User Reviews

Gorgo was the first and probably the best known British giant monster movie. With the success of early giant monster movies in the 1950s such as The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and Godzilla, many other companies were trying to put out giant monsters of their own. One of the first and better known of these was 1961's Gorgo.

Gorgo is the story involving the discovery of a prehistoric mythical creature Gorgo, another name for Gorgon. The 60 foot giant occasionally attacks boats at sea but is flushed onto the mainland by some villagers. Eventually he is subdued and brought to England for study, only to be placed at a circus as a cash cow (not to self: do not exploit monsters you can barely control, if King Kong and Gorgo are any indication). It is revealed thereafter that Gorgo is a baby, practically in its infancy. The nearly 200 foot tall mother raids England in search of her offspring, gathers it, and the two depart for the sea once again.

This monster movie has a lighter, more pleasing ending for the audience than most monster movies. Generally the misunderstood beast has to be killed, but not here. That was done on purpose as the director's daughter was upset by the ending of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. Gorgo is a pretty short movie, only running 76 minutes long. As a result, the film is fast paced and never has dull moments. Monster movie fans will also be pleased to see plenty of monster action in the movie, as Gorgo appears often and within the first 10 or 15 minutes.

Speaking of Gorgo, he looks pretty good. His glowing eyes and a few other touches give away the fact that it's fake, but for its time the suit looks great. Also great is his iconic roar. It's rather ironic that Gorgo is an obvious imitation of Toho's Godzilla, yet Toho produced a monster rather similar to Gorgo almost 15 years later. Titanosaurus starred in the last Godzilla film of the Showa series and has the fins at the back of the head like Gorgo and is a general bipedal aquatic dinosaur. While Toho maybe didn't directly rip off Gorgo, it's still interesting to see the similarities from Godzill to Gorgo to Titanosaurus come full circle.

Outside of Gorgo, the special effects were above par for the time. The acting is acceptable too. We have no outstanding performances, but no one annoys you or gives a bad performance here. The plot itself works well too. It's nothing that original, but the story of a misunderstood creature on the basis of its size is effective here. The boy who is nearly enchanted by the monster and its mother is a nice touch, showing how children sometimes have a better concept of what we should be doing instead of what we adults sometimes are thinking of (money!).

All in all, Gorgo is a pleasing movie to watch and its quick pace/short time makes it a movie you can watch often if you want. A lack of graphic scenes or strong language also make this a movie that is something of a family please. It's not campy and childish so as to put dad off, yet his son can appreciate the movie as well. Gorgo has stood the test of time, having come out some 50 years ago and still having a pretty loyal following. He received his own magazines and toys, etc. Pretty impressive for a monster that starred in only one movie. I rate this movie a 6/10. That may not seem very high, but it's a solid movie worth seeing if you're a giant monster movie fan. If you aren't, then this movie won't appeal to you in the way a movie like Cloverfield or Monsters will. Fine by a monster movie fan like me, it's just that it doesn't have as widespread appeal. But again, if you like monster movies, this is a classic!

which is, in many ways, superior to the Godzilla films. The production values are certainly way ahead of Toho's efforts. I thought the monsters, both mother and son, looked reasonably realistic. The real military vehicles, as compared to the wind-up tin ones in the Godzilla films, added a nice touch of realism.

I particularly liked the scenes showing Gorgo's first visit ashore; his mother coming ashore on the same island, in the midst of a thunderstorm, to search for him; his mother overturning the British destroyer; mother wrecking London Bridge and Big Ben; and the final reunion of parent and offspring. The ending was very unusual for this type of movie.

Not perfect but, all in all, a good monster flick, well worth watching.

This is a British rip job version of Godzilla which was filmed off the coasts of Ireland, in London and in the MGM studios in Hertfordshire, England with British, Irish, and American actors. Yet, even with the rip-off factor firmly in my mind, this was still an enjoyable venture into the realm of really big monsters and their movies.

SPOILERS

The story line involves a sea monster, Gorgo, who is caught and brought to London for exhibit. But hot on the trail, is the mother of Gorgo (who is also much, MUCH larger), and she is anything but happy.

The film is shot decently except for the underwater scenes which appear to have been shot through a blue lens which made some scenes nearly indiscernible. The acting quality is on par for that era and actually, a bit above par all things considered. And the effects and miniature work is somewhat decent, except for Gorgo/Gorgo's mum, who looked a bit like a hand puppet in some shots and like a plastic child's toy, in others.

In some ways, this film is superior to those produced by Toho, and in others, it is vastly inferior. The acting quality is light years better, but the monster itself was not nearly as well done as the Big G. The gratuitous British Royal Air Force cameos were priceless and as ineffective as one might suspect, as she makes her way towards the infant.

The trappings on the island are a well assembled hodge–podge of "Viking" relics which were not entirely accurate in their labeling, but we'll forgive them considering the budget and the production dates.

