Creature from the Black Lagoon [Blu-ray]

Universal’s Legacy Horror collections rolls on with the Creature. Only featuring 3 films in this set it is nonetheless required viewing. The Creature From the Black Lagoon is one of the most unique of Universal’s horror icons. The gill man is the first specifically non-human monster. By the film’s reckoning it may be evolving toward the state of mankind but it has never been or come from man. The horror that the Creature conjures is not that from the duplicitous and evil or anarchic mind of man but of sheer animal will and power; that the Creature is humanoid and has both attraction to and attributes of man is a by-product of its evolutionary formatting. It is an animal, and a savage at that. It’s horror is akin to what it would be like to stumble across a grizzly bear in the wild. It’s savagery and ferocity and power are what is to be feared. And in this sense it is one of the lesser evils, and a horror easier to overcome, than the Draculas and Wolf and Invisible men and Mummies of the Universal cinematic world. The Creature’s horror lessens across its three film arc. In the first film the scientists become wary of it but must learn to guard themselves from an animal, one to be studied. In the second film the Creature is subdued and studied with some classic and inhumane behaviorism techniques. While not completely controlled, he is mostly controlled, and so his ability to instill fear is lessened significantly. In the final outing the Creature is being further evolved after being badly burned and is being cared for (!) by man so even further limiting his potential to be a scary monster but an intriguing one nonetheless.The Creature is many a fan’s favorite monster simply due to the fantastic suit and stunning visual realization of the monster. It helped things along that the first film was as simple as a hiccough and traded on the beauty and the beast and fraulein in peril motifs. “The Creature From the Black Lagoon” stands out as a 5 star classic monster movie taking the viewer to never been to everglades and jungle lagoons and positioning us aboard the explorer’s besieged boat. And while we are skiffing along on this adventure we also get to see the POV of the creature, to uneasily side with it in its curious and lustful leerings at the strangely attractive alien in its aquatic midst, dancing as she were in the water. This humanizes the animal to a great degree but the filmmakers still allow for the Creature to be its namesake. On my disc there were some uneven moments as if some parts of the film weren’t cleaned up for the Blu-ray release. Not many but there were a couple. Much worse in grainy quality was “Revenge of the Creature” especially for the underwater aquarium scenes. Revenge was a poor sequel as it simply regurgitated the story and turned the gill man to a true fish out of water as he is caught, interned into an aquarium for scientific study and public consumption, and then frees himself to roam the backwater byways and take a swim in the ocean. It’s still entertaining especially with so many shots of the star attraction but, like the aquarium they house the Creature in, the movie is shallow. Taking on the depth of transmuting an oxygen sifter into a full-blown lung breather in “The Creature Walks Among Us” we get the visage of the classic Creature and also a new look from the Creature being badly burned and suffering a much more human, puddy scarred look. While the previous films only generated mild sympathy for ‘ol McGILLicutty Walks Among Us goes much further as some scientists attempt to help evolution along and painfully habilitate the gill man. Just as one could bristle at the idea of animal cruelty so one could find anger toward the scientists in this film. Walks Among Us was hampered by some visual issues but was much more clear in copy than Revenge. Creature = 5 stars; Revenge & Walks = 3.5 stars.“The Creature From the Black Lagoon” is and has always been my favorite Universal monster. The second and third installments don’t come close to the original’s efforts but are interesting sideshows nevertheless. I’ve long wanted a Director to make an updated Creature feature. I thought we were getting that with Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water” and to a certain degree we did but that movie was far more than (and far inferior to) a properly approached, horror-themed Creature feature. I’m still waiting. And hoping.

