The Amazing Colossal Man (1957) User Reviews

Probably the Best Gordon Film, For What That's Worth

[mrb1980 · 5/10 · 6 October 2005]

"The Amazing Colossal Man" gets my vote for Bert I. Gordon's best movie, meaning that it's not nearly as bad as his others.

Gordon's sci-fi/horror films of the 1950s had the same basic plot: 1. Monster is created. 2. Monster attacks. 3. Monster is destroyed, accompanied by inept special effects. In this film, luckless serviceman Glenn Manning (Langan) is exposed to intense radiation from a plutonium bomb, and is burned over his entire body. The attending physician (Hudson) gives him zero chance for survival, but the next morning his skin has miraculously healed. Afterwards, Manning disappears, and his wife (Downs) finds him at a remote army base--50 feet tall!

The healing process apparently had some unintended side-effects, and now Manning is kept in a circus tent. Hudson tells Downs that Manning is in pretty bad shape, and that "his mind will go first", a sure clue to the rest of the film. Sure enough, Manning goes crazy and escapes into the Nevada desert. Meanwhile an Army scientist (Larry Thor) has succeeded in his miniaturization experiments, and thinks if he can just give Manning an injection, everything will be fine. Of course, the usual no-nonsense 1950s Army guy (James Seay) shows up and says that if Manning causes any trouble, "we'll stop him cold!"

Manning attacks Las Vegas, tearing up a few casino signs and causing a ruckus. Off go Hudson, Downs, and Thor in a helicopter, toting a 6-foot hypodermic needle. In the film's best (and funniest) sequence, Thor and Hudson give Manning an injection in his big toe, whereupon Manning picks up the giant needle and impales Thor with it. Sure looks painful.

Apparently by now Gordon was out of ideas, because Manning shows up next on Boulder Dam, carries Downs around for a few minutes, then as soon as he puts her down, Seay yells, "FIRE!" His Army guys blast Manning with a variety of weapons, and in a very bad show of special effects, Manning ends up in the Colorado River. The End.

What sets "The Amazing Colossal Man" apart from the rest of Gordon's 1950s films are the story and acting. The story is actually pretty intelligent (compared with, say, "The Beginning of the End"). The acting is not bad, and the little-known Langan gives something of a minor tour-de-force as Manning. Hudson, Downs, and Thor are also quite adequate in their roles.

I recommend this film as a pretty good time-filler. Try watching without paying too much attention to the special effects. Gordon actually filmed a sequel, "War of the Colossal Beast", but it's pretty rock-bottom.

What single sin has Bert I Gordon committed?

[InzyWimzy · 6/10 · 28 November 2000]

Actually, I have seen this on and off, but watching it again in its entirety actually was a good thing. This is rare when describing Gordon's works.

Glenn Manning is the unfortunate guy who gets the full blast of a plutonium bomb. Poor guy is real mad about growing every day and being treated like a freak (hey, who doesn't). Although the effects are pure de Monsieur Gordon, it does work well with the film (I was cracking up with the big syringe). Glenn's rants and angina attacks do create some sympathy, but man, his girl sure stood by his side!! Some parts do tend to drag, there are lots of dimly lit hallways perfect for subterfuge and the miniature knick knacks were classic!

Um, there's a sequel?? Can I change my vote?

'50's B-movie trash really doesn't get much better than this.

[Boba_Fett1138 · 6/10 · 22 April 2008]

I've seen my share of '50's B-movies, with Martians, insects, crab monsters and giant leeches attacking but let me tell you, this movie really isn't among the worst, even though it basically follows the same formula as any other '50's B-movie.

As you would expect the movie follows a very simple story about an army colonel who slowly transforms into an amazing colossal man, after an atomic explosion of course. Still the story works out since it picks a more emotional approach rather than a spectacular one with the amazing colossal man smashing buildings and throwing cars (it happens, though not until the very end of the movie.). Instead the movie remains more humble and humane, filled with emotions involving around the main character, who is broken inside by the man who he has become. This might seem boring to some but it in fact is its original approach of the story which makes this such a fine movie to watch.

The movie uses some really great non-static camera-work, which was quite surprising, especially considering the time period the movie got made in. Of course the special effects are nothing too special but it simply serves its purpose, which makes it fine and effective. Oh and yes of course the movie is also using a lot of archive footage.

The acting is also better than you would normally expect from a movie such as this. It's easily B-leading man Glenn Langan's most memorable role.

