War of the Colossal Beast

1958 "The towering terror from hell!"
3.9| 1h9m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 04 June 1958 Released
Producted By: Carmel Productions
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

Glenn Manning, "The Amazing Colossal Man," believed dead after falling from the Hoover Dam, reemerges in rural Mexico, brain damaged, disfigured, and very angry.

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Director

Bert I. Gordon

Production Companies

Carmel Productions

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War of the Colossal Beast Audience Reviews

Jeanskynebu the audience applauded
2hotFeature one of my absolute favorites!
PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.
Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.
Benedito Dias Rodrigues I really love this kind of sci-fi movie,exploring such weird idea where a man was exposed from nuclear bomb's radiation and became gradually giant,the first movie was so successfully that got this sequel,now the beast arise in Mexico rural area...curiously the final scene when the giant monster died electrified the movie turns black and white in color until the end....here in Brazil came out in double feature with both movies...amazing trash movie from the fifties!! Resume: First watch: 2017 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 5
Aaron1375 I have seen snippets of the original film, The Amazing Colossal Man, and I have known of this film. My viewing of this film came from an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 whom also did the first film too. Not sure why they released the sequel episode before the original though. Suffice to say, the film was a bit of a letdown. The effect of Glenn's face having the skin off one side revealing a skeleton was actually pretty good. The problem with the film is that this colossal beast does not really get to terrorize much at all in this one and there is not much of a war going on as about the only action the military does is drive vehicles into position. The finale is as weak as they come with nothing really happening, poor colossal beast does not even get to throw one thing or trash a building. The premise is pretty good, but there just is not a lot going on here, unfortunately. Just scenes of speculation and then the colossal beast appears and gets captured and spends most of the film on his back. Even with the riffing from the gang from the satellite of love it was kind of dull.The story has strange occurrences happening in Mexico as trucks are disappearing. Glenn's sister immediately suspects her brother is the cause despite him taking a mortar round to the face and seemingly plummeting to his doom from the dam. Well, she is able to investigate and sure enough Glenn is alive, although he is not doing to good as he seems more animal now than human, pilfering from trucks to find food to survive. The army is able to capture him alive and plan to fly him to an island where he can live out his days in peace; unfortunately, he has other plans as he escapes his binds and begins to cause a panic within the city! This made for a rather bland episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Just seems a film about a giant going on the rampage would pack more riffs within it than this film ended up doing. The short with Mr. B that preceded the film had more good riffs than this one. It was still an okay episode though and still a lot better than the weakest episode of Mystery Science Theater, the Hamlet episode, but just not their strongest movie. Curious to see if the Amazing Colossal Man is better, as I find that when they riff a sequel to a film they have already done, the first film usually has the better riffing. Happened with the Master Ninja films and that Japanese film featuring the star wolves.So, the film had some potential for both being a pretty good 50's science fiction movie and episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and it kind of misses the mark on both counts. Had rather good make up design and seeing Glenn the first time is a bit jarring, but a lot of the film just kind of whiffs after that and it also seemed Glenn was not a consistent size because at some points he looks like he towers over all and in other scenes he looks like he is no taller than an average size tree. It also seems they could have added more action, but instead added padding especially at the end with the mom and the coat. As a Mystery Science Theater episode, it may be sequel fatigue that caused them not to be as sharp as usual. Still, not a horrible movie, just a film that had a pretty good idea, but just did not add enough too it to back up that good idea.
utgard14 ...that's where the Amazing Colossal Man came out to play. Well, that's how the song lyrics would go if they were written for this movie, Bert I. Gordon's sequel to The Amazing Colossal Man. It's cheaply made with excessive footage from the first movie used as flashbacks to pad the runtime. Even with this it barely clocks in at an hour. It takes awhile before we even see the Colossal Man and, even then, he doesn't do much. If your movie's one selling point is a giant bald guy throwing cars around and junk, you'd better deliver. The sad fact is it's a remarkably dull movie where very little happens. I don't mind a low budget and lots of cheese as long as it's a fun movie. This isn't much fun, sadly. Cool "partially exposed skull" makeup on the giant, though.
MARIO GAUCI Bert I. Gordon was known to milk a successful formula dry, but his efforts perhaps never felt more mercenary than here – for he not only revived the unfortunate protagonist of THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN but, to show his degeneration to an essentially subhuman level, he was given the chief attribute (an annoyingly loud growl) of THE CYCLOPS (both these films emanated from the previous year)! A sure sign of the quick cash-in status of this one is the fact that the film-makers did not even bother to re-read the original's script, where it is mentioned that Glenn Langan had no surviving relatives…but a sister somehow pops up here!; incidentally, one cannot blame the actor for presumably declining to reprise his by-now unenviable role, but neither were any of the other characters retained (which is odd, to say the least)! While the lack of heartburn this time around can be explained by the scientists in the first film having succeeded in stalling his growth, he acquires a physical and almost skeletal makeover – which, along with the title (despite its obvious exaggeration, since his acts of aggression basically revolve around pillaging food-trucks for sustenance and, at the climax, threatening to throw a school-bus filled with children at the inquisitive crowds and assorted military figures below!) and a surprising switch to colour for the monster's literally electrifying come-uppance, virtually constitute its sole points of interest.