The Creature From the Black Lagoon: The Legacy Collection is four hours and thirty - seven minutes and was released on DVD on October 19, 2004. If you are going to count all three commentaries then add another three hours and fifty - eight minutes. Film Historian Tom Weaver does a good, but not great job on all three movies. His commentary on the Creature from the Black Lagoon is the best of the three. With that one we get a more detailed perspective on what went on behind the movie. In Revenge of the Creature it is more of an interview with Lori Nelson and her life story then a commentary on the movie and Bob Burns hardly makes any comment at all. In the Creature Walks Among Us Tom Weaver and Bob Burns try to redeem themselves but for the first fifteen minutes of the movie they talk about the Creature From the Black Lagoon before the say anything about the Creature Walks Among Us. Back to the Black Lagoon was nothing more then a brief history of all three film in a nutshell. The Creature From the Black Lagoon: The Legacy Collection is a decent collection of all three Creature films but the extras do not make the cut most of the time. The Creature From the Black Lagoon: The Legacy Collection gets an A-.DISC 1The Creature from the Black Lagoon is one hour and nineteen minutes long and was released on March 5, 1954. The movie starts out with the creation of Earth and then goes right into the story. When scientist Dr. Carl Maia, discovers a skeletal hand with webbed fingers, he goes back to tell his friend Dr. David Reed and tells his co-scientists and a trip is launch to find more of this hand. Once in the Black Lagoon, they discover a creature living there. The crew discovers gill-man creature living in the lagoon. The crew does capture the creature, but it escapes later that night and injures Dr. Edwin Thompson who was guarding the creature at the time. Dr. David Reed decides that it is best to leave the lagoon and return when they are better equipped. Mark Williams who is the leader of the group disagrees and is out voted. The boat begins to leave the lagoon but is blocked by a giant branch put there by the Creature. While trying to get free, Mark is killed while trying to kill the Creature. Later that evening Kay is capture by the Creature and is taken to his cavern lair. The underwater shots are breath taking. I love it when Kay Lawrence is swimming in the lagoon and the Creature is trying to make a pass at her. The Creature from the Black is a great movie to own. The Creature from the Black Lagoon gets an AAAAA+++++.DVD FEATURESScenesBonus Materials Back to the Black Lagoon - 39 minutes Audio Commentary with Film Historian Tom Weaver Production Photographs Theatrical Trailers - 4Languages Spoken Languageo English Subtitleso Españolo Françoiso NonePlayDISC 2Revenge of the Creature is one hour and twenty - one minutes long and was released in theaters on May 11, 1955. This is the second installment of the three Creature films. Basically an expedition is sent to the Black Lagoon to find and capture the creature. Lucas, the boat captain from the fist movie, returns again and the boat captain. The crew of the Rita 2 captures the creature and brings it back to Ocean Harbor Oceanarium in Florida. The Creature is chained, prodded with electricity if it does not to what it is told, and becomes a test subject. The Creature becomes angry, escapes, goes on a rampage and captures the leading female in the picture. If you watch the first movie then you know the ending of the movie. It is just as good as the first one. Two of the actors who appeared in the first one, return again as well as the director. Nestor Paiva; Lucas the Boat Captain, Ricou Browning; underwater Gillman, and Jack Arnold; Director are the three returning people. When the movie begins, some of the scenes were taken from Creature 1. Like the first one, is has great underwater scenery that is spectacular to watch. This is one of a few great monster sequels. Look for an unaccredited Clint Eastwood as a Lab Technician. So add it to your collection. Revenge of the Creature gets an AAA+++.ScenesBonus Materials Audio Commentary with Lori Nelson, Film Historian Tom Weaver and Bob Burns Theatrical TrailersLanguages Spoken Languageo English Subtitleso Españolo Françoiso NonePlayThe Creature Walks Among Us is one hour and eighteen minutes and released on April 26, 1956. Ricou Browning, who played the Creature in the water, is the only one to be in all three Creature movies. Another piece of trivia is Rex Reason and Jeff Morrow who stars in this movie would later be in the movie This Island Earth. The first two Creature movies were great to watch. As for this one, let just say they did not listen to some true advice: if it is not broke, don't fix it. The story is lame and gone is the great underwater scenes. Also they made the Creature a land animal and made him put on weight. The Creature Walks Among Us get a D+ for a very bad script.ScenesBonus Materials Audio Commentary with Film Historian Tom Weaver and Bob Burns Theatrical TrailersLanguages Spoken Languageo English Subtitleso Españolo Françoiso NonePlay

This set of three films of the Creature series finally gets the full quality treatment it deserves. The first two "The CreatureFrom The Black Lagoon" and "The Revenge of the Creature" are in both optional 3-D and 2-D - "Revenge..." gets its firstquality print release in 3-D and the third "The Creature Walks Among Us" gets its first blu ray release and the quality in allthree films is commendable.Most would be familiar with the first - and best - of these creature feature's. However, while "Revenge..." lacks any real worth in terms of story and originality - its the Gill Man that takes all the attention with plenty of underwater shots and all mostly coming at you in 3-D.The third made in flat 2-D is I consider a little more original, with some well delivered scenes that have you feeling more empathy for the Gill Man - the usual mis-understanding by man, clouded with fear and ignorance and the creature responds accordingy.The Creature - in all films continues to inspire for its original concept - unlike any other film creation, the very last of thatera of the 1950's and so far never remade except a more recent and loving tribute of a gentler soul depiction in the Oscar winning "Shape of Water".