Much better than its title, or current rating on here would suggest it is.

6/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Atomic Bombs Away

[editdave43 · 10 May 2002]

Burt I. Gordon's "The Amazing Colossal Man" was the first sci-fi film I saw as a kid that actually scared me. But it wasn't the effect of a bald Col. Glenn Manning running around Las Vegas that I found frightening; it was the actual atomic bomb test-blast footage I found so horrific. At the age of six, seeing houses blown like matchsticks into blazing debris was enough to cause nightmares. The same footage (recently restored by Peter Kuran for the "explosive" documentary "Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie") can still sends shivers down the spine of any self-respecting anti-nuker.

"The Amazing Colossal Man" still ranks as one of the better b-grade drive-in movies. It is unintentionally funny, full of impossible science and very entertaining. The cast does their best with the material (from a script by George Worthing Yates) but I suspect no one took the project very seriously, least of all Mr. Gordon. It is also highlighted by another thunderous Albert Glasser score.

More Tragic Than Amazing.

[AaronCapenBanner · 3/10 · 18 October 2013]

Bert I. Gordon directed this surprise hit about Lt. Col. Glenn Manning, who is accidentally exposed to a plutonium blast at a desert Army base, burning him extensively, but survives. However, he mysteriously starts to grow, reaching 50Ft. He becomes an object of study, but is gradually losing his mind because of both the situation and decreased blood supply to his brain. Glenn, enraged and despondent, escapes and goes on a rampage, forcing a showdown with the Army he once served in. Despite a good performance from the lead actor, and a sympathetic script, the F/X are shoddy and the ridiculous plot dissolves into an obvious chase melodrama, ending at a dam. Not yet on DVD for some reason, though was on YouTube for awhile.

Seen on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater in 1964

[kevinolzak · 5/10 · 4 April 2019]

1957's "The Amazing Colossal Man" was director's Bert I. Gordon's debut and most financially successful release for American International Pictures, while also his most acclaimed, not too surprising once you realize that virtually none of his other giant size creatures had any personality, neither "The Cyclops" nor the sequel "War of the Colossal Beast" giving their menace any dialogue. The simple inversion of Universal's massive hit "The Incredible Shrinking Man" was actually an uncredited adaptation of Homer Eon Flint's brief 1928 novel "The Nth Man," the rights to which just happened to belong to James H. Nicholson, and may have also inspired Stan Lee's origin story for The Incredible Hulk! In the lead was Glenn Langan, an actor who made a name for himself the previous decade in films like "Hangover Square" and "Dragonwyck" (facing off against Vincent Price), but had fallen on hard times here but a performance that engenders sympathy for his plight despite an excess of self pity and the typically overdone excuse of radiation poisoning. Colonel Glenn Manning (Langan) readies himself for the nation's first plutonium bomb test but leaves his position of safety to try to rescue the pilot of a downed civilian plane, the flesh seared from his body by the force of the blast (a startling visage so well done it is repeated at least twice more). As 95% of his body suffered third degree burns doctors give his fiancée Carol (Cathy Downs, "The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues," "The She-Creature," "Missile to the Moon") little hope that he'll survive, yet just hours after treatment his skin has completely regenerated itself, beginning a process of growth where Dr. Paul Linstrom (William Hudson, "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman") estimates the rate to be 10 feet per day. Manning emerges from his coma in a state of shock, despair and amusement in equal measure before we learn that his heart is not growing at the same pace as the rest of his body, essentially doomed to die in a few days unless something can be done to halt the progression. There's entirely too much talk until the final reel, when the Colossal Man finally goes on the rampage through Las Vegas, while one patrolman haplessly observes: "are you gonna stand by and let him destroy property?" A giant needle makes a painful looking injection that hopefully should stunt his growth, but in his fury he impales one unfortunate medico with a devastating strike and purloins his tiny fiancée for a final date with destiny at Boulder Dam. Gordon continued making giant size creature features for another 20 years, but never again reached the heights that this picture did. There's a lot of fun to be had if one can stay patient through the slow spots, which sadly isn't the case with its perfunctory sequel.

'First he will lose his mind & then his heart will literally explode!' Nothing special as far as I could see.

