Description

It’s the third and final season for reluctant superhero Ralph Hinkley (William Katt), his lawyer girlfriend Pam Davidson (Connie Sellecca) and by-the-book FBI agent Bill Maxwell (Robert Culp), but the high-flying fun is far from over! In this season, Ralph is reunited with the ‘green guys’ from space, stumbles into danger at his high school reunion, fumbles his way to his and Pam’s wedding, and tangles with doomed rockers, ruthless ranchers, strange gamers, killer magicians, the KGB, Central American revolutionaries, a genetic Nazi monster and more. Believe it or not, he’s still walking on air as THE GREATEST AMERICAN HERO! This collection includes all 13 third season episodes of the action-comedy hit created by Stephen J. Cannell (THE COMMISH, 21 JUMP STREET, HUNTER) and features such guests stars as David Paymer, Bob Saget, Rick Dees, Tawny Little, June Lockhart, André The Giant and more. ... Read more

Amazon.com

A highlight among 1950s creature-features, The Monster That Challenged the World is a near-classic B movie that never goes out of style. When an earthquake reveals a nest of giant, prehistoric sea mollusks at the bottom of California's Salton Sea, the local body count skyrockets. Navy lietenant Twillinger (Tim Holt) takes command, assisting the obligatory scientist (Hans Conreid) while wooing the June Cleaver wanna-be (Barbara Darrow) who inevitably tangles with the monster--a flailing caterpillar-like beastie with snapping mandibles and a voracious appetite. With a moment of vintage gross-out ("Get the eye! Get the eye!"), well-handled suspense, and the requisite balance of tepid romance and sci-fi jargon, this is a prime companion to any film in the atomic-monster lineup. The aging Holt made only two more movies after this (following a thriving career in Westerns), but he gives Monster his best shot and comes up a winner. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (29)

Despite the title, one of the better Fifties monster movies
There are a lot of really bad Science Fiction b-movies from the Fifties that are remembered, which is a shame when there is a pretty decent monster movie like "The Monster That Challenged the World" that is being forgotten, even if the title is pretty [silly]. This film starts out in what we would now consider to be a rather traditional fashion as an earthquake unleashes the titular creature in the Salton Sea. When a Navy parachutist go missing the investigation by Commander John Twillinger (Tim Holt) finds a boat with a dead sailor, the shriveled body of the parachutist, and a bunch of slime. There are more strange disappearances, but unlike the standard monster movie where the hero bumbles around while the danger grows, Twillinger finds the monster (some sort of prehistoric mollusk is what they keep saying, but it does not really look like a giant monster snail to me) and its cache of eggs and destroys them. Well, he gets almost all of the eggs, which is why the movie continues at this point.

Monster movies usually hinge on the monster but in this one I think you need to pay more attention to the main trio of actors and their characters. As Twillinger actor Tim Holt ("The Treasure of the Sierra Madre") turns in a fine performance in what turned out to be his final major film role (I probably should have said final leading film role). "Twil" is too old and too overweight to be the traditional hero, but that is what gives the human half of the film its sense of realism (per se). Character actor Hans Conried plays Dr. Rogers, the requisite scientist in such tales, and the only one who has a clue as to what might be going on with the monstrous mollusks. But Rogers is having a hard time catching up with the situation and keeps finding that he has not thought of everything. The screenplay was written by Pat Fielder, a woman, which might explain why the female lead, Gail MacKenzie (Audrey Dalton), the secretary for Dr. Rogers, is not a traditional monster movie heroine either; no fainting for this brave single mother (ironically, it is the military guys who do the screaming at the start of the film).

The monster is well above average for this decade of movie making and while this is clearly a low budget effort director Arnold Laven does not take a lot of short cuts. In fact, there is one sequence that anticipates the opening sequence of "Jaws," and Laven's efforts do not suffer than much in the comparison. Unfortunately, the first appearance of the monster is actually one of the lesser moments in the film. Still, on balance, "The Monster That Challenged the World" is ahead of the curve for Fifties monster films; I actually like it more than "The Creature From the Black Lagoon," which has a better looking monster to be sure, but a fairly pedestrian script and less than stellar acting.