Having purchased over 2 years Ago, i haven't noticed a review pointing out- that the cover stating 'Includes Both 3D & 2D versions' led me to believe there was a 'Flat' version & a version that would only require a pair of paper red & blue lense 3-D glasses ,so I found my Spex inside the cover of an old Cramps lp,pressed play 3D option &....found out that i actually required 'A Full HD 3D TV, Compatible 3D glasses, a Blu-Ray 3Dtm or PS3,and a High Speed HDMI cable' ........oh well.So let's get into the blu-Ray disc( Universal 2014- 60th anniversary edition)1080hi/def widescreen 1.85...Audio in Dts-HD & mono 2,0 for English language & surround mono 2.0 for French,Italian ,German & Spanish .Theres subtitles in all the languages mentioned and Danish,Finnish,Norwegian &Swedish .The image is generally fine..just a slight bit of grain but no real damage to the print. ....So I assume we all know what the film is about & the reasons it's outlasted so many of the other 'Creature Features' from the 50s & early 60s ...So what really stands out in one of the better genre films is it's excellent extras...Starting with a commentary from film Historian Tom Weaver who does an excellent job getting so much relevant info into the brief 79 mins that the film runs for .'Back to the Black Lagoon' (40 mins) introduced by David Skal is from 2000 & greatly benefits from having lead actress,the charming and helpful Julia Adams, Ben Chapman & Ricou Browning (who played the 'creature' )and others involved giving their input & making sure those who deserved credit got it.The 'productions photographs' section is a Joy - running for over 11mins (with music & sound effects)) it features 100s of images- Posters,Stills, on set pics, Promo Shots ,Cinema openings etc...There's Trailers for 'All 3 films' In the series (4 for 'black lagoon', 1 each for 'Revenge of the Creature' & 'Creature walks amongst us'...)A rather unnessary '100 years of Universal :the lot'(9 mins) is a Universal tribute to the 'Universal Backlot'...umm maybe a mini doc about Black Lagoon director Jack Arnold who also did 'the Incredible Shrinking man' & other entertaining but thoughtful films that still have a following now ....Screenplay by Harry Essex& Arthur Ross....79mins ..Black& White .certificate PG.And Blu-ray has a pleasing cover image ,

Creature from the Black Lagoon will always be a classic , Revenge is actually really laughable and very predictable, cheesy with bad acting and really corny lines from Agar.All films are widescreen 1.85:1. Not convinced if this is the correct ratio for both Creature and Revenge as some scenes are very good and others look zoomed in or cropped, just not sharp.Maybe 1.33 is the original aspect ratio of the first 2 films, not sure.The surprise here is the last outing The Creature Walks Among Us , which is actually pretty good and the best transfer to Blu Ray , it’s outstanding , the aspect ratio looks correct for this film as well.

A real VFM Box Set, but study the description here on Amazon. If you have the films on DVD already maybe check them out. Universal DVDs are good quality so do you need an upgrade?. I wanted the subtitles, and extras, and if you have the equipment you can see "Creature" and" Revenge" in 3D. The BLURAY quality is excellent but the 2 sequels are really only 3 maybe 4 star films, while the original remains a favourite and a minor? Sci Fi classic. A good VFM package.

Made in 1954, Creature from the Black Lagoon is one of those Universal classics that you feel you have always known about.Directed superbly by Jack Arnold, the film is unique in the fact of it's long dragging out scenes, sometimes with no dialogue- yet it is able to hold your attention.Some reviewers have said the film is simply outdated. I still have no idea what that means. It was made in 1954- and to appreciate the film one must switch off from current movies, and go back in time. It really is simple. Will for example the same be said about Pulp Fiction- a movie filled with dialogue in 50 years time?The films underwater scenes, especially given the time it was made in are simply fantastic.Anyway back to the film. Ricahrd Carlson plays the role well, but it must be said that the show stealer here is the quite beautful Julie Adams.Her scene where she is swimming almost in syncronised action with the beast should be up there with some of the greatest moments in film history.It should be warned that people that are expecting great special effects will scoff at this film. And people that need action the whole way and usually moan at a films pace will loathe this one.For the rest of us pour yourself a nice cup of hot tea or something stronger, sit back and relax, this is a gem.