[poolandrews · 4/10 · 29 April 2012]

The Amazing Colossal Man starts late one night at Desert Rock in Nevada as the US military prepare to explode a new type of atomic bomb, a plutonium bomb which is the first of it's kind. The bomb is detonated but fails to explode, the men in the know claim it's a delayed chain reaction & it's only a matter of time before the plutonium bomb goes off. Then a small civilian plane crashes in the bomb testing area & Lt. Col. Glenn Manning (Glenn Langan) rushes to try & save any survivors but the plutonium detonates & Manning is caught in the explosion, Manning suffers 100% burns to his body & is rushed to hospital where he makes an amazing recovery. Mannings skin grow's back without so much as a scar but as an unexpected side-effect Manning starts to grow, within days he is 60 feet tall & the US military are at a loss at what to do. Manning starts to go crazy & manages to escape the US army base & heads straight for Las Vegas...

Co-written, produced & directed by Bert I. Gordon who is known as Mr. BIG which is very apt considering his films deal with themes of size this was probably rushed into production & made because of the then recent success of The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) while Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958) came soon after as well, not exactly considered a classic The Amazing Colossal Man does have it's fans & has been released various times throughout the years I thought it was a decent enough way to pass 80 odd minutes as long as you don't expect too much although I can't say it stands up that well when seen today. The script tires to turn Manning into some tragic figure, it tires to embed him with sympathy but he just comes across as bitter, ungrateful & unlikable. Some of the scientific nonsense that is paraded about here wouldn't convince a five year old, the speech about the human heart being a single cell will not fool anyone & it's amazing it was ever included as it never really goes anywhere other than have Manning cough a few times. The scenes at the end with the giant syringe are priceless, to inject Manning with some sort of cure they actually make a huge syringe complete with dosage markers, a giant plunger & finger rings for fingers (whose, I'm not sure) to go through! Then Manning just stands there & lets them inject him rather than move, it's all rather static & one dimensional. Even the the climax as Manning walks through Las Vegas leaves a bit to be desired, a worried crowd of about a whole ten people stand & watch as Manning just sort of walks along & not much else. All I'm saying is after sitting through 70 minutes of fairly dull talk there's not much reward, The Amazing Colossal Man is terrible but it's not that good & has dated badly with some really questionable science.

The special effects are adequate but hardly special, all the scenes with Manning as the giant have really noticeable matte lines not that Mr BIG had much ambition with the set-pieces anyway. The giant syringe is just really funny to as well, they way that soldier holds it & the fact it's a huge perfect replica of normal sized one. As expected stock footage is used although not extensively while the model plane looks iffy at best. Originally released on a double-bill with the British horror film Cat Girl (1957).

Filmed in Nevada in Las Vegas & the Hoover Dam stages the weak climax, almost certainly shot on a low budget the production values are reasonable for the period. The acting isn't great, Cathy Downs as the worried fiancé is terrible while Langan looks exactly like Arnold Vosloo as Imhotep from The Mummy (1999).

The Amazing Colossal Man really isn't that amazing at all, in fact apart from an unintentionally hilarious giant syringe it's pretty bland stuff with some extremely bad science thrown into the mix to no great effect. Worth watching for some innocent fun but I don't think it deserves to be called anything like a classic. Followed by the sequel War of the Colossal Beast (1958).

One of Mr BIG's better movies

[chris_gaskin123 · 7/10 · 16 February 2005]

I have seen The Amazing Colossal Man several times and is one of Mr BIG's better movies.

As a plane crashes just before an atomic test at Camp Desert Rock, Glenn Manning goes to see if there are any survivors despite the danger. The bomb goes off and he gets caught right in the middle of the blast. He suffers 90% burns but doctors are very baffled when they take his bandages off to find him without any scars at all. Gradually, he increases in size and eventually, he goes on the rampage through Las Vagas and kills Major Lindstrom when he injects him with a formula to reduce him in size with the needle. Manning is shot by the Military and falls into the Colorado River but is not dead...

One of the better parts of the movie is where Manning kills the Major with the needle he was going to inject him with.

The cast includes Glenn Langan as Manning and 50's sci-fi regulars Cathy Downs (The She Creature), Russ Bender (It Conquered the World) and James Seay (Killers From Space). Most of the cast are used to fighting giant creatures looking at other sci-fi movies they were in at this time.

Despite the low budget, this movie was fun to watch.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

The amazing one cell heart.

