The Giant Behemoth Blu-ray

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

Directed by Douglas Hickox, Eugène Lourié (as Eugene Lourie)
UK / USA 1959

As in his classic The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, director Eugene Lourie plunges us into a thrilling stomping ground, unleashing another Thunder Lizard to stomp on everything in sight. Alarming levels of radiation have infused the water, plants, and skies, and a radiated paleosaurus rises from the ocean depths. In its path: London. In its arsenal: a strength to topple buildings (King Kong's Willis O'Brien contributes rampaging stop-motion effects), a stride that flattens cars, a flesh-searing radioactive ray and a ticked-off attitude. Left in ruins on land, humankind takes the fight to the beast's undersea realm, where a two-man submarine crew must ensure the torpedo they fire is dead-on. The first chance is all anyone gets with The Giant Behemoth.

***

A perennial of the "Shock Theatre" TV circuit of the 1950s, The British The Giant Behemoth owes a great deal to the earlier American sci-fier The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. A Cornish fisherman is found covered with what looks like radiation burns. Before he dies, the fisherman utters the word "behemoth," citing a monster alluded to in the Bible. It isn't long before England is besieged by a dinosaur-like monstrosity, evidently the by-product of atomic fallout. Only a high-powered torpedo stands between the Giant Behemoth and the helpless British citizenry. The film's stop-motion animation is pretty good, considering the tight budget; all the title character lacks is the distinctive personality of a King Kong, Godzilla or Gorgo.

Excerpt from B+N located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: March 3rd, 1959

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Comparison:

Warner Home Video (3-disc) - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC vs. Warner Archive - Region FREE - Blu-ray

1) Warner Home Video (3-disc) - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC - LEFT

2) Warner Archive - Region FREE - Blu-ray RIGHT

Box Cover
	Also available individually on DVD:
Distribution	Warner Home Video (3-disc) - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC	Warner Archive - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:19:42	1:19:46.990
Video	1.85::1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.21 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/ps	1.78:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 23,995,344,191 bytes Feature: 23,166,461,952 bytes Video Bitrate: 32.49 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate DVD:
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Audio	English (2.0)	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1990 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1990 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) Commentary: DTS-HD Master Audio English 2015 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2015 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitles	English, English (HOH), French and none	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Warner Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Edition Details: • Commentary track on by Dennis Muren and Phil Tippett DVD Release Date: June 26th, 2007 3 Standard Keep Cases in cardboard box Chapters: 22	Release Information: Studio: Warner Archive 1.78:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 23,995,344,191 bytes Feature: 23,166,461,952 bytes Video Bitrate: 32.49 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Commentary by Dennis Muren and Phil Tippett • Trailer (2:05) Blu-ray Release Date: January 22nd, 2019 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 22

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

Warner Archive have transferred The Giant Behemoth to Blu-ray. It's on a single-layered Blu-ray in 1080P with a high bitrate. It is cleaner than the DVD without the same marks but I'm not over-the-moon about this image contrast. The visuals are a bit softer than I would have expected and black levels seem weak and less-defined beside the SD. It looks pleasing in-motion but this 1.78:1 AR presentation (opened-up and slightly more information in the frame) is not at the level of other Warner Archive Blu-ray releases and I am not sure why.

The audio is transferred via a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel mono (24-bit) and is solid with the creature sounds coming through with depth. Edwin Astley (1962's The Phantom of the Opera, The Naked Prey, Contraband Spain) did the score and seems adept in supporting this genre effort. The dialogue is clear and audible. There are optional English (an unfortunate bright yellow) subtitles on this Region FREE Blu-ray.

Warner Archive include the same commentary from Denis Muren and Phil Tippett that was on the 2007 DVD. Frankly, I don't like it very much - they seem to be mocking the film most of the time and this doesn't engender appreciation. They are also frequently admitting a lack of knowledge "I don't know" or "I think so - but I can't remember", while stating how slow and boring the film is and are jokingly struggling to fill time. Anyway, it seems their comments would have been more appropriate in a Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode. There is also a trailer for the film.

I have always kinda liked The Giant Behemoth -being set in the UK and view it as a flawed but likeable, low-budget, creature-feature - however I wasn't into this Warner Archive Blu-ray - as the transfer doesn't produce a top-shelf image and there are no new supplements including, only, the sour commentary from the old set. So in this case, I suggest a pass on an upgrade. This would be fit better in a boxset with similar features as they did with the DVD - and lowering the price (how about 1958's Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman on Blu-ray?).