Amazon.com

Anyone who fought in Vietnam can tell you that the war bore little resemblance to this propagandistic action film starring and codirected by John Wayne. But the film itself is not nearly as bad as its reputation would suggest; critics roasted its gung-ho politics while ignoring its merits as an exciting (if rather conventional and idealistic) war movie. Some notorious mistakes were made--in the final shot, the sun sets in the east!--and it's an awkward attempt to graft WWII heroics onto the Vietnam experience. But as the Duke's attempt to acknowledge the men who were fighting and dying overseas, it's a rousing film in which Wayne commands a regiment on a mission to kidnap a Viet Cong general. David Janssen plays a journalist who learns to understand Wayne's commitment to battling Communism, and Jim Hutton (Timothy's dad) plays an ill-fated soldier who adopts a Vietnamese orphan. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (63)

Good, But Flawed
Although I have seen this picture well over a dozen times and although I think it's basically a good movie, I must be objective and admit that "The Green Berets" is basically a propaganda piece that at the time of its filming was an attempt to change public sentiment about our country's involvement in Vietnam. For this reason, as well as the healing period our country went through after Vietnam, the movie seems rather archaic and naive today. Those on the far left ridicule it. Those on the far right treat it with the reverence of a Biblical tale. The truth about "The Green Berets" is that it lies somewhere between these two extremes.

The Fort Benning, Georgia filmed training sequences appear to be as real as anything I ever saw while I was in uniform. The combat sequences, however, contained a fair share of errors, most notably the well-known "sun setting in the east" flub. The acting was rather wooden, especially from Wayne as well as Jack Soo, portraying the ARVN officer, and the plot meandered from being quite good in some parts to being downright silly in others.

The most important thing to remember about this movie is that it should be taken for what it is...a good war movie. To casually dismiss it as irrelevant or hopelessly out of step with the truth simply doesn't do it justice. In similar fashion, it's rather stupid to portray it as an homage to the American way of life and characterize those who point out this picture's many flaws as "un-American", as one previous review did. This picture is best enjoyed with the viewer's bias, be it liberal or conservative, turned off.

from a patriot who was not afraid.
if John Wayne had made something like this today he would be ostracized from all of Hollywood and from about 2% of this nation. he was a man, a patriot and he wanted to show the good of our struggle. vietnam was a war that was not unlike every other war, the only difference was our citizens. the baby boomers grew up spoiled (founding fathers of the modern left). they didnt understand hard work and what a country need's to do for freedom. the left will today say freedom is a slogan, that we will always be free, they will say bush's war is for oil or some uneducated and clichéd response, but freedom is not just about a war or occupation, it's the freedom to not be afraid to get on a airplane, the freedom to not fear going into tall buildings, the freedom not to fear gathering large groups in public. and for the arab world it means to not be afraid to have your wife drive your car, or wear a dress in public, or to question a religious authority. the whole idea of vietnam was to prevent the spread of communism, it was a war that transcended vietnam itself, it was a war to measure our country and our people's resolve. vietnam taught our enemies (and todays modern terrorists) that if they can scare us, horrify us or kill enough of us that we will cower and not fight. Stalin, Khrushchev, khadafi, Usama, and hussein thought this, and we taught them all a lesson through might.

just because liberal's think war is not the answer it does not mean that our enemies do also. we are not europe, if we do not spend money on our military, flex our muscles, set deadlines and take action no one ele will. we do not have anyone to protect us like europe and the world have us. terrorist do not seek peace, they do not hate us because we are us they hate us because of hollywood, because of our freedom from starvation, our comfort in life and from our belief that we can live life any way we want without regard.

John wayne in his portrayal of vietnam was not "propaganda" it was to boost moral for the country, to support our efforts in defeating communism. i read before someone said john wayne was no patriot, what is a patriot if not to support the united states and to keep it's moral up? john wayne did that, ask any soldier from WWII to the present day. i feel bad for the liberal's they hate everyone, stand for everything while believing in nothing and really do not know anything of history or of humanity.

THE DUKE HAS THE LEFT TIED IN KNOTS
In 1969, John Wayne infuriated the Left with "The Green Berets", a film that made no apologies in its all-out support of America's effort in Vietnam. It was lambasted by critics, but in a very interesting sign, sold out at the box office. It plays today and while it is heavy-handed, there is little about it that rings untrue. The soldiers do not swear, complain or bastardize their uniforms like the actual guys did, but their patriotism and military professionalism was the real deal. The Communists they fight in the film are shifty little pissants. This does not deviate from the essential truth.

STEVEN TRAVERS
AUTHOR OF "BARRY BONDS: BASEBALL'S SUPERMAN"
STWRITES@AOL.COM

bad propoganda but a couple of gem performances
the performances of david jansaan and jim hutton stand out in this really blatant propoganda piece.
wayne the director and producer is not someone i empathize with but i do believe wayne the actor was vastly underrated.
too many people, myslef included, often let waynes politcs get in the way of acknowledging his acting powers.
this film is that in a nutshull.
his politics are unavoidable but the scen in which he wells up, on the verge of tears, trying to tell the young boy of huttons death is powerhouse acting pure and simple.
try to appreciate it.

A solid, well-made film
John Wayne like any other American had the right to promote his opinion. Period. ...

Now, the film is as accurate as any other Vietnam film made in that last 30 years because films are created to promote an opinion. (I've known Vietnam Vets who were not dope smoking, gun-totting genocidists.)

As far as action and commitment, the Green Berets succeeds as a solid "war film." No one who cares about good film making can argue that, unless they believe in censorship. The film is panoramic and energetic in cinematic quality. The characters are strong male types (like Vets I've known.) The film chose its side and promoted it. There is one strong element that the film brings home. The US military was better at killing, and it had to be. Most US detachments were generally outnumbered, fighting an opposition armed by numerous totalitarian countries from Europe to Asia. That is a historical fact, which interestingly enough, was introduced into a film over 35 years old.

The Green Berets, again, is a solid war-film and interestingly enough, is less fancifully than Platoon. The Green Berets is worth the time to see. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The tranquility of a small Texas town is ruined when an enormous rear-projection lizard begins to terrorize the place! At first, the adults dismiss the kids' hysterics as nonsense. The sheriff is helpless and the adults fail miserably to defeat the thing, so it's up to the teenagers to take it on. Though this movie relies a little too heavily on plot and characters and not enough on giant lizards, it's still a fun slice of '50s camp. The lead character (played by Don Sullivan) sings some wildly inappropriate and goofy songs for some unintended comic relief. Rock & roll, hot rods, teenagers, huge monsters... all the elements are in place for this faintly ridiculous '50s funfest. --Jerry Renshaw ... Read more

Reviews (20)

aka "Elvis Vs. The Super-Imposed Mildly Menacing Lizard"
I can sum up this movie in one word, "wierd". I first saw "The Giant Gila Monster" late at night as part of a local t.v. station's Godzilla Monster Week (no, the giant lizard in this film is of no relation to the King of the Monsters). I remember being disappointed after having stayed up late only to find that they were showing a monster movie that had absolutely nothing to do with Godzilla, but after having watched the movie I thought it was actually pretty good. Of course I was only about 5 years old at the time, and for me, 11:00 p.m. really was pretty late at night.