[punctate · 1/10 · 18 September 1999]

An army officer is caught outside during atom bomb test for some reason this causes him to grow. He becomes a giant that eats a lot and is in pain due to heart problems. The scientist explains that the heart is made of one cell. Now that is what I call really bad biology was the director on serious illegal drugs. This isn't the films only bad biology moment there is the scene where they shrink an elephant with the use of an injection. The plot of this movie is so weak and the ending is horrible. Bad attempt at a suspenseful drama with some bad I mean bad biology. Watch the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 version of this movie. Believe me folks I wouldn't watch this movie on its own. Heart made of one cell hehehehehe.

"What Did You Expect, Snow-White And The Seven Dwarfs?"

[davidcarniglia · 7/10 · 21 May 2019]

Ah, yes, the '50s, the desert, atomic tests, and an unfortunate mutant. The comfort zone of classic-era sci-fi fans. As we now know, all the guys in the trenches would be in some danger from the test blast's radiation, regardless of their dark glasses. Col. Glenn Manning (Glenn Langan) is doubly brave--trying to rescue a downed pilot at ground zero. Carol (Gloria Talbot), his fiancee, is pretty good grieving over his painful predicament.

We're dealing with actual personalities here, not just the 'usual suspects' common in this genre: the scientist, the hothead, the authorities, the locals, the girl, even the girl/scientist, etc. Well, those types are present too, but only in supporting roles. There's pretty good suspense as well, as Carol's surprised to find out that suddenly that she can't see Glenn for "security reasons." So she knows something's wrong, but has no idea what. His records have been destroyed. She does some sleuthing and skulking about, film-noir style. And, then, she finds her fiancee all right, all eighteen feet of him.

Then we get the junk-science 'explanation' from the doctors. Interestingly, Manning has a flashback to his Korean War days. Very good mixture of stock footage and live action. There's a pretty violent ambush scene in which he loses a buddy. Then another memory: an innocent scene with Carol on a picnic. Lastly in his reverie, the blast happens again. Manning wakes up, now 22 feet tall. It seems naive, but Carol tries to comfort him. Ironically, like the freak that he feels he's become, he's going to be put up in a circus tent.

The newscast from Las Vegas, with a pan of the casinos, hints that we're going to see more from there. "By the way, where's Manning?" asks a doctor; he and Carol are still hanging out. That seems hokey, but again, there's an authenticity to their interactions. He's depressed and angry, but more or less ok. In fact, most of his interactions are fascinating. "I think you're the freak!" he tells the soldier who brings him food. His fatal flaw is an underdeveloped heart. "His mind will go first, then his heart will literally explode." the doc tells Carol. More tension, more suspense.

Glenn basically tells her to buzz off--he just can't take the embarrassment anymore. Then he does what all movie monsters do--he gets loose. The doctors think they have an answer; they've figured out how to shrink animals...could the jibber-jabber fix work on Manning? Fittingly, two drunks spot him first. By now, of course, he's considered dangerous; he's a wanted man. He's dying, and he's losing it mentally.

It takes awhile to spot him again. Too many meetings and such. The scenes in the casino area is great; you can see that Manning is curious, even fascinated by how things look. He muses over the over-sized casino doodads--the crown, the shoe, the Arab figure. But (thanks to the afore-mentioned hothead types) he's shot at. Time for a bit of a rampage. Everything is heading for a denouement at Hoover Dam. The gigantic hypodermic needle is well-modeled; skewering the soldier with it was a unique bit too. Fay Wray-style, Carol gets scooped up. Putting her down, he's blown off the dam to his death below.

The ending is the weakest part of the movie. Why don't they tell Manning what they're injecting him with? For all he knows it might be lethal; No wonder he reacts violently. And why kill him if there's a chance he could return to normal size? After all, what got him into all this was an act of kindness and bravery. He's not a bad guy. The special effects weaken as well; Manning is partly invisible in all of the Las Vegas and Hoover Dam scenes.

Still, The Amazing Colossal Man is mostly successful. The premise is certainly interesting, the pacing, though lagging in the middle, is generally good; both Langan and Downs give solid, sympathetic performances. The special effects are uneven, but not bad overall. There's few movie 'monsters' who are drawn as thoughtfully as Col. Mannings's character. Recommended for classic-era sci-fi fans, despite its flaws. 7/10.

What a massive disappointment! This huge Sci Fi movie was not as amazing as it should had been.