IT'S ALL TRUE?
With little fanfare, MGM has quietly transferred a handful of great B films to DVD that they not too arbitrarily categorize as "Midnight Movies." The nice looking digital prints are in their original theatrical format and appear as if they were taken from original material. The discs come with no substantial extras but care has been lavished on the box art, often reflecting the lurid lobby cards and posters of their initial release. Even acknowledging the B category, these are for the most part well-crafted and, almost adequately acted.

"THE MONSTER THAT CHALLENGED THE WORLD" Get this -- there's an earthquake in our Palm Springs area Desert Empire that unleashes killer crustaceans under the Salton Sea. It's hard not to think this is some kind of low budget cinematic prophesy based on the massive Landers quake of 91. At least I was willing to suspend my own disbelief at the premise and enjoy the wonderful, dilapidated Salton Sea resort locations. Tim Holt and Audrey Dalton star along with the deliciously sardonic Hans Conreid.

And now we know what is causing the massive Salton Sea pollution. Mary Bono please take note before the creatures mutate and rise again.

Classic 1950's Creature Feature With Good Story And Effects
Despite it's grandiose title which screams out "B movie for the drive in circuit!", "The Monster That Challenged the World", is a good piece of 1950's science fiction, offering capable performances, an interesting, if not totally original storyline and an interesting "creature on the loose", in a giant mollusk that proceeds to drain all the blood from its victims in its quest for nourishment. The creature when it is eventually seen in its entirety is quite horrific and far more sophisticated than the usual rubber suit or tentacled fur balls employed in alot of Sci Fi films of this period. All of this is presented in a pleasing and (for this genre) largely non sensational manner and benefits greatly from some very effective locations filmed in and around Florida's famed Salton Sea.

"The Monster That Challenged the World", starts off with an explanation of the curious history of the Salton Sea and introduces us to the scientific base where most of the action develops from when it is rocked by a tremor which in itself is not serious but which with time is revealed to have created a "hiccup" with some of the "dormant", forms of life in the sea. All seems well until some of the military performing routine parachute jumps into the sea strike trouble with two men completely disappearing and the third being literally scared to death by some horrific vision. Put in charge of the investigation into what happened to the men Lt. John Twillinger (Tim Holt), finds one of the bodies rising to the surface which has been strangely drained of all of its blood. Meanwhile swimmers in the local area also begin to disappear and it becomes obvious that something is lurking in the sea that is unlike anything encountered before. Equally mystifying is that at each of the sights where a death has occured is found a strange sticky substance which when examined by the base scientist Dr. Jess Rogers (Hans Conried), is revealed to come from a prehistoric form of sea Mollusk that supposedly had been extinct for millions of years. During a further expedition out into the sea the divers discover strange egg sacs of a size never seen before and then encounter the creature in broad daylight as it attacks them in their boat. It appears that the prehistoric sea mollusk had lain dormant for millions of years below the sea and was shacken out by the tremor. Affected by elements of radioactivity present in the sea the mollusk had grown to a huge size with a decidely hostile manner. Beaten off by the men the gravity of the situation is revealed in that these creatures multiple rapidly and have a consuming appetite for other creatures blood. One of the egg sacs is taken back to the lab where it is kept at a neutral temperature to stop it from hatching so that it can be studied. In the lab Lt. Twillinger makes the acquaintance of lab assistant Gail Mackenzie (Audrey Dalton), a young widow with a child and they begin a romance. Closing off the sea's beaches patrols are set up of all the loch's leading from the sea. When one of the loch watchmen is killed in the same way as the divers, being drained of his blood, emergency measures are taken. The team manages to find the main nesting place of the creatures and divers proceed to blow them all up. It seems like the threat has now been removed however at the base Gail's young daughter has played with the temperature control on the observation tank and the creature hatches trapping both Gail and her daughter in a storage room. Not able to reach her on the telephone and sensing something is wrong Lt. Twillinger races back to the base and is confronted by the creature just as it is breaking down the door where Gail is trapped. The military then move in and destroy the creature with fire. The conclusion sees John and Gail happily reunited outside the burning base building.