All in all, once the decidedly Pekingese-pug-looking Mama Gorgo arrives on the scene, this is a pretty good action/monster flick. Just remember, it's NOT a Toho production, and there is no Godzilla in this film.

It rates a 7.2/10 on the "B" scale.

That's about a 5.3/10 on the "A" scale from...

the Fiend :.

I first saw "Gorgo" in England in late 1961, almost a year after it's initial release in the US in January of that year. I was 13 at the time and I managed to fool the ticket lady that I was 16. The film had an 'X' rating which meant that nobody under 16 was admitted even with a parent. Before I went into the cinema I viewed the lobby cards and quad poster outside. The full appearance of Gorgo was not revealed and I had to wait until the film was on the screen before her full face was revealed. The British poster art hid her face basing the idea on the name 'Gorgo' being derived from the Gorgon sisters. If you looked upon their faces you turned to stone. For the next eighty minutes I was mesmerized. I had no awareness, at that age, of what contribution Eugene Lourie, Freddie Young, Angelo Lavangnino and Technicolor were making and that this film would remain my firm favorite of the non stop-motion creatures of the big screen. The same Freddie Young that won Academy Awards for his work with David Lean is displayed here with the same technical brilliance that went into all his work. His photography really gives the film a touch of class an ingredient which undoubtedly adds immeasurably to the suspension of disbelief. The richness of the color, Gorgo's rich green scaly skin and the fiery red night skies of burning London are enhanced by the I.B. Technicolor process. Tom Howard's great visual effects work made a huge impression. Seven years later he would be my employer for five months! Angelo Lavagnino's memorable score captured perfectly the film's mood capturing the intimate side of the story as well as the dramatic traditional monster-on-the-loose music expected. Eugene Lourie has made a monster movie that is hard to top even with the wonders of today's CGI technology. Lourie gave the lead characters personality - difficult enough with a man in a suit character - and a feeling of relief for their preservation at the film's end. Another film with a 'monster in a suit' character also released in 1961, "Konga", unfortunately did not quite capture the same emotional level of "Gorgo" but regardless is respected by fans for other reasons, myself including. I have seen this film many times over the years and we have to thank the film makers for taking their job seriously and I feel it is that, that has made this film endure so well over the years.

While Japan has led in this genre, and America has done a few good things in it, this is the British take.

Which means everyone is totally calm no matter what is happening and no one gets terribly excited.

I give it credit in that its monster has a motivation...it wants its baby back. As opposed to your average Japanese Kaiju who just attacks because, you know, Japan.

The special effects aren't horrible, and Gorgo is a little more plausible than most of his Japanese kindred- he doesn't have lasers or fire breathe or something equally implausible. It's just big and it stomps things.

GORGO (the name given to the monster is supposedly because it has the power to turn men to stone with fright, like the gorgon, but I suspect it's merely a derivative of GODZILLA) is simply a British version of the typical monster on the rampage in a city theme, done to death in films like THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS and all the others. The British aspect has both good and bad points; unfortunately the budget is slightly hampered, but there is the endearingly British aspect to things.

As monster movies go it's not a bad rip-off, hardly original, but it passes the time. All of the traditional things are in the film, including bad acting, the army fighting the monster (including the typical stock army footage of aircraft taking off, etc.), the monster trashing the city only for the world to be saved at the end. I was going to comment on the bad back projection in this film, however after recently viewing AT THE EARTH'S CORE it doesn't seem as bad. But then I don't think anything would. The actors are all bland, sailor types, and you won't give two hoots about any of them, apart from an endearing little boy who runs about in peril. Bill Travers is particularly wooden which is a surprise given the charismatic performances he gave in his later 'animal' films like BORN FREE.

There are some effective moments in the film, including the arrival of the red-eyed monster and a hilarious moment involving some giant rubber fish, but these are few and far between. The trouble is that we've been here a million times already and the film doesn't offer up much that's new. Is the final destructive climax worth waiting for? All I'll say is that the smashing buildings are slightly more realistic than those in the Japanese equivalents, that's not really saying much though. The monsters in the film are strictly of the man in a rubber suit variety, and not realistic at all, and pretty generic really.

Also, there isn't that intentional/unintentional humour aspect which makes films like these so enjoyable, for instance it's nowhere near as much fun as the kaiju DESTROY ALL MONSTERS. However, there is a good ending to the film, something of an anticlimax but good nonetheless. This time around, the monsters survive and return back to the ocean. It's a happy film to watch for those of us who root for the monsters in these things and it really brings a smile to the face when the brunt of the military force just can't defeat mother nature. It's certainly a first for me anywhere, more endings to monster on the rampage films should be like this, after all Gorgo is only defending her young. All together, GORGO is a typical monster on the rampage film, with nothing to distinguish it from all the others apart from the British setting. In which instance it gets an extra star. It passes the time, but there's no need to go out of your way to see it.