Anyway, I just purchased a copy of this movie last week, and watched it (actually half watched - I kept falling asleep) this afternoon. I knew that it probably wouldn't be as good as I thought it was nearly 20 years ago, but I didn't think it would be quite as lame as it is.

Granted it's a 50's B sci-fi flick, so you know it's going to be extremely wild, cheesy and campy - after all, that's what makes those movies so great. Even though this film does have its "wild" scenes, and it definitely is cheesy all the way through, and it is extremely campy - there's just something that keeps this one from being one of the classics of its kind. It's probably the fact that aside from the giant lizard's attacks (if you want to call them attacks), the rest of the movie is just plain boring.

It starts out rather promising, with a giant reptile monster claw coming down violently upon a car with a couple teenagers inside, sending the car hurling over the side of a hill. Then the title comes up - "The Giant Gila Monster" - followed by the opening credits and some creepy background music. It's all downhill from that point on, though. The rest of the film centers around a small Texas town in the late 50's that seems to be populated by a bunch of rednecks, a semi-intelligent sheriff, a bunch of dancing teenagers, and our hero - an Elvis wannabe who lives at home with his "slightly cooler than June Cleaver" mom, his crippled daughter, and his "at times" annoying foreign girlfriend. Oh yeah, occasionally he gets to take breaks from his "hectic" life to play some extremely cheesy folk tunes on a toy banjo! By the way, I happen to like "real" folk music, but these songs just made me want to vomit!

Anyway, now on to the real star of the movie - the giant terrifying Gila Monster!! Yawn. The only thing that seems to be menacing about this overgrown lizard is his enormous size. The only way he actually brings destruction are the times when he happens to be crossing the road and cars smash in to him, or the time when he walks under a rail road bridge and ends up causing the train to wreck simply because he's too big to fit under the bridge! Out of the about 10 "attacks" the lizard makes throughout the film, only 2 were actually done on purpose! Certainly there was little for these backward citizens to actually fear from this abnormally large reptile. One thing that certainly surprised me when watching this movie is that the fact that real life gila monsters are venomous was not even mentioned in the film. Some monster!

All right, now that I've talked your ear off about this movie, decide if you really want to watch it or not, and then wait for it to come on late night t.v. I certainly wouldn't want anyone else to make the mistake I did of purchasing it. I wouldn't even suggest renting it, there are certainly better ways of spending a couple bucks.

Flathead Fever!
My fellow Motorheads will get a kick out of this movie simply for the period hot rods; a half-dozen T-buckets powered by the long gone Flathead Ford V-8! I often wonder what happened to those old rides, hopefully some were perserved.

As for the movie itself, well it's bad but doesn't take itself too seriously. Too much 1950's stuff is crammed into the movie for a two hour horror flick. Hot rods, rock and roll, teen angst, rich vrs poor, and of course the rich girl dating the poor boy. All this and a giant Gila monster! They could have had about three decent movies (budget allowing of course) out of this low budget gem that tries to do too much with way too little.

Viewed as a fun piece of nostaglia it is certainly worth watching.

Good Hokey 1950 Giant Monster Classic
allthough the peeps below my review have their smart ellic remarks on this film i seem to like it.
i actually liked all the giant monster films in the 50's even tho im a 16 year old and wasnt ever around in those days i enjoy the movies today and if u want to pick the reviews of the idiots under me then its ur choice
i got my opinions and they got theirs

A movie saved only by its unintentional humor...
Where do I start on this turkey? The stupid story, the bad acting or the even worse singing. Yes, that's right, singing. This is the Sci-Fi movie that doesn't know if it's a story about a giant lizard or a vehicle to promote a new singing sensation. Well, they should have stuck with the lizard, because the singer was definitely not the next Bobby Darin. I awarded 2 stars because of the movie's saving grace: its unintentional humor.

Dreck then, Dreck now
Golden Turkey Awards to the following: to Shug Fisher for proving that lovable town drunks are the real menace and should be locked away permanently, to special effects for proving that a single coupon to Toy's R'Us furnishes all the props a movie needs, to the luckless lizard for proving that a single narcotized expression gets you real screen time, to the composer of "Laugh Children Laugh" for turning an audience of nice Sunday school graduates into howling mad atheists, and finally, to the producers for believing this 70 minutes of unabashed treacle would actually convert switch-blade greasers into Pat Boone acolytes. The best way to view this 50's abomination now, as then, is passed-out in the back of a '57 Chevy. Some may call it camp -- it doesn't rise to that level. I still call it dreck. ... Read more

Reviews (18)

Mama, Don't Let Your Collies Grow Up To Wear Shrew Suits!
This is an oldie but goodie. It is standard black and white drive-in silliness about scientists on a remote island who have created 'giant killer shrews' that have more than a passing resemblance to collies with bad toupees. This movies stars James Best and Ken Curtis (you've seen them in westerns, including 'Gunsmoke') as well as Ingrid Goude (Miss Universe Sweden 1956) as the daughter of the principal nutty scientist of the Shrew Island Nature Preserve.

Shrews are the smallest of the insectivores, and world wide there are approximately 314 species, of which 'Giant Killer Shrew' is not one. All shrews have short legs, and a long snout. They also have beady little eyes and are primarily insectivores. Shrews are voracious eaters and are easily prone to starvation, so at least in this one area the movie has it right: in the words of Captain Thorne Sherman (James Best) "it looks like a small rat, and smells like a skunk." I couldn't have said it better. Enough of the biology lesson, back to the film...

In this film Captain Sherman and his unlucky sidekick find Shrew Island while hiding out from a hurricane. They are convinced to stay by the sultry Ingrid Goude, who speaks mysteriously with a Swedish accent despite her father evidently being a Texan. Once nightfall arrives everyone is trapped in the compound as the 300 killer shrews try to get in. Somehow the hurricane affects them, and they are starving, too, so pandemonium breaks out. (The science of the movie is a bit hazy about all this.) Turns out that the shrews in question have deadly poisonous saliva, so even a scratch from a shrew tooth is fatal! They also can dig through walls, scale fences, climb trees, open doors, steal shoes, and do algebra. OK, they can't do algebra, but they can do amazing things to get at their captive audience. The survivors eventually construct a 'tank' of 55 gallon drums and wade to the boat unperturbed once in the water, because this species of shrew (unlike the other 314) can't swim. Lucky for them!

This is a great film of the genre. It is quick (69 minutes) and fun from start to finish. It was once riffed by the MST3K folks, but I have not seen that version in quite some time, though I recall it being a fun episode. This one is a step back to the monster movies of yesteryear, and it feels great to watch!

Some really good special effects
The Killer Shrews is your typical drive-in movie with some of the worst special effects ever put in a movie, yet it is still an enjoyable movie. Captain Thorne Sherman and his first mate, "Rook" Griswold, must dock at an island to drop off supplies, but also to avoid being caught in a hurricane. Once there, they find a small team of scientists working on a secret project, only they can't figure out what. As night falls, the team insists they don't leave. It is revealed that there are 300 starving, killer shrews loose on the island. The result of a scientific experiment gone bad, the shrews must eat three times their body weight everyday. Will the team survive? Find out for yourself. The shrews are just dogs in hairy costumes with huge fangs. The close-ups of the "shrews" are even worse. Even with this ridiculously low budget, The Killer Shrews is still a lot of fun. I would categorize this movie as one of those that is so bad, it is good.