[ironhorse_iv · 5/10 · 26 August 2020]

Adapted uncredited from author Homer Eon Flint's 1928 short science fiction novel 'The Nth Man' & released theatrically as a double feature by American International Pictures with 1957 British American movie 'Cat Girl'. This motion picture had potential to be one of the great Sci Fi films of the 1950s. Yet the story of US Army Lt. Colonel Glenn Manning's life being turned into an enormous nightmare as his body continue to grow gargantuan proportions after surviving a plutonium explosion, found itself being mock and featured on Season 3 Episode 9 of the TV Show 'Mystery Science Theater 3000'. Many of the reasons why is because of the lousy mostly incept visual and special effects. Don't get me wrong, the use of real miniature models does work nicely giving an effective forced perspective of size. However, everything is a bit too dark. Since it is a black & white picture or blue & black in some versions. It's often difficult to tell what is really going on the screen. Yet it's crystal clear that the giant images of actor Glenn Langan's body for Manning is badly matted into shots as the visuals transparent were highly noticeable. Whenever the performer is moving, his body seem to go through background walls and items as if he is a ghost. Not only that, but the fake looking dated rear projection effect was very noticeable in most of the transportation scenes; especially the helicopter sequences. To add onto that, the model plane in the beginning of the film looks a bit second rate. They never did explain why it crash or what happen to the pilot. Regardless, it was a distracted that wasn't really needed. The film would have work better if screenwriters Mark Hanna, George Worthing Yates & the director Bert I. Gordon work in the idea that the PTSD fueled Glenn thought he saw his old war buddy that was stabbed dying in the field instead. It could had explained all the Korean War stock footage flashbacks a lot better rather than the sequences feeling a bit unrelated filler. Nevertheless, the nuclear blast scene still looks incredibly cheesy. Seeing him getting his clothes rip apart from a dust cloud intermixed with obvious real-life stock footage of 1955 'Operation Cue' atomic bomb test was kinda jarring. Weird that the bomb can flatted a whole building yet not be able to vaporizes a human being. Despite that, the make-up work for the three degrees burns in the beginning were well done. Nonetheless the film repays him being expose to radiation a bit too much in the exposition dumps scenes involving the doctors Paul Linstrom (William Hudson) and Eric Coulter (Larry Thor). The middle sequences were highly infuriating in how much time they wasted, repeating what we already saw and knew about Glenn. I kinda wish they would point out how stupid he was to allow soldiers to smoke during a nuclear blast to calm their nerves. That would be something intelligent to say. Anyways, those padding scenes are supposed to seem smart, but the scientific exposition felt very dumbed down. The idea that a heart is made from one cell is not factual correct; as in truth, it's cardiomyocytes and the cardiac pacemaker cells that makes help pump that muscle. To add onto that, radiation doesn't make things grown but instead cause things to gradually slow down. That's why it is use to treat people with gigantism. It caused stabilize of the somatostatin hormone. The doctors here in this film are idiots. Even in the 1950s, most people in the medical field deeply know that. In truth, the best way to solve the problem is to remove the pituitary tumors to prevent acromegaly. As much as their diagnostic was annoying, their treatment solution is hilarious stupid by stabbing Manning with the giant syringe full of bone marrow. Seeing the giant darted a huge hypodermic at a doctor, impaling him was laugh out loud funny rather than tragic. Talking about the climatic action. There is far too little of it. I would love to see Glenn violently escape from the military base, because the idea that a 60 feet tall man stealth his way out without anybody seeing him is a bit unrealistic. While I like do love the later scenes where Glenn destroyed Las Vegas landmarks as it represented things he no longer can't have. Him peeking tom a lady taking a bath was a bit much. I guess it's supposed to show that his brain has degenerate into primitive toxic last ditch urge to reclaim his masculinity, but the idea that he already forgotten his fiancée Carol Forrest (Cathy Downs) is heart breaking. Then again that is lose once a badly superimposed still image of Langan's body cradle up supposedly falling from the Hoover Dam come to the screen hilariously to make us quickly forget about it. The climax is supposed to be tragic, but it come across as a joke. In the end, while Langan did gives an okay performance as the trouble man dealing with loss of a bodily function, love and oncoming death. His character did sulk like a baby too much. The white diaper loincloth matches Manning well. As for the supporting cast. Their acting is pretty awful; especially Cathy Downs whom is terribly wooden. Overall: While not as bad as that 1958 sequel 'War of the Colossal Beast'. I still kinda wish Sally Fraser from that movie was here as Glen's sister Joyce. She would give a decent performance. Sadly, the director known as Mister B.I.G due to his many works of making kaiju films kinda made a colossal mess with this series. In the end, it's watchable for 'so bad, it's good' fandoms, but for normal audiences it's one sleeping giant not worth waking up.

