Truly Dreadful Film

Purely Joyful Movie!

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Gorgo is the one flick I've seen in my life that impressed me so much when watching it in a theater that I couldn't wait to get home to put the whole plot down on paper. True, I was only 11 at the time but already, I think, with enough vision to realize that I had just seen a great movie. One more of those little masterpieces the U.K. was bringing out at the time as buns from a hot oven, and one more that has been widely ignored by the public for half a century, only because of the badmouthing they received when they came out.Gorgo has been derisively referred to as an unoriginal spin off of the Japanese monster flicks of the 50s--Godzilla with fish & chips--and lost and buried in this name calling is the fact that this is a movie that can perfectly stand by itself. And while inspired on Godzilla, even trying to capitalize on it, it is quite superior to it. For starters, the acting is appropriate, which is good considering that the star here is a mountain size monster coming from the depths of the sea. Nowhere you'll see in Gorgo the overacting that had become a staple of Nipon monster flicks of the era, as if their producers would have feared that they didn't have enough FX to scare the public and they needed on top of that the actors themselves infected them with their panic. Of course the final effect of all this hamming up was the opposite, as Western audiences disregarded them as unfit for mature audiences and classified them as simple camp with cheese special effects, more fit to have fun at their expenses than to be taken seriously. Gorgo on the other hand comes out as a pretty mature movie, one that I have no qualms recommending to adults; they may not like it as I did but one sure thing is that they won't come back at my criticizing me for making them lose 76 min. of their lives watching a kiddie flick. One movie also with a far deeper and more vast philosophical meaning than all other monster flicks of the time. As the closing words put it so well, the presence of Gorgo in one of the centers of global power, tearing it apart, should serve us as a stark reminder that we men are NOT the kings of Creation.Speaking of which, one other thing going for Gorgo is the nature and identity of what he destroys. All great disasters in History, like the Hindenburg, the Challenger, the Titanic, etc, have one thing in common which makes them so awesome and compelling: they contain an element of hubris. We feel, when watching them unfold, that there's something, a supreme force or will teaching the powerful of this Earth a stark lesson in humility. That' s why a monster destroying Tokyo will never have the same effect on us so Godzilla can't win: either we won't take the flick seriously, as most of us do, or if taken by it we'll feel sorry for the victims, because we are to much used to see the Japanese, specially the civilians, as victims more than oppressors because of all we know of their History, their natural disasters, so there is no joy in watching them suffer. On the other hand I felt myself some kind of mischievous joy watching Gorgo tearing apart The British Parliament, the Tower Bridge and other London landmarks—though he wisely stays clear out of Downing 10 and the Buckingham Palace!.Surprisingly enough, the most important "human factor" or emotion, or feeling in the movie doesn't come from any human, but from the monster itself. Which brings us to the plot: some volcanic activity in the Earth crust offshore Ireland opens up some ways in the depths of the ocean through which a 50 feet tall monster comes out and harasses a small fishing village until he is trapped. Some shady impresario comes up then and, instead of letting the two protagonists send the beast to be studied by scientists, convince them to take it to London to make money out of it. Everything seems to be gong OK for the show business until scientists realize that this beast is just a baby, the kid of a mom monster who must be looking for him right now and that must be about 300 feet tall. There is where the fun begins. Tightly directed, impeccably edited. Great cinematography and camera work, with abundant use of color--they really milked the scenery in that Irish fishing village. Superb use of backgrounds all along, of light and shadows, of mist, smoke, fire and every other visual element possible; this is a rare movie where I spent the time watching the background as much as I did the action in front of the camera. A pace that never lets up, not a slow moment in the entire film but that really picks up at the 50 min. mark and becomes frantic the last 20 minutes, in which so many things happen as in a 2 hrs. movie. A score and sound effects that complement the whole, down to the evocative piece of the end. So, never mind Gorgo is just a guy in a rubber suit destroying small scale sets, buildings, power towers, bridges.Just suspend your disbelief for a mere 76 min. of your life and you won't regret the experience. 8/10..