James Best of Dukes of Hazard fame plays Captain Thorne Sherman who mishaps upon Shrew Island. Former Miss Universe Ingrid Goude is Ann Craigs, a scientist's daughter who falls for Cpt. Thorne. Ken Curtis stars as the cowardly Jerry, who will do anything to save his own hide. Baruch Lumet plays Dr. Milo Craigis, the leader of the scientists. The movie also stars Gordon McClendon as Dr. Baines, Alfredo DeSoto as Mario, and Judge Henry Dupree as "Rook" Griswold. The DVD is in black and white with standard presentation. For a really cheesy but fun drive-in horror movie, check out The Killer Shrews!

A discarded masterpiece
Why does this film die in obscurity when Gone with the Wind is critically acclaimed for 100 years? I don't know either, but Killer Shrews is one of the crowning achievments of not only moving pictures, but civilization itself. A beautiful heroine, mad scientists, and a wild eyed scoundral keep you on the edge of your seat until the climatic conclusion. Watch with wonder as they escape the poisonous killer shrews by constructing an actual foot powered battle tank out of empty containers. This is a film of the ages and should be mandatory viewing for all who live.

Dogs with bad rugs.......
This movie stars James Best(Dukes of Hazzard)and Ken Curtis(Gunsmoke)and dogs wearing bad rugs and that's about it really.It's good for a laugh or two and that's not a bad thing I guess.MST3K tore this apart,so this is the uncut version,but I bet you'll wish you were watching the MSTied version instead.Not bad.Not as bad as Creeping Terror or Beast of Yucca Flats though...

Dogs in shrew suits
Dogs in shrew suits

I first saw this in the movies. And let me tell you this is really spooky for kids (or used to be.)
We find our selves on an island where a hand full of visitors, including us, find eerie from the beginning. Of course from the title we are anticipating "you know whats" at any time. But the visitors to this island have no idea what they are in for.
An experiment with the intent of correcting overpopulation has gone awry, et voilà killer shrews. These ravenous creatures must eat many times their weight daily to keep from starving. And I must say that Ingrid Goude (Miss Universe Sweden 1956) would make a tasty snack (not that I notices at the movies.)
Well the people are protected by adobe (mud) walls from the poisonous fanged carnivores (did I mention the fangs are poisonous?)
Wait, it's RAINING! ... Read more

Reviews (20)

aka "Elvis Vs. The Super-Imposed Mildly Menacing Lizard"
I can sum up this movie in one word, "wierd". I first saw "The Giant Gila Monster" late at night as part of a local t.v. station's Godzilla Monster Week (no, the giant lizard in this film is of no relation to the King of the Monsters). I remember being disappointed after having stayed up late only to find that they were showing a monster movie that had absolutely nothing to do with Godzilla, but after having watched the movie I thought it was actually pretty good. Of course I was only about 5 years old at the time, and for me, 11:00 p.m. really was pretty late at night.

Anyway, I just purchased a copy of this movie last week, and watched it (actually half watched - I kept falling asleep) this afternoon. I knew that it probably wouldn't be as good as I thought it was nearly 20 years ago, but I didn't think it would be quite as lame as it is.

Granted it's a 50's B sci-fi flick, so you know it's going to be extremely wild, cheesy and campy - after all, that's what makes those movies so great. Even though this film does have its "wild" scenes, and it definitely is cheesy all the way through, and it is extremely campy - there's just something that keeps this one from being one of the classics of its kind. It's probably the fact that aside from the giant lizard's attacks (if you want to call them attacks), the rest of the movie is just plain boring.

It starts out rather promising, with a giant reptile monster claw coming down violently upon a car with a couple teenagers inside, sending the car hurling over the side of a hill. Then the title comes up - "The Giant Gila Monster" - followed by the opening credits and some creepy background music. It's all downhill from that point on, though. The rest of the film centers around a small Texas town in the late 50's that seems to be populated by a bunch of rednecks, a semi-intelligent sheriff, a bunch of dancing teenagers, and our hero - an Elvis wannabe who lives at home with his "slightly cooler than June Cleaver" mom, his crippled daughter, and his "at times" annoying foreign girlfriend. Oh yeah, occasionally he gets to take breaks from his "hectic" life to play some extremely cheesy folk tunes on a toy banjo! By the way, I happen to like "real" folk music, but these songs just made me want to vomit!

Anyway, now on to the real star of the movie - the giant terrifying Gila Monster!! Yawn. The only thing that seems to be menacing about this overgrown lizard is his enormous size. The only way he actually brings destruction are the times when he happens to be crossing the road and cars smash in to him, or the time when he walks under a rail road bridge and ends up causing the train to wreck simply because he's too big to fit under the bridge! Out of the about 10 "attacks" the lizard makes throughout the film, only 2 were actually done on purpose! Certainly there was little for these backward citizens to actually fear from this abnormally large reptile. One thing that certainly surprised me when watching this movie is that the fact that real life gila monsters are venomous was not even mentioned in the film. Some monster!

All right, now that I've talked your ear off about this movie, decide if you really want to watch it or not, and then wait for it to come on late night t.v. I certainly wouldn't want anyone else to make the mistake I did of purchasing it. I wouldn't even suggest renting it, there are certainly better ways of spending a couple bucks.

Flathead Fever!
My fellow Motorheads will get a kick out of this movie simply for the period hot rods; a half-dozen T-buckets powered by the long gone Flathead Ford V-8! I often wonder what happened to those old rides, hopefully some were perserved.

As for the movie itself, well it's bad but doesn't take itself too seriously. Too much 1950's stuff is crammed into the movie for a two hour horror flick. Hot rods, rock and roll, teen angst, rich vrs poor, and of course the rich girl dating the poor boy. All this and a giant Gila monster! They could have had about three decent movies (budget allowing of course) out of this low budget gem that tries to do too much with way too little.

Viewed as a fun piece of nostaglia it is certainly worth watching.

Good Hokey 1950 Giant Monster Classic
allthough the peeps below my review have their smart ellic remarks on this film i seem to like it.
i actually liked all the giant monster films in the 50's even tho im a 16 year old and wasnt ever around in those days i enjoy the movies today and if u want to pick the reviews of the idiots under me then its ur choice
i got my opinions and they got theirs

A movie saved only by its unintentional humor...
Where do I start on this turkey? The stupid story, the bad acting or the even worse singing. Yes, that's right, singing. This is the Sci-Fi movie that doesn't know if it's a story about a giant lizard or a vehicle to promote a new singing sensation. Well, they should have stuck with the lizard, because the singer was definitely not the next Bobby Darin. I awarded 2 stars because of the movie's saving grace: its unintentional humor.

Dreck then, Dreck now
Golden Turkey Awards to the following: to Shug Fisher for proving that lovable town drunks are the real menace and should be locked away permanently, to special effects for proving that a single coupon to Toy's R'Us furnishes all the props a movie needs, to the luckless lizard for proving that a single narcotized expression gets you real screen time, to the composer of "Laugh Children Laugh" for turning an audience of nice Sunday school graduates into howling mad atheists, and finally, to the producers for believing this 70 minutes of unabashed treacle would actually convert switch-blade greasers into Pat Boone acolytes. The best way to view this 50's abomination now, as then, is passed-out in the back of a '57 Chevy. Some may call it camp -- it doesn't rise to that level. I still call it dreck. ... Read more

Reviews (20)

aka "Elvis Vs. The Super-Imposed Mildly Menacing Lizard"
I can sum up this movie in one word, "wierd". I first saw "The Giant Gila Monster" late at night as part of a local t.v. station's Godzilla Monster Week (no, the giant lizard in this film is of no relation to the King of the Monsters). I remember being disappointed after having stayed up late only to find that they were showing a monster movie that had absolutely nothing to do with Godzilla, but after having watched the movie I thought it was actually pretty good. Of course I was only about 5 years old at the time, and for me, 11:00 p.m. really was pretty late at night.