I NEVER GET TIRED OF THIS ONE

[bbrasher1 · 9/10 · 13 December 2003]

"What sin can a man commit in a single lifetime to bring this upon himself?"

Just as Lon Chaney's Wolfman was cursed simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, Col. Glenn Manning is burned over 95% of his body while trying to save the pilot of a small plane that crashes into the test area where a plutonium bomb is to be detonated. He survives the blast, only to grow at the rate of ten feet a day. Eventually, he suffers a mental breakdown and wreaks as much havoc as the budget of this movie will allow. Still, it's one of the best cheapie flicks to come out of an era of giant spiders, black scorpions, and a certain mutated dinosaur from Tokyo.

THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN certainly has a bargain-basement feel to it-even the score by Albert Glasser fits well here. As far as the performances, Glen Langen is the only one who really stands out-and not just because of his size, either. Like Chaney's Wolfman, he evokes sympathy because of the affliction that causes him to lose his humanity and become a freak of nature, an outcast, and a menace to society.

A cheapie flick, but a classic one just the same.

Rating: **** out of *****

as long as you DON'T take it seriously, it's a cool flick

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 16 March 2006]

This isn't exactly the Royal Shakespeare Company here and with a title like THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN, you know you're not about to watch something that's due for a re-make on Masterpiece Theater. So, as long as you realize it is first and foremost a schlocky sci-fi horror film from the 50s and have your expectations set relatively low, you'll probably have a good time watching it. On a campy and kitschy level, it's good stuff. I particularly like how his clothes seem to grow with him (thus allowing it to STILL be a family flick) and the scene near the end of the film when they give this crazed giant an injection--his reaction is priceless!! All-in-all, I'd recommend this as a good film to watch with friends. Watch it, laugh and enjoy.

You're turning into the biggest man on earth and all you're going to do is sulk like a baby?

[Torgo_Approves · 2/10 · 30 March 2006]

The best thing about B-movies from the 50s is that they are almost always entertaining, if awful. Plan 9 From Outer Space certainly has more entertainment value than, say, Armageddon, and It Conquered the World was a funny little piece of silliness with performances that were definitely better than expected. The latter movie also featured the funniest movie monster I have ever seen.

But The Amazing Colossal Man, simply put, has few things going for it. It looks promising, just take a glance at the priceless tagline: "A Seventy Foot Giant Is Terrorizing Las Vegas..." Sounds like a hilarious piece of schlock, doesn't it? Well, I was wrong to think so.

The movie looks awful. Everything is too dark and since it is a black and white picture (although blue-and-black would be a more proper way to describe it), it is often difficult to tell what is really going on on the screen. Our hero, Glenn Langan's Lieutenant Manning, is a dull emo martyr who I found it difficult to feel sorry for. Sorry buddy, but if you run out in front of a nuclear explosion, you have yourself to blame.

The main problem I had was with the ludicrous story (man is badly burned by hydrogen bomb and starts growing) that we're supposed to take seriously. This isn't a tongue-in-cheek riot, it's a melodramatic, dragging bore. It has the entertainment value you'd expect from The Seventh Seal.

It is also annoying how repetitive the scenes are. Giant-Manning will sit in his hospital bed, whining about his condition, and his girlfriend will console him and claim that the doctors are working day and night. A few scenes later, Giant-Manning will sit inside a circus tent and whine, his girlfriend will console him again and repeat that the doctors are doing all they can. It all screams "filler" and makes you long for the cheesy monster action of the Gamera movies.

The only scene in which anything of interest happens occurs at the very end, where a seemingly stoned Manning goes on a very mild rampage in his city. Then he is shot down and killed. That's it. The end.

