When an atom bomb goes off and blow off all your clothes, don't panic. You're not at Minsky's witnessing Gypsy Rose Lee's newest striptease act, you're Glenn Langan, an army Lt. Colonel in the wrong place at the wrong time. He manages to survive the blast, but strange things begin to happen to him, much to the concern of his fiancée (Cathy Downs) to whom he was supposed to be wed that night. The doctors are stunned to discover that his burns have totally disappeared and new skin has formed. "Something out there is beyond the limits of our knowledge", the scientist who created the plutonium bomb realizes. Ah, duh? And how does the scientist explain the fact that Langan grows to enormous heights and becomes a human monster created by that fabulous organization known as the United States Army.
Another lesson of the world getting into trouble because of organizations like this fooling around where they shouldn't, this is dramatically better than most movies of its kind and convincingly acted with outstanding special effects. Of course, the most famous scene is the shot of Langan destroying Vegas (the billboards of various famous headliners included), and it is worth the build-up to these exciting scenes. Downs tries to intercede as the voice of reason, but when mankind interferes where certain clues tell them not to, it is all of humanity who must suffer.
Langan gets through this in a virtually silent performance, and wins sympathy for the innocent predicament that turned him into this colossal creature. William Hudson, who would later play the cheating husband in the film's follow-up ("The Attack of the 50 Foot Woman"), and Downs' shock upon discovering what has become of her fiancée is emotionally disturbing and powerful. Like the creature from Venus who grew to monstrous heights in "20 Million Miles to Earth", Langan gets the sympathy while the military gets the shaken finger. His reaction to realizing what's happened to him remains a very powerful moment in film. So as our world increases in knowledge, films like this remain behind to remind us of the lessons which we have not learned no matter what warnings there are for us way out there in the unknown.
And remember...."Keep your dark glasses on, and stay where you are!"
Another lesson of the world getting into trouble because of organizations like this fooling around where they shouldn't, this is dramatically better than most movies of its kind and convincingly acted with outstanding special effects. Of course, the most famous scene is the shot of Langan destroying Vegas (the billboards of various famous headliners included), and it is worth the build-up to these exciting scenes. Downs tries to intercede as the voice of reason, but when mankind interferes where certain clues tell them not to, it is all of humanity who must suffer.
Langan gets through this in a virtually silent performance, and wins sympathy for the innocent predicament that turned him into this colossal creature. William Hudson, who would later play the cheating husband in the film's follow-up ("The Attack of the 50 Foot Woman"), and Downs' shock upon discovering what has become of her fiancée is emotionally disturbing and powerful. Like the creature from Venus who grew to monstrous heights in "20 Million Miles to Earth", Langan gets the sympathy while the military gets the shaken finger. His reaction to realizing what's happened to him remains a very powerful moment in film. So as our world increases in knowledge, films like this remain behind to remind us of the lessons which we have not learned no matter what warnings there are for us way out there in the unknown.
And remember...."Keep your dark glasses on, and stay where you are!"