Anyway, I just purchased a copy of this movie last week, and watched it (actually half watched - I kept falling asleep) this afternoon. I knew that it probably wouldn't be as good as I thought it was nearly 20 years ago, but I didn't think it would be quite as lame as it is.

Granted it's a 50's B sci-fi flick, so you know it's going to be extremely wild, cheesy and campy - after all, that's what makes those movies so great. Even though this film does have its "wild" scenes, and it definitely is cheesy all the way through, and it is extremely campy - there's just something that keeps this one from being one of the classics of its kind. It's probably the fact that aside from the giant lizard's attacks (if you want to call them attacks), the rest of the movie is just plain boring.

It starts out rather promising, with a giant reptile monster claw coming down violently upon a car with a couple teenagers inside, sending the car hurling over the side of a hill. Then the title comes up - "The Giant Gila Monster" - followed by the opening credits and some creepy background music. It's all downhill from that point on, though. The rest of the film centers around a small Texas town in the late 50's that seems to be populated by a bunch of rednecks, a semi-intelligent sheriff, a bunch of dancing teenagers, and our hero - an Elvis wannabe who lives at home with his "slightly cooler than June Cleaver" mom, his crippled daughter, and his "at times" annoying foreign girlfriend. Oh yeah, occasionally he gets to take breaks from his "hectic" life to play some extremely cheesy folk tunes on a toy banjo! By the way, I happen to like "real" folk music, but these songs just made me want to vomit!

Anyway, now on to the real star of the movie - the giant terrifying Gila Monster!! Yawn. The only thing that seems to be menacing about this overgrown lizard is his enormous size. The only way he actually brings destruction are the times when he happens to be crossing the road and cars smash in to him, or the time when he walks under a rail road bridge and ends up causing the train to wreck simply because he's too big to fit under the bridge! Out of the about 10 "attacks" the lizard makes throughout the film, only 2 were actually done on purpose! Certainly there was little for these backward citizens to actually fear from this abnormally large reptile. One thing that certainly surprised me when watching this movie is that the fact that real life gila monsters are venomous was not even mentioned in the film. Some monster!

All right, now that I've talked your ear off about this movie, decide if you really want to watch it or not, and then wait for it to come on late night t.v. I certainly wouldn't want anyone else to make the mistake I did of purchasing it. I wouldn't even suggest renting it, there are certainly better ways of spending a couple bucks.

Flathead Fever!
My fellow Motorheads will get a kick out of this movie simply for the period hot rods; a half-dozen T-buckets powered by the long gone Flathead Ford V-8! I often wonder what happened to those old rides, hopefully some were perserved.

As for the movie itself, well it's bad but doesn't take itself too seriously. Too much 1950's stuff is crammed into the movie for a two hour horror flick. Hot rods, rock and roll, teen angst, rich vrs poor, and of course the rich girl dating the poor boy. All this and a giant Gila monster! They could have had about three decent movies (budget allowing of course) out of this low budget gem that tries to do too much with way too little.

Viewed as a fun piece of nostaglia it is certainly worth watching.

Good Hokey 1950 Giant Monster Classic
allthough the peeps below my review have their smart ellic remarks on this film i seem to like it.
i actually liked all the giant monster films in the 50's even tho im a 16 year old and wasnt ever around in those days i enjoy the movies today and if u want to pick the reviews of the idiots under me then its ur choice
i got my opinions and they got theirs

A movie saved only by its unintentional humor...
Where do I start on this turkey? The stupid story, the bad acting or the even worse singing. Yes, that's right, singing. This is the Sci-Fi movie that doesn't know if it's a story about a giant lizard or a vehicle to promote a new singing sensation. Well, they should have stuck with the lizard, because the singer was definitely not the next Bobby Darin. I awarded 2 stars because of the movie's saving grace: its unintentional humor.

Dreck then, Dreck now
Golden Turkey Awards to the following: to Shug Fisher for proving that lovable town drunks are the real menace and should be locked away permanently, to special effects for proving that a single coupon to Toy's R'Us furnishes all the props a movie needs, to the luckless lizard for proving that a single narcotized expression gets you real screen time, to the composer of "Laugh Children Laugh" for turning an audience of nice Sunday school graduates into howling mad atheists, and finally, to the producers for believing this 70 minutes of unabashed treacle would actually convert switch-blade greasers into Pat Boone acolytes. The best way to view this 50's abomination now, as then, is passed-out in the back of a '57 Chevy. Some may call it camp -- it doesn't rise to that level. I still call it dreck. ... Read more

Description

" Commandos have taken part in every war in American history, fromthe Revolution to today.But it wasn't until World War II that these unconventional unitsevolved into official, structured parts of the Army.And it was left to President Kennedyto grant them their trademark berets and legitimize the ""special forces."" Narrated byStacy Keach, THE GREEN BERETS is a thrilling look at these fabled fighters.Explorewhat is known about their missions in Vietnam fighting behind enemy lines, the truestory of their extensive ""black ops"" remain top secret.Military historians reveal howWorld War II units like the Rangers and ""Merrill's Marauders"" showed the need for apermanent, specialized force trained to operate with minimal supervision.See footage ofthe Berets in training and in action, and meet with some of the men who have served withthis elite force. From Vietnam to Panama and the Gulf War, this is an up-close look atTHE GREEN BERETS." ... Read more

Reviews (63)

Good, But Flawed
Although I have seen this picture well over a dozen times and although I think it's basically a good movie, I must be objective and admit that "The Green Berets" is basically a propaganda piece that at the time of its filming was an attempt to change public sentiment about our country's involvement in Vietnam. For this reason, as well as the healing period our country went through after Vietnam, the movie seems rather archaic and naive today. Those on the far left ridicule it. Those on the far right treat it with the reverence of a Biblical tale. The truth about "The Green Berets" is that it lies somewhere between these two extremes.

The Fort Benning, Georgia filmed training sequences appear to be as real as anything I ever saw while I was in uniform. The combat sequences, however, contained a fair share of errors, most notably the well-known "sun setting in the east" flub. The acting was rather wooden, especially from Wayne as well as Jack Soo, portraying the ARVN officer, and the plot meandered from being quite good in some parts to being downright silly in others.

