Le colosse de New York

THE COLOSSUS OF NEW YORK boasts one of the most impressive mind-reading monstrosities ever committed to film: it looks like something that the late, great jack Kirby might have dreamed up. Watching It lumber around the landscape, I almost expected It to take flight and announce that It had decided to take over the World- and the scenes of the Colossus walking underwater were nothing short of spectacular, you ask me. I also liked the idea that the Colossus developed a form of Telepathy/ESP; the Death Ray was just icing on the proverbial cake. If (like myself) you have a fondness for '50s Science Fiction and Horror movies, you'll love THE COLOSSUS OF NEW YORK.

The impressive title work is the viewer's first clue that producer William Alland and director Eugene Lourie squeezed considerable artistry and style from a shoestring budget. Look past the economic limitations; the suspenseful and imaginative story involves the death of a humanitarian genius whose father (a famous surgeon) and brother (a robotics expert) team up to keep the genius' brain alive in a robot body (well designed by ace effects artist John P. Fulton). The film's message concerns the nature of the soul and the role which physical sensations play in making humans act humane. Other affects by Fulton include one of sci-fi cinema's best death rays. All in all, a moving and intelligent movie

***Possible spoilers*** This movie has an exquisite eerieness (Is that a word?) that, IMHO, transcends any shortcomings. The shots of the Colossus moving through the water, as my nephew would say, "creep me out, big time." The overall concept -- one's body is one's humanity -- is a unique angle on the 'brain in a bucket' school of movies. If you have a chance, catch this on a movie channel. Love to see it released on DVD!

i was born in 1957 and have loved horror movies since i was a kid. Somehow, this movie never crossed my path in my childhood years. I never heard of or saw this movie until 1980. We had just gotten cable TV and this movie was shown in a horror movie marathon, including Earth vs. The Flying Saucers and The Day the Earth Stood Still. I thought this movie was above average but never considered it "great," however, over the years, it's kind of grown on me. I've always liked Ross Martin, who is the star of this movie. There are many movies i would consider better but for some reason, i still like watching this movie. I ended up buying the blu-ray version.

Despite some clunky moments I still think the best and most eerie part of Colussus of new york is when the "dead" scientist awakes, and gradually with mounting terror, realises his brain is in the body of a robot! This scene I'm sure influenced Director Paul Verhoeven when he made "Robocop" many years later. look at the creepy visuals in this scene as we see everything from the robots P.O.V and note that its visualisation is similar to what you see on an old Television monitor. those lines spoken by his creator "you can see, you can hear, you can speak and you can move" still sends a chill down my spine. I rate this as one of the best eerie mad lab scenes in the movies.

Along with a few others, I too, must chime in with my 'thumbs up' opinion of this lost classic. I was fortunate to see nearly ALL of the horror/sci-fi 'Classics' in theaters during the 50's binge..when there was a new double feature nearly every other week. This one, stands quite a bit above all the others. The creep factor is high and it has some truly haunting moments. The piano score just adds to the muted terror. Cheap? Yep. But I think that adds to the atmosphere. Sure, I was a 'kid' when I saw all of these back then, but only a handful of these films were 'great'. 'Colossus' is hands-down one of the best of that era. If you watch it in the proper context, I'm sure you will agree.