing tale! The same is true in several other scenes, and the difference is striking. Like this one.

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This scene of the Ymir atop the Colosseum looks better with the extra part at the bottom. In addition to displaying more of the creature's lower body, the expanded view adds to the sense of great height.

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Perhaps the best example is this scene. Here's the widescreen version —

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— and here's the fullscreen version, showing the lower part of the creature's torso and the platform he was on. It looks great!

7P2jJWW.jpg


Guys, please don't think I'm disregarding the director's intent or the cinematographer's composition. I'm just commenting on the way we get to see extra areas that include Harryhausen's splendid model and his animation.

Some folks would argue that the extra areas at the top and bottom look like superfluous space in this scene from the elephant versus ymir fight.

I disagree.

The expanded version emphasizes the fact that this battle is taking place in the heart of a city, and that the last place a sane person would want to me is closer to these enraged beasts!

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But if they ever create an IMAX 3D version of this movie, this would look just fine on that big screen.

7u23Yzq.jpg.png
 
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