The most important thing to remember about this movie is that it should be taken for what it is...a good war movie. To casually dismiss it as irrelevant or hopelessly out of step with the truth simply doesn't do it justice. In similar fashion, it's rather stupid to portray it as an homage to the American way of life and characterize those who point out this picture's many flaws as "un-American", as one previous review did. This picture is best enjoyed with the viewer's bias, be it liberal or conservative, turned off.

from a patriot who was not afraid.
if John Wayne had made something like this today he would be ostracized from all of Hollywood and from about 2% of this nation. he was a man, a patriot and he wanted to show the good of our struggle. vietnam was a war that was not unlike every other war, the only difference was our citizens. the baby boomers grew up spoiled (founding fathers of the modern left). they didnt understand hard work and what a country need's to do for freedom. the left will today say freedom is a slogan, that we will always be free, they will say bush's war is for oil or some uneducated and clichéd response, but freedom is not just about a war or occupation, it's the freedom to not be afraid to get on a airplane, the freedom to not fear going into tall buildings, the freedom not to fear gathering large groups in public. and for the arab world it means to not be afraid to have your wife drive your car, or wear a dress in public, or to question a religious authority. the whole idea of vietnam was to prevent the spread of communism, it was a war that transcended vietnam itself, it was a war to measure our country and our people's resolve. vietnam taught our enemies (and todays modern terrorists) that if they can scare us, horrify us or kill enough of us that we will cower and not fight. Stalin, Khrushchev, khadafi, Usama, and hussein thought this, and we taught them all a lesson through might.

just because liberal's think war is not the answer it does not mean that our enemies do also. we are not europe, if we do not spend money on our military, flex our muscles, set deadlines and take action no one ele will. we do not have anyone to protect us like europe and the world have us. terrorist do not seek peace, they do not hate us because we are us they hate us because of hollywood, because of our freedom from starvation, our comfort in life and from our belief that we can live life any way we want without regard.

John wayne in his portrayal of vietnam was not "propaganda" it was to boost moral for the country, to support our efforts in defeating communism. i read before someone said john wayne was no patriot, what is a patriot if not to support the united states and to keep it's moral up? john wayne did that, ask any soldier from WWII to the present day. i feel bad for the liberal's they hate everyone, stand for everything while believing in nothing and really do not know anything of history or of humanity.

THE DUKE HAS THE LEFT TIED IN KNOTS
In 1969, John Wayne infuriated the Left with "The Green Berets", a film that made no apologies in its all-out support of America's effort in Vietnam. It was lambasted by critics, but in a very interesting sign, sold out at the box office. It plays today and while it is heavy-handed, there is little about it that rings untrue. The soldiers do not swear, complain or bastardize their uniforms like the actual guys did, but their patriotism and military professionalism was the real deal. The Communists they fight in the film are shifty little pissants. This does not deviate from the essential truth.

STEVEN TRAVERS
AUTHOR OF "BARRY BONDS: BASEBALL'S SUPERMAN"
STWRITES@AOL.COM

bad propoganda but a couple of gem performances
the performances of david jansaan and jim hutton stand out in this really blatant propoganda piece.
wayne the director and producer is not someone i empathize with but i do believe wayne the actor was vastly underrated.
too many people, myslef included, often let waynes politcs get in the way of acknowledging his acting powers.
this film is that in a nutshull.
his politics are unavoidable but the scen in which he wells up, on the verge of tears, trying to tell the young boy of huttons death is powerhouse acting pure and simple.
try to appreciate it.

A solid, well-made film
John Wayne like any other American had the right to promote his opinion. Period. ...

Now, the film is as accurate as any other Vietnam film made in that last 30 years because films are created to promote an opinion. (I've known Vietnam Vets who were not dope smoking, gun-totting genocidists.)

As far as action and commitment, the Green Berets succeeds as a solid "war film." No one who cares about good film making can argue that, unless they believe in censorship. The film is panoramic and energetic in cinematic quality. The characters are strong male types (like Vets I've known.) The film chose its side and promoted it. There is one strong element that the film brings home. The US military was better at killing, and it had to be. Most US detachments were generally outnumbered, fighting an opposition armed by numerous totalitarian countries from Europe to Asia. That is a historical fact, which interestingly enough, was introduced into a film over 35 years old.

The Green Berets, again, is a solid war-film and interestingly enough, is less fancifully than Platoon. The Green Berets is worth the time to see. ... Read more

Reviews (20)

aka "Elvis Vs. The Super-Imposed Mildly Menacing Lizard"
I can sum up this movie in one word, "wierd". I first saw "The Giant Gila Monster" late at night as part of a local t.v. station's Godzilla Monster Week (no, the giant lizard in this film is of no relation to the King of the Monsters). I remember being disappointed after having stayed up late only to find that they were showing a monster movie that had absolutely nothing to do with Godzilla, but after having watched the movie I thought it was actually pretty good. Of course I was only about 5 years old at the time, and for me, 11:00 p.m. really was pretty late at night.

Anyway, I just purchased a copy of this movie last week, and watched it (actually half watched - I kept falling asleep) this afternoon. I knew that it probably wouldn't be as good as I thought it was nearly 20 years ago, but I didn't think it would be quite as lame as it is.

Granted it's a 50's B sci-fi flick, so you know it's going to be extremely wild, cheesy and campy - after all, that's what makes those movies so great. Even though this film does have its "wild" scenes, and it definitely is cheesy all the way through, and it is extremely campy - there's just something that keeps this one from being one of the classics of its kind. It's probably the fact that aside from the giant lizard's attacks (if you want to call them attacks), the rest of the movie is just plain boring.

It starts out rather promising, with a giant reptile monster claw coming down violently upon a car with a couple teenagers inside, sending the car hurling over the side of a hill. Then the title comes up - "The Giant Gila Monster" - followed by the opening credits and some creepy background music. It's all downhill from that point on, though. The rest of the film centers around a small Texas town in the late 50's that seems to be populated by a bunch of rednecks, a semi-intelligent sheriff, a bunch of dancing teenagers, and our hero - an Elvis wannabe who lives at home with his "slightly cooler than June Cleaver" mom, his crippled daughter, and his "at times" annoying foreign girlfriend. Oh yeah, occasionally he gets to take breaks from his "hectic" life to play some extremely cheesy folk tunes on a toy banjo! By the way, I happen to like "real" folk music, but these songs just made me want to vomit!

Anyway, now on to the real star of the movie - the giant terrifying Gila Monster!! Yawn. The only thing that seems to be menacing about this overgrown lizard is his enormous size. The only way he actually brings destruction are the times when he happens to be crossing the road and cars smash in to him, or the time when he walks under a rail road bridge and ends up causing the train to wreck simply because he's too big to fit under the bridge! Out of the about 10 "attacks" the lizard makes throughout the film, only 2 were actually done on purpose! Certainly there was little for these backward citizens to actually fear from this abnormally large reptile. One thing that certainly surprised me when watching this movie is that the fact that real life gila monsters are venomous was not even mentioned in the film. Some monster!

All right, now that I've talked your ear off about this movie, decide if you really want to watch it or not, and then wait for it to come on late night t.v. I certainly wouldn't want anyone else to make the mistake I did of purchasing it. I wouldn't even suggest renting it, there are certainly better ways of spending a couple bucks.

Flathead Fever!
My fellow Motorheads will get a kick out of this movie simply for the period hot rods; a half-dozen T-buckets powered by the long gone Flathead Ford V-8! I often wonder what happened to those old rides, hopefully some were perserved.

As for the movie itself, well it's bad but doesn't take itself too seriously. Too much 1950's stuff is crammed into the movie for a two hour horror flick. Hot rods, rock and roll, teen angst, rich vrs poor, and of course the rich girl dating the poor boy. All this and a giant Gila monster! They could have had about three decent movies (budget allowing of course) out of this low budget gem that tries to do too much with way too little.