The Amazing Colossal Man is a huge disappointment. While Plan 9 might not have the quality of TACM, it is certainly more fun to watch. Avoid.(r#7)

Life Under the Big Top

[BaronBl00d · 18 February 2002]

I liked this film. I liked it a lot. Sure it is by no means anything other than a poorly-crafted, deficient special effects laden film about a man that survives a plutonium blast that starts to grow almost 8 inches a day. Soon Colonel Glenn Manning becomes fifty feet high and starts to lose his mind. Bert I. Gordon is able to do something he rarely ever does, and that is make you care a bit for the characters. Glen Manning is punished for a good deed and his heroic personality, and the irony of his situation is never lost on him or the audience. Glenn Langlan does a pretty good job as the giant man despite the acting experience it was trying to seem gigantic. The rest of the cast is not quite at his mediocre level. Cathy Downs does a credible job as his love interest, but the two fellas playing the doctors had all the bedside charm of a brick wall. How bout that scene with the camel and the elephant? What a hoot! The special effects are some of the cheapest to come out of the fifties. Giant Glenn Manning is just projected onto other film. Nothing too special about that. Except in the close-ups, the giant always looks transparent(a symptom of the projection process...watch Attack of the 50 Foot Woman and you will see the same effect). The scene with the giant hypodermic needle is easily the best. Glenn finally gets his point across to an army scientist. The biggest low of the film for me was the ending. It seems very abrupt, almost like, "Hey, we ran out of money....let's end it like this....real fast!" Shortcomings notwithstanding...give The Amazing Colossal Man a try if you like good/bad science fiction films from the fifties. If your ideas of horror classics are Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street...stay away...nothing in this film will entertain you.

Technically clumsy, but watchable.

[gridoon · 5/10 · 9 October 2001]

This movie makes an earnest attempt to show the emotional effect that the title character's condition has on him and on his loving fiance, and it comes off more serious and less campy than you might expect. BUT....it does look pretty cheap, and the "rear projection" techniques that are used are very clumsy. It's a terrifically SHORT movie, though. (**)

Messing around again where we shouldn't.

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 3 September 2015]

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!"

It's Not Fair

[Hitchcoc · 5/10 · 23 June 2015]

Glen Manning performs an act of courage and what does he get. Exposure to Plutonium makes him a freak of nature, a man fifty feet tall, but the radiation affects his brain. Of course, this brings in the scientists who want to do things to him, as well as those who wish to destroy him as he goes on a rampage. These may be the worst special effects ever. At times we can see through the giant to the mountains and trees behind. This is also a love story and a story of hopelessness. He is made a freak, like the guy in "The Incredible Shrinking Man." The love of his life is willing to do what she can out of compassion and recognition of his cruel fate. The final scene is pretty good. There are some very touching scenes as well.

Bert Gordon's Best-Known Film?

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 13 April 2015]

Lt. Col. Glenn Manning (Glenn Langan) is inadvertently exposed to a plutonium bomb blast at Camp Desert Rock. Though burned over 90% of his body, he survives, and begins to grow in size.

Jim Nicholson of American International Pictures had the rights to Homer Eon Flint's 1928 novel, "The Nth Man" about a man who was 10 miles high. Nicholson thought it could be adapted to cash in on the success of "The Incredible Shrinking Man" (released six months earlier in 1957) and originally announced Roger Corman as director. Charles B. Griffith was hired to adapt the novel and he turned it into a comedy. Then Corman dropped out and Bert Gordon was hired. Gordon worked on the script with Griffith but the collaboration only lasted a day before Griffith quit. Instead, Griffith's regular writing partner, Mark Hanna stepped in.

Before Gordon became involved, the film was conceived with Dick Miller in mind for the lead. Unfortunately, this never happened, though it would have been a great casting coup. It was Gordon's first movie for AIP. Interestingly, although he has come to be known as "Mr. BIG", this was not even his own idea!

Paul Corupe calls the film "a surprisingly nuanced creature feature dealing with the emotional aspect of body horror." He sees it as an "atomic-age update" to "The Wolf Man" in that sense, which seems a stretch. But the point is correct -- although now seen as campy or cheap, it was actually rather clever in its own way. They even bothered to address the issue of how his clothes grow.

its the amazing colossal DUD

[tomservo-4 · 2/10 · 19 November 2000]

this movie is a dud because the acting is somewhat terrible and he keeps growing and growing and you get the picture untill he is tall like king kong and starts destroying las vegas and one of the most funny things of the movie he is in great pain due to he has a one cell heart from growing from normal size to being a giant which is utterly unbelievable. so stay away from this film unless have it own tape if you are a mst 3000 fan like me but I cant say for sure if its watchable on its own. just another B-film of the 50's

