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Films: Creature From The Black Lagoon, Revenge Of The Creature, The Creature Walks Among Us
Stars:
Richard Carlson, Julie Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno, Nestor Paiva,
Ricou Browning, John Agar, Lori Nelson, John Bromfield, Clint Eastwood, Jeff
Morrow, Rex Reason, Leigh Snowden, Gregg Palmer, and Maurice Manson
Writers:
Harry Essex, Arthur Ross, and Martin Berkeley
Directors:
Jack Arnold and John Sherwood
Feature
lengths: 79 minutes/ 82 minutes/ 78 minutes
Extras:
Feature Length Audio Commentaries For All Three Films, Back To The Lagoon
Documentary, Still Gallery, and Theatrical Trailers
Languages:
English Two-Channel Monaural Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and French and Spanish Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Two-Disc Digipack
Chapter
Stops: 18 per film
Sound:
Two-Channel Monaural Sound
Years
of Theatrical Release: 1954/1955/1956/DVD Release: 2004
Theatrical
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Home
Video Distributor: Universal Studios Home Video
MPAA
Rating: Not Rated
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
“Creature
From The Black Lagoon” is widely considered one of the best of the 1950s
sci-fi monster pictures, which at the time featured the most articulate
full-body beast suit ever constructed for an actor to wear onscreen. Even with
the modern advancements in special effects, the creature still looks pretty darn
real and thus these films hold up pretty well as contemporary cautionary
tragedies. Just as Boris Karloff made Frankenstein’s monster sympathetic, the
creature’s attraction to the female characters in the trilogy enables the
viewer to feel a sense of sympathy for the beast because while not entirely
human, the creature is able to display primitive forms of emotion and even
display a certain amount of reasoning ability. From the Amazon River where it is
first encountered to it’s subsequent trapping and being brought back to human
civilization where it can be exploited by scientists, to the terrible genetic
tampering that mutates the monster so that it can never be at home at sea or
among the surface dwelling humans, I think the “Creature From The Black
Lagoon” is more than just a retelling a “Beauty And The Beast” or “King
Kong.” The “Creature From The Black Lagoon” trilogy is in a way an
operatic tragedy just as Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” inspired “Forbidden
Planet.” In their own way, there is a certain mix of Hollywood magic and a
literate sensibility that makes the films standout among the pack of genre films
released in the 1950s. It is also deserving of its place among Universal Home
Video’s “Legacy Collection,” which celebrates the classic monster icons
for DVD users.
All
three films are presented in their original (1.33:1) theatrical aspect ratio
with a clear English Two-Channel Monaural Soundtrack and English Captions for
the hearing impaired as well as French and Spanish Language Subtitles encoded
onto both dual layered discs as options. All three transfers look great with the
third film looking the most striking of the three collectively. It is a shame
that the first two films were not presented with the option for viewers to see
them in 3D since that was the original intention for how these films were to be
exhibited theatrically and back in 1982, syndicated television broadcasts of
“Revenge Of The Creature” were presented in 3D with the glasses made
available through a fast-food franchise tie-in. Film Historian Tom Weaver
mentions in his feature length audio commentary that he wishes Universal would
colorize “The Creature From The Black Lagoon” because had it been shot in
color, the amazing underwater photography that has inspired filmmakers for
generations can be better appreciated. Personally I disagree if only because
I’d rather see films as they were originally presented on the big screen and
not altered just because now more than twenty years ago we can do a greater job
at taking black and white motion pictures and using computers to add color.
However I have seen some recent colorized work, such as the 2004 restored
colorized version of “Night Of The Living Dead” being distributed by
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and as much as the technology has been
able to take images and truly make them appear as if they were originally shot
on color film, they still do not have the technology quite perfected enough to
get aspects like human skin tones to appear realistic.
Weaver
is truly a knowledgeable film scholar that makes watching all three films on DVD
an entertaining as well as educational viewing experience. The great film
memorabilia archivist Bob Burns joins Weaver on the commentary for both
“Revenge Of The Creature” and “The Creature Walks Among Us” while
Actress Lori Nelson participates in the audio commentary for “Revenge Of The
Creature.” All three commentators share lots of interesting screen specific
background information well worth paying attention to. For those not familiar
with Bob Burns, he is known in part for having a tremendous collection of
genuine Hollywood genre film memorabilia and was even featured on the SCI FI
Channel’s mid 1990s magazine series “SCI FI BUZZ” with the “Bob’s
Basement” segments. He also can be seen on the exclusive ninth bonus DVD
included in Fox’s “Alien Quadrilogy” DVD box set and though I have never
met him personally, as cult film guru Joe Bob Briggs once said of genre film
historian and author John Stanley, I am in awe of the man.
The
first DVD features a documentary entitled “Back To The Lagoon” (39:36)
hosted by Film Historian David J. Skal and features interviews with Actors Ben
Chapman and Julie Adams as well as the above-mentioned Bob Burns and there is a
motion still gallery of one-sheet art and black and white production shots
(11:28) and a reel of four trailers for “Creature From The Black Lagoon”
(3:53). Trailers for “Revenge Of The Creature” (2:31) and “The Creature
Walks Among Us” (1:03), which was shown as a double feature with “Price Of
Fear” wraps up the extra value materials included in this set.
The
menus are all standard interactive still frames that are easy to navigate.
“Creature From The Black Lagoon: The Legacy Collection” is available on DVD-Video
now along with other “Legacy Collection” titles that include “The
Mummy,” “The Invisible
Man,” “The Wolf
Man,” “Frankenstein,"
and "Dracula" at
retailers on and offline courtesy of Universal Studios Home Video.
©
Copyright 2004 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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