Viewed as a fun piece of nostaglia it is certainly worth watching.

Good Hokey 1950 Giant Monster Classic
allthough the peeps below my review have their smart ellic remarks on this film i seem to like it.
i actually liked all the giant monster films in the 50's even tho im a 16 year old and wasnt ever around in those days i enjoy the movies today and if u want to pick the reviews of the idiots under me then its ur choice
i got my opinions and they got theirs

A movie saved only by its unintentional humor...
Where do I start on this turkey? The stupid story, the bad acting or the even worse singing. Yes, that's right, singing. This is the Sci-Fi movie that doesn't know if it's a story about a giant lizard or a vehicle to promote a new singing sensation. Well, they should have stuck with the lizard, because the singer was definitely not the next Bobby Darin. I awarded 2 stars because of the movie's saving grace: its unintentional humor.

Dreck then, Dreck now
Golden Turkey Awards to the following: to Shug Fisher for proving that lovable town drunks are the real menace and should be locked away permanently, to special effects for proving that a single coupon to Toy's R'Us furnishes all the props a movie needs, to the luckless lizard for proving that a single narcotized expression gets you real screen time, to the composer of "Laugh Children Laugh" for turning an audience of nice Sunday school graduates into howling mad atheists, and finally, to the producers for believing this 70 minutes of unabashed treacle would actually convert switch-blade greasers into Pat Boone acolytes. The best way to view this 50's abomination now, as then, is passed-out in the back of a '57 Chevy. Some may call it camp -- it doesn't rise to that level. I still call it dreck. ... Read more

Reviews (20)

aka "Elvis Vs. The Super-Imposed Mildly Menacing Lizard"
I can sum up this movie in one word, "wierd". I first saw "The Giant Gila Monster" late at night as part of a local t.v. station's Godzilla Monster Week (no, the giant lizard in this film is of no relation to the King of the Monsters). I remember being disappointed after having stayed up late only to find that they were showing a monster movie that had absolutely nothing to do with Godzilla, but after having watched the movie I thought it was actually pretty good. Of course I was only about 5 years old at the time, and for me, 11:00 p.m. really was pretty late at night.

Anyway, I just purchased a copy of this movie last week, and watched it (actually half watched - I kept falling asleep) this afternoon. I knew that it probably wouldn't be as good as I thought it was nearly 20 years ago, but I didn't think it would be quite as lame as it is.

Granted it's a 50's B sci-fi flick, so you know it's going to be extremely wild, cheesy and campy - after all, that's what makes those movies so great. Even though this film does have its "wild" scenes, and it definitely is cheesy all the way through, and it is extremely campy - there's just something that keeps this one from being one of the classics of its kind. It's probably the fact that aside from the giant lizard's attacks (if you want to call them attacks), the rest of the movie is just plain boring.

It starts out rather promising, with a giant reptile monster claw coming down violently upon a car with a couple teenagers inside, sending the car hurling over the side of a hill. Then the title comes up - "The Giant Gila Monster" - followed by the opening credits and some creepy background music. It's all downhill from that point on, though. The rest of the film centers around a small Texas town in the late 50's that seems to be populated by a bunch of rednecks, a semi-intelligent sheriff, a bunch of dancing teenagers, and our hero - an Elvis wannabe who lives at home with his "slightly cooler than June Cleaver" mom, his crippled daughter, and his "at times" annoying foreign girlfriend. Oh yeah, occasionally he gets to take breaks from his "hectic" life to play some extremely cheesy folk tunes on a toy banjo! By the way, I happen to like "real" folk music, but these songs just made me want to vomit!

Anyway, now on to the real star of the movie - the giant terrifying Gila Monster!! Yawn. The only thing that seems to be menacing about this overgrown lizard is his enormous size. The only way he actually brings destruction are the times when he happens to be crossing the road and cars smash in to him, or the time when he walks under a rail road bridge and ends up causing the train to wreck simply because he's too big to fit under the bridge! Out of the about 10 "attacks" the lizard makes throughout the film, only 2 were actually done on purpose! Certainly there was little for these backward citizens to actually fear from this abnormally large reptile. One thing that certainly surprised me when watching this movie is that the fact that real life gila monsters are venomous was not even mentioned in the film. Some monster!

All right, now that I've talked your ear off about this movie, decide if you really want to watch it or not, and then wait for it to come on late night t.v. I certainly wouldn't want anyone else to make the mistake I did of purchasing it. I wouldn't even suggest renting it, there are certainly better ways of spending a couple bucks.

Flathead Fever!
My fellow Motorheads will get a kick out of this movie simply for the period hot rods; a half-dozen T-buckets powered by the long gone Flathead Ford V-8! I often wonder what happened to those old rides, hopefully some were perserved.

As for the movie itself, well it's bad but doesn't take itself too seriously. Too much 1950's stuff is crammed into the movie for a two hour horror flick. Hot rods, rock and roll, teen angst, rich vrs poor, and of course the rich girl dating the poor boy. All this and a giant Gila monster! They could have had about three decent movies (budget allowing of course) out of this low budget gem that tries to do too much with way too little.

Viewed as a fun piece of nostaglia it is certainly worth watching.

Good Hokey 1950 Giant Monster Classic
allthough the peeps below my review have their smart ellic remarks on this film i seem to like it.
i actually liked all the giant monster films in the 50's even tho im a 16 year old and wasnt ever around in those days i enjoy the movies today and if u want to pick the reviews of the idiots under me then its ur choice
i got my opinions and they got theirs

A movie saved only by its unintentional humor...
Where do I start on this turkey? The stupid story, the bad acting or the even worse singing. Yes, that's right, singing. This is the Sci-Fi movie that doesn't know if it's a story about a giant lizard or a vehicle to promote a new singing sensation. Well, they should have stuck with the lizard, because the singer was definitely not the next Bobby Darin. I awarded 2 stars because of the movie's saving grace: its unintentional humor.

Dreck then, Dreck now
Golden Turkey Awards to the following: to Shug Fisher for proving that lovable town drunks are the real menace and should be locked away permanently, to special effects for proving that a single coupon to Toy's R'Us furnishes all the props a movie needs, to the luckless lizard for proving that a single narcotized expression gets you real screen time, to the composer of "Laugh Children Laugh" for turning an audience of nice Sunday school graduates into howling mad atheists, and finally, to the producers for believing this 70 minutes of unabashed treacle would actually convert switch-blade greasers into Pat Boone acolytes. The best way to view this 50's abomination now, as then, is passed-out in the back of a '57 Chevy. Some may call it camp -- it doesn't rise to that level. I still call it dreck. ... Read more

Reviews (18)

Mama, Don't Let Your Collies Grow Up To Wear Shrew Suits!
This is an oldie but goodie. It is standard black and white drive-in silliness about scientists on a remote island who have created 'giant killer shrews' that have more than a passing resemblance to collies with bad toupees. This movies stars James Best and Ken Curtis (you've seen them in westerns, including 'Gunsmoke') as well as Ingrid Goude (Miss Universe Sweden 1956) as the daughter of the principal nutty scientist of the Shrew Island Nature Preserve.

