One of the many 1950s flicks about monsters wreaking havoc, "20 Million Miles to Earth" puts a nice spin on the genre with its Italian setting. Much of the content is stuff that we've seen in lots of movies, but as the movie reminds us, the monster only turns violent when provoked. That's the case with many species.While the climax is the monster's rampage through Rome, the Sicily scenes were fun. Another unusual spin is that the main female character is a scientist as opposed to a wife or secretary. Basically, the movie makes no pretense about being nice brainless fun. I enjoyed it. Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion effects serve the movie well.And as I often do with these movies, I feel tempted to discuss the rest of the people involved in the production. Nathan Juran also directed "Attack of the 50-Ft Woman" and "Jack the Giant Killer". William Hopper was the son of Hedda Hopper. As for Joan Taylor, this is the first that I've ever heard of her.All in all, good times.

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.

If you like cinema, you simply must love Sci-Fi movies from the 1950's! Never before or after was there put so much love, charm, dedication and contemporary craftsmanship into the realization of silly movie ideas. The Sci-Fi treasures coming from this golden era usually revolved on either gigantic (whether or not mutated) creatures or malevolent aliens invading the earth. And guess what! The incredibly amusing semi-classic "20 Million Miles to Earth" is a combination of both. The first – and failed – US spaceship to the planet Venus crashes into the sea near a small Sicilian fishing village and its astonished inhabitants. Seemingly just one person of the 18-headed crew survived the disaster, but young Pépé discovers another living creature inside a sort of cocoon. The annoying brat sells it for 200 Lire (back in the fifties this must have been the equivalent of two pennies or something) to a local zoologist, even though the surviving astronaut and the entire NASA are looking for it. A reptilian type of little monster comes out of the cocoon and rapidly grows to enormous proportions due to the different kind of oxygen it is forced to breathe on planet earth. The creature – Ymir – doesn't seem all that violent, but naturally the humans hunt it down and electrocute it for their own scientific pleasure. When experimented upon in the zoo of London, Ymir escapes and goes on a bit of a rampage! "20 Million Miles to Earth" is particularly famous and appreciated for Ray Harryhausen's impressive and utterly cool creature design, but it has several other things going for it as well. The pacing, for example, is excellent and contrary to a lot of other Sci-Fi/horror movies from the same period, "20 Millions etc…" never becomes tedious or overlong. I'm also thankful that they moved the action from the Sicilian village to Rome quite quickly, because the stereotypical dim-witted villagers and – especially – the irritating little Pépé would have gotten on everybody's nerves eventually. There's a reasonable amount of action and good dialogs during the middle section, so even the obligatory romance (between the astronaut and the stubborn doctor) is tolerable. The final act is, of course, the most memorable and entertaining part of the whole film. There are powerful mass-hysteria sequences during the breakout of the monster, a tense animal battle to the death and a climax that is reminiscent to both Godzilla and King Kong, with the tourist attractions in Rome playing crucial roles. Please, check out this adorable movie, as well as some of the other science fiction titles of the underrated director Nathan Juran (like "First Men in the Moon" and "The Brain from Planet Arous").

This Movie has one of Ray Harryhausen's most Beloved and remembered Creatures. The Ymir. Not only is it a Marvel of Design and Personality, we get to see its Birth and that alone can Endear on a Subconscious level. Also, it is a "Chemivore" only Feasting on Sulfur.So when Our Friend from Venus is Attacked and viciously Pursued We are Truly on His Side and We have more Empathy than any "Monster on the Loose" character except King Kong (1933).There are many Highlights. The Elephant Battle and the Barn Scene Stand Out among other Delightfully Visual confrontations in and among Rome's background. There is a Fine Musical Score and some Brutal Violence, and along with the Popular "Monster", make this one of Harryhausen's Best. Even before the Birth of the "Ymir" there are some Impressive Spaceship Shots that set Everything in "stop" motion. This is an unforgettable Movie forever locked in its time frame and is an example of an Artist reaching excellence and about to attain greatness, because this one is the precursor to the following year's 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) Ray Harryhausen's Masterpiece.