For this kind of film the screenplay surprisingly presents the material in a fairly intelligent and well thought out manner. The creature of the title doesn't exactly threaten the whole world however its general look and the explanation of how it has got to the size it is is dealt with in an interesting manner. Performances are generally good for this type of effort. Tim Holt had had a long busy career appearing in many Hollywood "A" efforts prior to this film and indeed "The Monster That Challenged the World", was almost his final film performance. He looks decidely unfit in the unlikely role of the male romantic lead however he combines well with Audrey Dalton to make a fairly believable couple. The direction by Arnold Laven, is capable without being spectacular for science fiction. He keeps the action moving along and the old technique of not revealing the monster until the story is well set up is a standard one in 1950's sci fi which works well here. His direction of Audrey Dalton is probably the best part here as he doesn't reduce her character to the standard screaming damsel in distress as is normal. Gail is a resourceful and intelligent woman and when she is put into a crisis situation at the films conclusion proves herself to be level headed and capable of good judgement when faced with the sea mollusk on the rampage.

Certainly not top grade science fiction "The Monster That Challenged the World", however makes great viewing if like me, you are a fan of the "creature features", of the 1950's. I think its most appealing feature apart from the terrific monster is the fact that it has an almost at times low key, non sensational approach to the material. The earnest performances by Tim Holt, Audrey Dalton and Hans Conreid in particular give this film a certain credibility that is missing in some of its "B" cousins from the same period in Hollywood. Enjoy a nasty blood sucking creature awakened from its slumber after millions of years in United Artists "The Monster That Challenged the World".

Instant Terror...Just Add Water
I really wanted to give this movie four stars, but a few things got in the way, which I will go into later. The Monster That Challenged the World (1957), wow, that's a mouthful, is actually a smidge better than lots of other films of this type produced around the mid to late 50's.

The film stars Tim Holt as Lt. Cmdr. John 'Twill' Twillinger. I best remember Holt from the Humphrey Bogart classic Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) but he's been in a ton of other films including My Darling Clementine (1946) and Swiss Family Robinson (1940) to name a couple. The movie also stars Audrey Dalton as Gail MacKenzie and Hans Conried as Dr. Jess Rogers. If you don't recognize Conried's face, you may recognize his voice, as he did voices for various cartoon shows like Woody Woodpecker, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Tom & Jerry, Dudley Do-Right, and narration on the Dr. Suess classic, Horton Hears a Who! (1970).

The film opens on the Salton Sea, a lake that occupies a desert basin in southern California. A military base, located near the body of water, regularly performs parachute testing, with the jumpers landing in the sea. After a recent tremor, a routine pickup from the waters turns into a horrific nightmare, with three men dead, two drained of all their fluids, and one scared to death. An investigation turns up more questions than it answers.

A diving expedition reveals a new cavern has opened at the bottom of the lakebed, and some curious egg-like sacs are present. The expedition also reveals a large, monstrous creature with large, sharp pinchers that proceeds to gobble on one of the divers. The men on the boat come into contact with the beast, poking it in the eye with a big stick. Dr. Rogers puts forth the theory, based on the evidence collected, that these are prehistoric mollusks that had been dormant for many years, and have been revived due to the tremor and traces of radioactive materials in the waters due to atomic testing. (At least the creatures size wasn't solely attributed to atomic 'embiggening' as was common with films of this type at the time)

Anyway, thus begins the chase to hunt down all the creatures, as there are more than one, and with the distinct possibility that these creatures may navigate their way into a series of channel locks and end up in open waters causes the military to hasten their efforts to track down the human fluid draining monsters. The fear is that due to the size and appetite of the creatures, and their capacity and efficiency for reproduction, they would deplete the oceans rather quickly and move onto land for human sustenance.

As I said before, I enjoyed the film, but there were a few flaws. One being when Dr. Rogers, keeping one of the eggs in a temperature controlled tank in a fairly unsecured and unguarded area tells everyone that the egg won't hatch as long as the easily accessible temperature dial isn't changed from its' setting. Well guess what? Someone fiddles with it, and the egg hatches. I mean, given how much Dr. Rogers went out of his way to tell us how important it was that this dial remain where it was, one couldn't help but wonder not if but when it was going to be changed, as such a clunky piece of exposition rarely is for naught in films like this. Also, I thought Tim Holt's portrayal of his character made him look like a real brown noser jerk. I'm sure it was written that way, and a softer side was shown at times, but it was still off putting and really didn't endear the character to me much.