Shrews are the smallest of the insectivores, and world wide there are approximately 314 species, of which 'Giant Killer Shrew' is not one. All shrews have short legs, and a long snout. They also have beady little eyes and are primarily insectivores. Shrews are voracious eaters and are easily prone to starvation, so at least in this one area the movie has it right: in the words of Captain Thorne Sherman (James Best) "it looks like a small rat, and smells like a skunk." I couldn't have said it better. Enough of the biology lesson, back to the film...

In this film Captain Sherman and his unlucky sidekick find Shrew Island while hiding out from a hurricane. They are convinced to stay by the sultry Ingrid Goude, who speaks mysteriously with a Swedish accent despite her father evidently being a Texan. Once nightfall arrives everyone is trapped in the compound as the 300 killer shrews try to get in. Somehow the hurricane affects them, and they are starving, too, so pandemonium breaks out. (The science of the movie is a bit hazy about all this.) Turns out that the shrews in question have deadly poisonous saliva, so even a scratch from a shrew tooth is fatal! They also can dig through walls, scale fences, climb trees, open doors, steal shoes, and do algebra. OK, they can't do algebra, but they can do amazing things to get at their captive audience. The survivors eventually construct a 'tank' of 55 gallon drums and wade to the boat unperturbed once in the water, because this species of shrew (unlike the other 314) can't swim. Lucky for them!

This is a great film of the genre. It is quick (69 minutes) and fun from start to finish. It was once riffed by the MST3K folks, but I have not seen that version in quite some time, though I recall it being a fun episode. This one is a step back to the monster movies of yesteryear, and it feels great to watch!

Some really good special effects
The Killer Shrews is your typical drive-in movie with some of the worst special effects ever put in a movie, yet it is still an enjoyable movie. Captain Thorne Sherman and his first mate, "Rook" Griswold, must dock at an island to drop off supplies, but also to avoid being caught in a hurricane. Once there, they find a small team of scientists working on a secret project, only they can't figure out what. As night falls, the team insists they don't leave. It is revealed that there are 300 starving, killer shrews loose on the island. The result of a scientific experiment gone bad, the shrews must eat three times their body weight everyday. Will the team survive? Find out for yourself. The shrews are just dogs in hairy costumes with huge fangs. The close-ups of the "shrews" are even worse. Even with this ridiculously low budget, The Killer Shrews is still a lot of fun. I would categorize this movie as one of those that is so bad, it is good.

James Best of Dukes of Hazard fame plays Captain Thorne Sherman who mishaps upon Shrew Island. Former Miss Universe Ingrid Goude is Ann Craigs, a scientist's daughter who falls for Cpt. Thorne. Ken Curtis stars as the cowardly Jerry, who will do anything to save his own hide. Baruch Lumet plays Dr. Milo Craigis, the leader of the scientists. The movie also stars Gordon McClendon as Dr. Baines, Alfredo DeSoto as Mario, and Judge Henry Dupree as "Rook" Griswold. The DVD is in black and white with standard presentation. For a really cheesy but fun drive-in horror movie, check out The Killer Shrews!

A discarded masterpiece
Why does this film die in obscurity when Gone with the Wind is critically acclaimed for 100 years? I don't know either, but Killer Shrews is one of the crowning achievments of not only moving pictures, but civilization itself. A beautiful heroine, mad scientists, and a wild eyed scoundral keep you on the edge of your seat until the climatic conclusion. Watch with wonder as they escape the poisonous killer shrews by constructing an actual foot powered battle tank out of empty containers. This is a film of the ages and should be mandatory viewing for all who live.

Dogs with bad rugs.......
This movie stars James Best(Dukes of Hazzard)and Ken Curtis(Gunsmoke)and dogs wearing bad rugs and that's about it really.It's good for a laugh or two and that's not a bad thing I guess.MST3K tore this apart,so this is the uncut version,but I bet you'll wish you were watching the MSTied version instead.Not bad.Not as bad as Creeping Terror or Beast of Yucca Flats though...

Dogs in shrew suits
Dogs in shrew suits

I first saw this in the movies. And let me tell you this is really spooky for kids (or used to be.)
We find our selves on an island where a hand full of visitors, including us, find eerie from the beginning. Of course from the title we are anticipating "you know whats" at any time. But the visitors to this island have no idea what they are in for.
An experiment with the intent of correcting overpopulation has gone awry, et voilà killer shrews. These ravenous creatures must eat many times their weight daily to keep from starving. And I must say that Ingrid Goude (Miss Universe Sweden 1956) would make a tasty snack (not that I notices at the movies.)
Well the people are protected by adobe (mud) walls from the poisonous fanged carnivores (did I mention the fangs are poisonous?)
Wait, it's RAINING! ... Read more

Reviews (20)

aka "Elvis Vs. The Super-Imposed Mildly Menacing Lizard"
I can sum up this movie in one word, "wierd". I first saw "The Giant Gila Monster" late at night as part of a local t.v. station's Godzilla Monster Week (no, the giant lizard in this film is of no relation to the King of the Monsters). I remember being disappointed after having stayed up late only to find that they were showing a monster movie that had absolutely nothing to do with Godzilla, but after having watched the movie I thought it was actually pretty good. Of course I was only about 5 years old at the time, and for me, 11:00 p.m. really was pretty late at night.

Anyway, I just purchased a copy of this movie last week, and watched it (actually half watched - I kept falling asleep) this afternoon. I knew that it probably wouldn't be as good as I thought it was nearly 20 years ago, but I didn't think it would be quite as lame as it is.

Granted it's a 50's B sci-fi flick, so you know it's going to be extremely wild, cheesy and campy - after all, that's what makes those movies so great. Even though this film does have its "wild" scenes, and it definitely is cheesy all the way through, and it is extremely campy - there's just something that keeps this one from being one of the classics of its kind. It's probably the fact that aside from the giant lizard's attacks (if you want to call them attacks), the rest of the movie is just plain boring.

It starts out rather promising, with a giant reptile monster claw coming down violently upon a car with a couple teenagers inside, sending the car hurling over the side of a hill. Then the title comes up - "The Giant Gila Monster" - followed by the opening credits and some creepy background music. It's all downhill from that point on, though. The rest of the film centers around a small Texas town in the late 50's that seems to be populated by a bunch of rednecks, a semi-intelligent sheriff, a bunch of dancing teenagers, and our hero - an Elvis wannabe who lives at home with his "slightly cooler than June Cleaver" mom, his crippled daughter, and his "at times" annoying foreign girlfriend. Oh yeah, occasionally he gets to take breaks from his "hectic" life to play some extremely cheesy folk tunes on a toy banjo! By the way, I happen to like "real" folk music, but these songs just made me want to vomit!

Anyway, now on to the real star of the movie - the giant terrifying Gila Monster!! Yawn. The only thing that seems to be menacing about this overgrown lizard is his enormous size. The only way he actually brings destruction are the times when he happens to be crossing the road and cars smash in to him, or the time when he walks under a rail road bridge and ends up causing the train to wreck simply because he's too big to fit under the bridge! Out of the about 10 "attacks" the lizard makes throughout the film, only 2 were actually done on purpose! Certainly there was little for these backward citizens to actually fear from this abnormally large reptile. One thing that certainly surprised me when watching this movie is that the fact that real life gila monsters are venomous was not even mentioned in the film. Some monster!

All right, now that I've talked your ear off about this movie, decide if you really want to watch it or not, and then wait for it to come on late night t.v. I certainly wouldn't want anyone else to make the mistake I did of purchasing it. I wouldn't even suggest renting it, there are certainly better ways of spending a couple bucks.