The Earliest of All Giant Movies

[weprin2 · 6/10 · 19 July 2005]

If you ask me, I think the effects in this movie are far more convincing than the special effects in Attack of the 50 Foot Woman! All thought in some of the effects scenes the giant did looked a little transparent but not badly! Glenn Manning growing kinda reminded me about the Harryhausen hit, "20 Million Miles to Earth" Which the Ymir grows at an alarming rate from earth's air. After seeing The Amazing Colossal Man and it's sequel War of the Colossal Beast, I'm always wondering what would happen if Glenn Manning had come face to face with Gaira from "War of the Gargantuas"? Would it be a fair fight? They appear to be both the same size! I just can't decide who would probably win! I think The Amazing Colossal Man is a must have for all old sci-fi fans. I just enjoy it for what it is.

Typical American International Crapola

[verbusen · 3/10 · 6 December 2006]

I am constantly amazed at the numbers of people who write such educated pieces on films as low in quality like The Amazing Collosal Man. I mean on this one I'm pretty shocked because this movie is horribly bad. It's not the worse and doesn't come close to the "worse" quality such as a Beast Of Yucca Flats type film. There is a coherent plot, but the story is incredibly long and boring and the end is very anti-climatic. This would have been a drive in flick where I would be cursing the ending saying "I stayed awake for that?". THE ONLY way I watched this whole thing was because it was a MST3K episode that I got and they tore it a new one. I mean the funniest part was at the end when the "Giant" (he's no longer a "Colonel"), is asked to put the girl down, and when he does the soldiers blast him, the MST3K guys dialog was, OK thanks for putting the girl down now here's some bullets for your reward. That ending was that abrupt and that lame. Avoid this like the plague unless watching as a MST3K bit or unless you intentionally want to watch a bad film. Some of these reviews must be have been written by college students using their essays from school and posting it on the web since they already did it. I mean to make so much into a flick like Amazing Collosal is like rationalizing a terrorist attack, sometimes its just too obvious to analyze in depth. In this case, it's early American International crapola, period.

Amazing Movie!

[bruceljoyner · 8/10 · 7 September 2006]

The Amazing Colossal Man looms high on my list of favorite movies. The era it was made in and the results of exposure to radiation on humans was a subject of conjecture in 1957.Today we can look at this movie and judge it by what we know today, but in 1957 no one had a clue. Another movie from this time period was Attack of the Giant Gila Monster only this time a desert lizard is transformed into a threat.Both movies show how we react to the unknown.It is dated today but Bert I. Gordon got the mood of the times correct.I gave this movie 8 stars because the truth it holds is timeless.Col. Manning had my sympathy and kept it to the end.He was a character that was new for the times;he questioned the authorities that tried to imprison him and keep him out of view without him having anything to say about it.

Yes It's Cheesy Sci-Fi But There's A lesson to Be Learned!

[thejcowboy22 · 6/10 · 19 June 2014]

Most of us have seen this epic many times over watching Poor Glen Manning struggle with his glandular problem. Hearing him yell, "I Don't want to grow anymore!" Most parents would not recommend this movie to their children but I beg to differ. The daily struggles of our bald star performer in a sarong can only be to familiar with a child who has diabetes, asthma or a physical ailment. The feeling of being different is a very real problem of a sickly or deformed child. Maybe cause I was different. I could feel Glen's pain and anguish toward his future which looked pretty slim or show I refer to huge?. Things of course get out of hand as Glen gives up and takes off in the desert ending up in Las Vegas and ruining a woman's bath plus a few Hotel Signs/props.Our tragic figure ends up with girl friend Carol in hand onto Boulder Dam. Glen puts Carol down and then gets a few blasts from the Army and falls off the dam to the rocky Colorado river below. Glen was positive there was no hope but I think that this movie teaches us to hang in there no matter what and don't take matters into your own hands and for the most part listen to your Doctors. Be strong enough to bear the cross!!

One of the worst movies ever made...

[SFPaul · 1/10 · 30 March 1999]

This movie has everything all wrong. Awful SFX, ridiculous dialog, a story that doesn't hold up-to-date, etc. Rhino Home Video once sold the "Mystery Science Theater 3000" version of this film, which roasts this film perfectly (and is the only version of the film you should watch, otherwise, avoid this movie like the plague!), but is no longer available due to rights issues. Shame on those rights holders who thought they could actually make some money off this crap and made Rhino pull it.