The bombing of Japan at the end of World War II was indeed a tragedy, but one that filmmakers simply couldn’t ignore. The looming threat of nuclear war and the possibility of what could result for fallout and radiation field the fires of creativity. This is illustrated perfectly in Japan’s very own Gojira, but Hollywood wouldn’t be left in the dark. Tales of giant ants, mutant spiders, and all manner of beasts appeased the science fiction crowds of the 50’s and 60’s, but not all giant monsters need be the creation of mankind and his weapons of destruction.

In 1957 Columbia Pictures unleashed their latest monster creation in the classic 20 Million Miles to Earth. The United States wasn’t the target to be ravaged, but instead the unsuspecting people of Italy. Off the coast of a small fishing village, a pair of fishermen and a young boy, Pepe (Bart Braverman) witness a spacecraft crash-land in the ocean. Feeling a sense of duty, they rush to investigate and find all the crew saves for two men dead. They rescue the poor souls and take them to shore as the craft sinks into the water mere seconds later.

As the survivors are rushed to a nearby medical facility where American doctor-in-training Marisa Leonardo (Joan Taylor) works, Pepe finds a strange gelatinous egg washed on the shore and takes it to Marisa’s father, Dr. Leonardo (Frank Puglia) who is researching zoology in the area. He buys the egg from the boy which soon hatches to reveal a small creature. Meanwhile, only one survivor manages to pull through, Col. Robert Calder (William Hopper) who has just returned from the first space mission to Venus. The creature has been brought back from the planet and he quickly realizes that he needs to capture or destroy it as the beast is growing at an incredible rate, killing innocents along the way and rampaging throughout Italy. The creatures capture however might only be the beginning of the end as neither the US military or Italian officials are prepared to deal with a monster of this size or strength.

Like many science fiction films of the era that involve a scenario such as this, there are many things that are typical that you can expect to find. As always, our hero, Calder, is quite the charmer and merely being saved by an attractive woman is more than enough for him to start laying it on thick. If I’ve learned anything about 50’s science fiction after many years of watching them, it’s that the women are always swayed by this, no matter how corny the line might be. Try these in the real world and see what you get, and I’m sure that a drink thrown in your face is on the low end of the scale.

The attraction to the film however isn’t the hero, it isn’t the sappy dialog from our hero or the made up technology, but it’s the monster. Originally called Ymir in the treatment, but never actually called anything but a monster, beast, or any other colorful phrasing, the creature was designed and animated by the legendary Ray Harryhausen, the very same man behind films such as Jason and the Argonauts, Clash of the Titans, and The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, just to name a few of the many classic slop motion animation films that he has worked on. People don’t necessarily recall that Nathan Juran directed (he also directed television series such as Lost in Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Time Tunnel), they don’t remark that William Hopper starred, but they remember Harryhausen’s involvement, and for a very good reason.

You see youngsters who are spoiled with computer animation; years ago producers and directors could rely on the latest and greatest technology to bring their creations to life, and spending millions of special effects was unheard of. If actors weren’t faced with imaginary monstrosities that would later be super-imposed with some bad blue screen, the had to rely on stop motion animation, an art that is long dead in the world of cinema, but yet does seem to live on in some of your favorite shows like Robot Chicken and Moral Orel, and there’s no doubt that what Harryhausen created influenced them a great deal. You’ll find that Ymir, while very obviously inserted into the shot later, has a great amount of detail. It’s not just the texturing and the look, but the movement against his real world actors is almost perfect. It almost seems as though Harryhausen could work better with those things imagined that those real, evident by the appearance of stop motion humans and an elephant. But Ymir not only moves and roars, he breathes, though after taking notice and remarking, the characters then claim that the beast has no lungs. If so, why is he breathing? It doesn’t matter though because it’s these little details that helped to make Harryhausen the legend that he is today.

Any classic monster movie has to go beyond just people been harmed or killed, and there are actually quite a few that met their ends here, but destruction of property is also a must have element. 20 Million Miles to Earth does feature some rather unimportant structures getting destroyed, cars crushed beneath the weight of this horrific beast and such, but there’s also the necessity of a very important landmark coming down in the midst of the chaos. The Coliseum; it’s not so important, and if a military operation just happens to send our monster tumbling into it, it’s nothing that a few hired workers can’t fix once the final credits roll. While this moment of destruction isn’t epic, it never is when a monster manages to take out a landmark; that’s reserved for high budget, no plot alien invasion films.

When any movie hits a milestone like fifty years, the importance really becomes not how well it has held up so much as what kind of added features can be provided. 20 Million Miles to Earth not only includes the original black and white version of the film but an all-new colorized version done by Legend Films. This is the same company who also gave new life to old classics such as Night of the Living Dead and Reefer Madness, and their process beats out the Turner colorized films. The movie also includes commentary with the legend himself, Ray Harryhausen, as well as Dennis Muren, the visual effects artist on the movie, as well as Phil Tippett, who was influenced by Harryhausen, as well as fellow producer Arnold R. Kunert.

There is also a bonus disc containing even more features. Remembering 20 Million Miles to Earth features interviews with not only Ray Harryhausen but those who have not only fond memories of the film buy were inspired to follow in his footsteps. There is also a good look at the coloration process that the movie underwent. Tom Burton, another who has obviously been influenced by Harryhausen, gets the chance to sit down for an interview with him in a bonus feature that is sure to make many envious. Joan Taylor, who is one of the cast members who is still with us, also has a feature interview. The music of the film is also showcased as well as the ad art from the film and a gallery. As a final bonus you will be treated to a look at the 20 Million Miles More comic book, so for any fan or someone discovering the film for the first time, there is a great wealth of material to keep you entertained beyond the feature itself.

20 Million Miles to Earth like many films of its era, may not be a masterpiece, but what the producers, directors, and special effects artists managed to accomplish with so little is nothing short of amazing. We might snicker a little, but when the realization hits us as to exactly what these films embody, it’s nothing short of pure genius. 20 Million Miles to Earth is a science fiction classic, and one that was it not for the work of Ray Harryhausen, might be nothing more than a footnote in the pages of film history.

-mike-