THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS (1953)

A year and a half before Godzilla's underwater crib was blown up by a hydrogen bomb test in 1954, the nameless dinosaur from THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS woke up on the wrong side of the bed thanks to a nuclear bomb testing in the Arctic Circle.  Having never been a morning person, "The Beast" roars a lot then starts making his way back home...a spot in the Hudson River right where New York City is now.  Uh-oh!

For a one-time viewing, THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS is an interesting watch.  Both for entertainment and historical value.  The story starts off quickly, we actually get to see the monster early on (and he looks great) and the build-up before the inevitable attack on NYC is well paced and enjoyable.

Interesting supporting cast with a number of familiar faces (including James Best, Jack Pennick, Lee Van Cleef and Steve Brodie), a female stunt person who takes an impressive tumble down some stairs, memorable scenes of the Beast stomping down NYC streets, completely bad ass special effects by Ray Harryhausen (even all these years later that dinosaur looks amazing!), good acting, screenplay based off an original story by Ray Bradbury, NYC street footage showing actual theater marquees for DETECTIVE STORY and ACROSS THE WIDE MISSOURI, gem thieves striking in the London fog and even the dinosaur skeleton from BRINGING UP BABY makes a surprise appearance!  I wasn't expecting that.

THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS might be too slow or dated for less patient viewers, but that's their loss, cause this movie is definitely worth checking out.

HARAKIRI (1962)

"Who can fathom the depths of another man's heart?"

Japan 1630.  Masterless samurai Tatsuya Nakadai is way down on his luck, so he goes to the estate of a local samurai clan and requests to use their courtyard to commit seppuku.  They grant him entrance, but being suspicious of his intentions, they inform him of how there has been an increased amount of down-on-their-luck ronin going around recently claiming the desire to commit seppuku but are actually just looking for a handout.  In fact, they had one such young fellow in here not too long ago and seeing that he was being untruthful, they forced him to commit seppuku (with a bamboo sword!) even though he begged to be let go.  Tatsuya finds this story to be most interesting...

In the extras on the Criterion release, screenwriter Shinobu (THE SWORD OF DOOM, SEVEN SAMURAI) Hashimoto describes HARAKIRI as "A samurai's bitter ranting at his harakiri ceremony, that's it." and while that is true he neglects to mention that the samurai he's talking about (Tatsuya Nakadai) is one bad motherfucker!  I can't say how badass he is without ruining it for anybody unfortunate enough to have never seen HARAKIRI, but, trust me, he ain't no joke.

Exciting sword fights, massive amounts of talent both in front of and behind the camera, strong script that gives you a lot to think about even after the film is over, steady pace that keeps building the excitement, gravel that mysteriously re-sweeps itself after people walked on it, awesome lighting, believable ending.  Highly recommended.

Double-feature with 1966's THE SWORD OF DOOM.  Also, Tatsuya Nakadai and Tetsuro Tanba would face off again seven years later in GOYOKIN, but it's not nearly as exciting.