This movie is nothing but a copy of Godzilla. Well, not the monster, but the idea itself, about giant monster destroying the cities. It is interesting that this is an UK film, it is very rare for British filmmakers to make movies about giant monsters, let alone giant lizards destroying everything in their path. But, they have a perverted tendency to destroy their capital city London in their SF films. But, hell... why not. Let's give it a shot. But this movie, alas, did poorly. Gorgo is actually a nickname for a Gorgosaurus, captured by a fishermen near Irish coast and brought to a circus. Later, they realized that this Gorgo is only a baby... one big baby, which means... an even bigger mama will come. And of course, she won't be gentle in her attempt to find the cub. The Gorgo monster looks funny, they used the same "rubber principle" of making the monster, but some special effects were solid. In conclusion, you wouldn't like this film a lot... you can use it as an insomnia cure.

Gorgo was the first and probably the best known British giant monster movie. With the success of early giant monster movies in the 1950s such as The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and Godzilla, many other companies were trying to put out giant monsters of their own. One of the first and better known of these was 1961's Gorgo.Gorgo is the story involving the discovery of a prehistoric mythical creature Gorgo, another name for Gorgon. The 60 foot giant occasionally attacks boats at sea but is flushed onto the mainland by some villagers. Eventually he is subdued and brought to England for study, only to be placed at a circus as a cash cow (not to self: do not exploit monsters you can barely control, if King Kong and Gorgo are any indication). It is revealed thereafter that Gorgo is a baby, practically in its infancy. The nearly 200 foot tall mother raids England in search of her offspring, gathers it, and the two depart for the sea once again.This monster movie has a lighter, more pleasing ending for the audience than most monster movies. Generally the misunderstood beast has to be killed, but not here. That was done on purpose as the director's daughter was upset by the ending of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. Gorgo is a pretty short movie, only running 76 minutes long. As a result, the film is fast paced and never has dull moments. Monster movie fans will also be pleased to see plenty of monster action in the movie, as Gorgo appears often and within the first 10 or 15 minutes.Speaking of Gorgo, he looks pretty good. His glowing eyes and a few other touches give away the fact that it's fake, but for its time the suit looks great. Also great is his iconic roar. It's rather ironic that Gorgo is an obvious imitation of Toho's Godzilla, yet Toho produced a monster rather similar to Gorgo almost 15 years later. Titanosaurus starred in the last Godzilla film of the Showa series and has the fins at the back of the head like Gorgo and is a general bipedal aquatic dinosaur. While Toho maybe didn't directly rip off Gorgo, it's still interesting to see the similarities from Godzill to Gorgo to Titanosaurus come full circle.Outside of Gorgo, the special effects were above par for the time. The acting is acceptable too. We have no outstanding performances, but no one annoys you or gives a bad performance here. The plot itself works well too. It's nothing that original, but the story of a misunderstood creature on the basis of its size is effective here. The boy who is nearly enchanted by the monster and its mother is a nice touch, showing how children sometimes have a better concept of what we should be doing instead of what we adults sometimes are thinking of (money!).All in all, Gorgo is a pleasing movie to watch and its quick pace/short time makes it a movie you can watch often if you want. A lack of graphic scenes or strong language also make this a movie that is something of a family please. It's not campy and childish so as to put dad off, yet his son can appreciate the movie as well. Gorgo has stood the test of time, having come out some 50 years ago and still having a pretty loyal following. He received his own magazines and toys, etc. Pretty impressive for a monster that starred in only one movie. I rate this movie a 6/10. That may not seem very high, but it's a solid movie worth seeing if you're a giant monster movie fan. If you aren't, then this movie won't appeal to you in the way a movie like Cloverfield or Monsters will. Fine by a monster movie fan like me, it's just that it doesn't have as widespread appeal. But again, if you like monster movies, this is a classic!

It's hard to believe this film has so many good reviews, especially so many stating how advanced the effects were for their time. It is utter rubbish, and unfortunately not even bad enough to make it funny. The acting is lame throughout and the characters and dialogue unrealistic. The monster, which I presume is based on an anklosaurus, is so obviously a man in a suit, that it is in no way convincing. Most of the budget must have been spent on stock footage, which makes up about a third of the film. This wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't so badly cut and with ineffective dubbing over it. Unfortunately there are a lot of continuity errors and even more times when the same stock footage is used more than once. Even the tailor made special effects are recycled, with Gorgo knocking over the same wall three times in about two minutes. I'd like to know whether the people who thought these effects were realistic were only 6 years old when they saw it or if they were taking mind expanding drugs at the time because quite frankly The Muppets are more realistic than Gorgo. The film's one redeeming feature is the happy ending.