The Amazing Colossal Man: Difference between revisions

''[[The Amazing Colossal Man]]'' is a giant monster movie made in 1957, directed and produced by Bert I. Gordon; it's also a [[Trope Codifier]] for "[[Attack of the Fifty 50-Foot Whatever]]".

Lieutenant Colonel Glenn Manning, Korean War veteran, is one of the lucky soldiers sitting in the trenches waiting to witness the test of a new nuclear weapon, a "plutonium bomb". The bomb doesn't go off when it's triggered, and Glenn gets caught in the blast when [[Too Dumb to Live|he races to rescue the pilot of a plane that crashes in the test area]]. It seems to be enough of a miracle for him to be found alive with severe third degree burns, but... well, this ''is'' how ''The [[Incredible Hulk (Comic Book)|Incredible Hulk]]'' got started.

1958 saw the release of a sequel: ''War of the Colossal Beast''. In this installment, Glenn is found alive in Mexico after the events of the first film, scarred, mindless, and hunting bread trucks to survive; his ever-devoted <s>fiancee</s> [[Remember the New Guy?|sister]] finds him and leads the U.S. military to bring him back to Los Angeles. [["I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight|They can't restore Glenn's memory]], and he inevitably goes on another rampage. Glenn's sister talks the Beast into freeing a bus of students he held captive, and Glenn, suddenly regaining his humanity, commits suicide by electrical power lines, somehow both disintegrating himself and turning the film from black-and-white to color for the last minute.

For the ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'' versions of these films, please see the following [[Mystery Science Theater 3000 (TV)/Recap|episode recaps]]:

* ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000 (TV)/Recap/S03 /E09 The Amazing Colossal Man|The Amazing Colossal Man]]'' [Episode 309]

* ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000 (TV)/Recap/S03 /E19 War of the Colossal Beast|War of the Colossal Beast]]'' [Episode 319]

* [[Attack of the Fifty 50-Foot Whatever]]

* [[Dying Asas Yourself]]: Glenn finally remembers who he is and who Joyce is before being [[Driven to Suicide]].

* [["I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight]]: Attempted to restore Glenn's memory in the sequel.

{{quote| "Who else but a clown would have an expandable sarong like this? You know, it's adjustable. I can grow to be a hundred feet tall, and I don't need a change of wardrobe. Army ingenuity!" }}

* [[Monumental Battle]]: The climax happens atop Hoover Dam, Glenn also destroys a few famous (circa 1950s) pieces of the Vegas Strip along the way.

* [[Square -Cube Law]]: Played straight, although the "heart as a single cell" bit was probably meant in the same spirit as an aversion.

* [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]]: Glenn's devoted and loyal sister Joyce [[Remember the New Guy?|who never appeared in the original film]] is a lot like Carol, his devoted and loyal fiancee who [[Brother Chuck|never appeared in the sequel]].

{{quote| ''<small>Growing...!</small> Growing...! '''Growing...!''' To a Giant! To a Monster! When will it Stop!''}}

{{quote| '''Glenn:''' Why don't you make me up a sign saying ''See the Amazing Colossal Man''?}}

* [[Too Dumb to Live]]: Let's go over this again. Glenn ''runs into the test site of an experimental new bomb'', shortly after the bomb has been triggered but has not detonated yet, against the direct orders of his superior officer AND''and'' any and all common sense, to try to rescue a downed airplane pilot who didn't respond to radio, has given no indication or clue that he is alive (or, thanks to Bert I. Gordon's classic off-camera style, even exists), and is most likely dead by now.

* [[Two -Faced]]: In ''War of the Colossal Beast'', half of Glenn's face has been left as exposed bone with an empty eye socket.

* [[What Happened to Thethe Mouse?]]: The audience never DID''did'' learn where that doomed pilot (the one Glenn was trying to rescue) came from in the first place. In fact, he was never mentioned again past that.