The Beast
The Beast
TV-PG | 28 April 1996 (USA)

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SEASON & EPISODES
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  • Reviews
    Perry Kate Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!
    Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.
    Numerootno A story that's too fascinating to pass by...
    Ella-May O'Brien Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.
    Cyberknight Masao Kawata It's impossible not to compare this (or most water monster films) with "Jaws" (1975). Considering "The Beast" was produced about twenty years after the former, we start seeing the problems.First obvious problems are the special and the visual effects. "Jaws" went with animatronics, which caused so much trouble on pre- and production stages that the whole script had to be remade, turning "just another monster film" into an all-time classic thriller. In "The Beast", they tried to show the monster as much as they could, using both rubber animatronics and visual effects. Usually, it works fine enough, but there are times when things go bad, like at the very ending of the first episode (it's a two parts series), when the "beast" jumps out of water, for no reason, to hit a buoy. The stop-motion used for that scene looked really dated, like ED-209 on original "RoboCop" (1987).The second problem is the pace and the film run time. They could have cut a lot of drama out without hurting the story, reducing its run length of almost 3h and increasing its pace. There's even some romance, one so unnecessary that, after the beast is destroyed (yes, it's an American film, so it ends in a big explosion, but who couldn't have foreseen that), the film simply ends, without showing the surviving couple together or whatever.Although the plot is interesting and the effects are fine, the film drags a lot, making it a one shot experience. There are no thrills or anything that makes it worth watching again. This is another of those films not too bad that have to be avoided, but not good enough to be watched more than once.
    jefuab "The Beast", based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name, is a film about a giant squid terrorising a small fishing community.This is a fantastic film with a convincing, to scale, 60ft squid. The music creates an atmosphere of terror, the cast are all on form and, being nearly three hours long, is very detailed.William Petersen is great to watch as the film's hero Whip Dalton, as is Karen Sillas as the film's heroin Lt. Kathryn Marcus. Charles Martin Smith plays his slimy little billionaire well, and thee rest of the cast do very good jobs.I've been fascinated by this film since I was a kid and it's still not lost its appeal. Watch this film, and read the book if you can.
    bilborough64 This is not a Oscar winner by a long shot. It is pretty predictable. Good guys kill beast that is terrorizing a shoreline community. The hero is a widower named "Whip Dalton" played by William Petersen. Dalton has teenage daughter Dana, (Missy Crider). There is a love interest, Lt. Kathryn Marcus(Karen Silas) of The US Coast Guard. There is the usual bad guy Schuyler Graves(Charles Martin Smith) and his greedy cohorts, Dr. Herbert Talley(Ronald Guttman) and Osborne Manning(Denis Arndt). Crider gave a sincere portrayal of Dana and William Petersen was great as the ship's captain and was believable. One might even believe he belonged there.I think the saving grace of this movie is the chemistry between the actors. Petersen and Crider fit perfectly as father and daughter. Karen Silas portrayal of Lt. Marcus was flat made me grind my teeth as she spoke feminist rhetoric that a woman has to be twice as good as a man to get accepted, which may be true depending on who you talk to.The one thing I did notice was that the movie felt like it had no director and was left it's own devices.All in all this is a harmless movie that you can let your ten year old watch without supervision, though you might want to watch it as well.I did like this movie, but I'm still trying to decide if I want to buy it or not.
    Andrew Hillier I first saw the movie in 1997 on TV. I loved the movie. Even though it is a made for TV movie, it was still awesome. They could have made some money in Theaters I'm sure. The Giant Squid is an amazing phenomena in its self. For all you movie lovers of Big Creatures or the unexplained... This ones for you. I would highly recommend watching. It's better than a lot of theatrical movies. Ever since I saw it, I am determined to one day get a big boat & go fishing for one of those Giant Squid. Who knows? It is an interesting movie. I didn't find it boring at all. With a little twist along the way... But you'll have to try & find it somewhere & watch it to find out. It is a hard movie to come across. Anyway, Andrew Hillier from St. John's NL, Canada gives it a Thumbs Up and a recommendation. Peace!