I will say the creatures looked really spectacular, especially the scene where the egg hatches in the laboratory and the monster terrorizes a couple of people. Imagine a giant, slobbery, snail-like monster, voracious for your fluids and you get the picture. The shells the creatures used for homes also looked very good and realistic. The creatures did have a good amount of screen time, allowing for the viewer to get a good look at them, which wasn't always the case in movies like this, especially cheaper ones, limiting the screen time due to costs.

The print used here was okay, but did show a number of signs of wear and tear, with speckling and a few scenes with vertical lines on the print. Also, the film has been modified to full screen format, which I try to avoid, if possible. Given the quality of the film and lack of any special features (I would have loved a featurette on the creatures), I would be hard pressed to give this the 3½ to 4 stars it deserves. All in all, a really good movie with a sub par release, and one that reinforces the necessity to obey the 'no swimming' signs when posted as you never know if the reasoning is because of high E Coli counts or prehistoric mollusks intent on draining your precious bodily fluids through your neck. You've been warned.

Cookieman108

Above-average giant bug film
The Monster that Challenged the World (1957), directed by Arnold Laven and starring Tim Holt and Audrey Dalton, is an above-average grade-B film about giant, mutated mollusks from the bottom of the Salton Sea. The action takes place in the vicinity of a naval base, commanded by Tim Holt, with Dalton his obligatory love interest. The creatures, mutated as a result of radioactivity from atomic testing and freed after millions of years thanks to earthquake activity, drain the body fluids out of their victims. Yuk. Above-average special effects, interesting story, and convincing acting combine to make this film one of the best of its type. Highly recommended to fans of the genre. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

I hoped for more
I expected more from this when I rented it, but overall it wasn't too bad either. The name of the movie gives you most of the storyline: A rough night in Jerico. Too bad though, this movie had potential

UNUSUAL DINO WESTERN ! STILL GOOD !
This movie is not a high tension western like Rio Bravo or even Bandolero. Dean plays a chracter called Alex Flood, a bad guy. This movie provides a rare opportunity to see Dean Martin playing a bad man. And this is also a very rare opportunity to see an actor playing a bad guy can be charming. As long as your initials are D.M., it is not possible to be nasty, even when you are playing a bad guy ! So whether or not Dean Martin was the best choice for this role is arguable. Probably, the character that George Peppard played (good guy) would be much suitable for Dean Martin as people are always used to see him as a kind and happy-go-lucky persona.

As for the technical details of DVD, it is in wide screen format. Picture quality is good and sound quality is not too bad.

Dean is BAD
If you want to see what a BADMAN should be portrayed as, this is the movie and Dean Martin is the BADMAN! George Peppard co-stars and the fight-to-the-death at the end of the picture is a great ending to this excellent, but little known movie.

Rollicking Western
A routine but enjoyable western yarn that was pretty violent for its time (the fight between George Peppard and Slim Pickens in particular).Dean Martin goes against type as a villain out to destroy Jean Peter's stage line. It's up to hero George Peppard and crusty old John McIntyre to set things aright - which they do amid much gunfire and fisticuffs. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Can't wait for this to hit dvd
CHips was one of the coolest shows on tv from the 70's = it featured, the in vogue chemistry of the time, two good-looking guys=one blond, one brunette, (for reference-look to dukes of hazzard & starskey & hutch)who worked together as cops on motorcycles catching the bad guys and featured another kool thing in 70's tv shows= awesome car chases!! the stories were good and was fun too watch (can't say that about the tv that's on today=where we are saturated with no-shame "reality" tv with no story or originality to back it up to be considered a quality visual artform). With having charlies angels, dukes, wonder woman, the hulk and Starskey & Hutch on dvd==Chips is the final great 70's tv show to make it to DVD!!!

HURRY UP !
I USED TO WATCH & LOVE THIS SERIES AS A KID; I'LL PROBABLY FIND IT DORKY TODAY, BUT WILL GET EVERY EPISODE NOTWITHSTANDING, IF ONLY FOR THE MEMORY OF IT, AND TO LET MY KIDS VIEW IT. RELEASE THE COLLECTION, QUICK!!!

Can't wait to dip this into the DVD player!
I was always a big fan (& still is) of the car chases & such when watching this show as a kid. I hope this will be released very soon on DVD! :-D ... Read more