BA_Harrison Having suffered the indignation of being snatched from his home planet, taken to Earth and stuck in a cage, a rapidly growing scaly alien escapes to look for food, and is pursued by the authorities who poke and prod him until he understandably fights back.Just because a film boasts impressive special effects doesn't automatically make it a classic. 20 Million Miles To Earth features exceptional stop-motion animation work by Ray Harryhausen, whose Venusian lizard, the Ymir, is a delight to behold, but the film suffers from a tedious plot that clearly takes its cues from King Kong but which is never developed beyond its basic 'monster-on-the-rampage' scenario.Despite one or two memorable set pieces, such as the crash of a huge spacecraft and the sight of the Ymir in a struggle to the death with an elephant, 20 Millions Miles to Earth is a frustratingly dull film on the whole, suffering from predictable action, remarkably unlikeable characters ('hero' Col. Robert Calder is brash and obnoxious and Pepe the cowboy obsessed kid is a particularly annoying brat) and a daft finale in which US soldiers recklessly destroy part of the Coliseum in order to kill the beast.

mark.waltz Put em' back where you found him! That's the only solution to this issue, bringing a creature from Venus down to earth in order to study how they can survive on Venus's atmosphere. Of course, if some Earthling was pulled off this planet by a Martian or any other planet for the same reason (or any reason), they wouldn't like it either. This all starts in the coast off of Sicily where a space craft suddenly plunges into the sea as fisherman watch. Two of them and one of their younger sons head to the craft to help rescue any possible survivors, not even sure if they are going to be earthlings. Fortunately, their gamble pays off, but the little boy finds a remnant from the ship which he turns over to a local scientist and his daughter (Joan Taylor) for examination. This object contains a monstrous looking creature from Venus which starts off as arms length but quickly grows thanks to the earth's atmosphere, soon traipsing all over Italy and ending up in Rome where it takes a tour of the grounds where Nero once fiddled and Caligula once tortured Christians. By this time, he's the size of Godzilla and not at all happy that the military (mostly American) won't leave him alone.Superb in every aspect (with a few goofs that only today's audiences would pick up on thanks to advanced special effects that just aren't as fun as what Ray Harryhausen does here), this roars by in under 90 minutes and is filled with so many great sequences that to mention just a few would be a detriment to those who have not seen it before. Still, to see this sad creature being tracked, almost electrocuted and placed in solitary confinement, and finally, breaking out of the zoo and battling an elephant, you can't help but be touched by it. When the creature does finally find some seclusion, it's in the middle of Rome's famous Colosseum where even there he can't find peace. William Hopper's surviving astronaut seems compassionate to the poor creature but, knowing it's too late to take them back to their home planet, is resolved to the fact that he's going to either have to kill it or watch the earth be destroyed by it. His acknowledgment that through every advancement mankind makes, the costs are greater, is one of the great theories of our times, and one which should wake today's audiences up to how we further destroy ourselves and potentially our own planet and species, through messing in science where we should just leave it alone.

Scott LeBrun An American spacecraft that had made it to Venus crashes into the sea off the coast of Sicily. Two survivors are collected, one of them Colonel Robert Calder (William Hopper). Also rescued is a cylindrical container containing a tiny Venusian monster. Exposed to the Earths' atmosphere, the monster continuously grows. When it goes on the inevitable rampage, Calder and others would like to recapture it alive, so that they may learn what keeps the creature alive in the poisonous Venusian atmosphere.Superior Ray Harryhausen technical effects are the true stars of this nicely paced sci-fi thriller from director Nathan Juran. The script, by Robert Creighton Williams and Christopher Knopf (based on a story by Charlotte Knight) is absorbing, and the monster itself (not named in the film, but known as the Ymir to its fans) has quite a bit of personality. Juran gets efficient performances out of Hopper, Joan Taylor as his love interest, and Frank Puglia, John Zaremba, Thomas Browne Henry, Tito Vuolo, Jan Arvan, Arthur Space, and Bart Braverman. Hopper behaves like a real jerk to Taylor at first, but once he's able to calm down, finds himself quite taken with her. Fortunately, Juran never spends too much time with the romantic subplot.Also, the director knows how to maintain a real sense of urgency and excitement for the smashing climax. Eventually, the Ymir makes it to the Roman Colosseum, which adds to the fun. The Ymirs' struggles with a dog, a man, and an elephant are extremely well executed. The stock music is all well selected, and Irving Lippman and Carlo Ventimiglia contribute some very sharp cinematography.All in all, this is solid entertainment and one of the best "monster on the loose" tales ever told.Eight out of 10.

TxMike This was billed on the "Movies!" TV channel as a "popcorn" movie, and that it is. Nothing at all to take seriously, just a mostly fun B&W sci- fi movie typical of the 1950s.The first thing that struck me was the idea of a space mission to the planet Venus. The atmosphere at the surface of Venus exerts about the same pressure as being under water 3000 feet on Earth, a pressure that would crush most things. Plus the surface is generally in the 800 to 900 degree F range. A very inhospitable place, not likely ever to be visited.But this is a fantasy sci-fi story, I didn't get hung up on that very long and just went with it. To the credit of the writers they explained a few things to make it seem somewhat plausible.The movie starts with two men and a boy in a small fishing boat off Sicily. They look up to see a pointy spaceship in obvious distress that crash-lands into the sea, point down it remains afloat just long enough to let them rescue the commander and to see that there were few survivors.The young boy is a western and Texas fan, he wants a big hat and a horse, and finds things to sell to the local biologist to raise funds. Ashore he finds a USAF cylinder on land and, instead of revealing his discovery, takes the gelatinous contents to the biologist. Inside is the embryo of a creature from Venus which, after exposure to earth's atmosphere grows at a fantastically rapid rate. So much so that it cannot be contained and becomes a threat to all of Italy.As movies like this go the humans eventually figure out a way to prevail, in the meantime the entertainment is to see the monster wreak havoc and the Earthlings avoid death. The final scenes playing out in the ruins of an old Roman coliseum, military shooting big weapons at the now very large alien species. At the end one general says, "Why is it so difficult to move from the present to the future?" Definitely a "B" movie but entertaining as a representative of the 1950s sci-fi movies.