Flathead Fever!
My fellow Motorheads will get a kick out of this movie simply for the period hot rods; a half-dozen T-buckets powered by the long gone Flathead Ford V-8! I often wonder what happened to those old rides, hopefully some were perserved.

As for the movie itself, well it's bad but doesn't take itself too seriously. Too much 1950's stuff is crammed into the movie for a two hour horror flick. Hot rods, rock and roll, teen angst, rich vrs poor, and of course the rich girl dating the poor boy. All this and a giant Gila monster! They could have had about three decent movies (budget allowing of course) out of this low budget gem that tries to do too much with way too little.

Viewed as a fun piece of nostaglia it is certainly worth watching.

Good Hokey 1950 Giant Monster Classic
allthough the peeps below my review have their smart ellic remarks on this film i seem to like it.
i actually liked all the giant monster films in the 50's even tho im a 16 year old and wasnt ever around in those days i enjoy the movies today and if u want to pick the reviews of the idiots under me then its ur choice
i got my opinions and they got theirs

A movie saved only by its unintentional humor...
Where do I start on this turkey? The stupid story, the bad acting or the even worse singing. Yes, that's right, singing. This is the Sci-Fi movie that doesn't know if it's a story about a giant lizard or a vehicle to promote a new singing sensation. Well, they should have stuck with the lizard, because the singer was definitely not the next Bobby Darin. I awarded 2 stars because of the movie's saving grace: its unintentional humor.

Dreck then, Dreck now
Golden Turkey Awards to the following: to Shug Fisher for proving that lovable town drunks are the real menace and should be locked away permanently, to special effects for proving that a single coupon to Toy's R'Us furnishes all the props a movie needs, to the luckless lizard for proving that a single narcotized expression gets you real screen time, to the composer of "Laugh Children Laugh" for turning an audience of nice Sunday school graduates into howling mad atheists, and finally, to the producers for believing this 70 minutes of unabashed treacle would actually convert switch-blade greasers into Pat Boone acolytes. The best way to view this 50's abomination now, as then, is passed-out in the back of a '57 Chevy. Some may call it camp -- it doesn't rise to that level. I still call it dreck. ... Read more

Reviews (20)

aka "Elvis Vs. The Super-Imposed Mildly Menacing Lizard"
I can sum up this movie in one word, "wierd". I first saw "The Giant Gila Monster" late at night as part of a local t.v. station's Godzilla Monster Week (no, the giant lizard in this film is of no relation to the King of the Monsters). I remember being disappointed after having stayed up late only to find that they were showing a monster movie that had absolutely nothing to do with Godzilla, but after having watched the movie I thought it was actually pretty good. Of course I was only about 5 years old at the time, and for me, 11:00 p.m. really was pretty late at night.

Anyway, I just purchased a copy of this movie last week, and watched it (actually half watched - I kept falling asleep) this afternoon. I knew that it probably wouldn't be as good as I thought it was nearly 20 years ago, but I didn't think it would be quite as lame as it is.

Granted it's a 50's B sci-fi flick, so you know it's going to be extremely wild, cheesy and campy - after all, that's what makes those movies so great. Even though this film does have its "wild" scenes, and it definitely is cheesy all the way through, and it is extremely campy - there's just something that keeps this one from being one of the classics of its kind. It's probably the fact that aside from the giant lizard's attacks (if you want to call them attacks), the rest of the movie is just plain boring.

It starts out rather promising, with a giant reptile monster claw coming down violently upon a car with a couple teenagers inside, sending the car hurling over the side of a hill. Then the title comes up - "The Giant Gila Monster" - followed by the opening credits and some creepy background music. It's all downhill from that point on, though. The rest of the film centers around a small Texas town in the late 50's that seems to be populated by a bunch of rednecks, a semi-intelligent sheriff, a bunch of dancing teenagers, and our hero - an Elvis wannabe who lives at home with his "slightly cooler than June Cleaver" mom, his crippled daughter, and his "at times" annoying foreign girlfriend. Oh yeah, occasionally he gets to take breaks from his "hectic" life to play some extremely cheesy folk tunes on a toy banjo! By the way, I happen to like "real" folk music, but these songs just made me want to vomit!

Anyway, now on to the real star of the movie - the giant terrifying Gila Monster!! Yawn. The only thing that seems to be menacing about this overgrown lizard is his enormous size. The only way he actually brings destruction are the times when he happens to be crossing the road and cars smash in to him, or the time when he walks under a rail road bridge and ends up causing the train to wreck simply because he's too big to fit under the bridge! Out of the about 10 "attacks" the lizard makes throughout the film, only 2 were actually done on purpose! Certainly there was little for these backward citizens to actually fear from this abnormally large reptile. One thing that certainly surprised me when watching this movie is that the fact that real life gila monsters are venomous was not even mentioned in the film. Some monster!

All right, now that I've talked your ear off about this movie, decide if you really want to watch it or not, and then wait for it to come on late night t.v. I certainly wouldn't want anyone else to make the mistake I did of purchasing it. I wouldn't even suggest renting it, there are certainly better ways of spending a couple bucks.

Flathead Fever!
My fellow Motorheads will get a kick out of this movie simply for the period hot rods; a half-dozen T-buckets powered by the long gone Flathead Ford V-8! I often wonder what happened to those old rides, hopefully some were perserved.

As for the movie itself, well it's bad but doesn't take itself too seriously. Too much 1950's stuff is crammed into the movie for a two hour horror flick. Hot rods, rock and roll, teen angst, rich vrs poor, and of course the rich girl dating the poor boy. All this and a giant Gila monster! They could have had about three decent movies (budget allowing of course) out of this low budget gem that tries to do too much with way too little.

Viewed as a fun piece of nostaglia it is certainly worth watching.

Good Hokey 1950 Giant Monster Classic
allthough the peeps below my review have their smart ellic remarks on this film i seem to like it.
i actually liked all the giant monster films in the 50's even tho im a 16 year old and wasnt ever around in those days i enjoy the movies today and if u want to pick the reviews of the idiots under me then its ur choice
i got my opinions and they got theirs

A movie saved only by its unintentional humor...
Where do I start on this turkey? The stupid story, the bad acting or the even worse singing. Yes, that's right, singing. This is the Sci-Fi movie that doesn't know if it's a story about a giant lizard or a vehicle to promote a new singing sensation. Well, they should have stuck with the lizard, because the singer was definitely not the next Bobby Darin. I awarded 2 stars because of the movie's saving grace: its unintentional humor.

Dreck then, Dreck now
Golden Turkey Awards to the following: to Shug Fisher for proving that lovable town drunks are the real menace and should be locked away permanently, to special effects for proving that a single coupon to Toy's R'Us furnishes all the props a movie needs, to the luckless lizard for proving that a single narcotized expression gets you real screen time, to the composer of "Laugh Children Laugh" for turning an audience of nice Sunday school graduates into howling mad atheists, and finally, to the producers for believing this 70 minutes of unabashed treacle would actually convert switch-blade greasers into Pat Boone acolytes. The best way to view this 50's abomination now, as then, is passed-out in the back of a '57 Chevy. Some may call it camp -- it doesn't rise to that level. I still call it dreck. ... Read more