It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.
View MoreThere's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.
View MoreMostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.
View MoreOne of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.
View MoreIs there anyone in this world so indispensable that their continued existence is absolutely essential? That's the question that is posed to the viewers in The Colossus Of New York.Ross Martin plays the super achieving son of Otto Kruger in a family of geniuses. In said family Martin is the crown jewel, a world famous scientist who on the day he's awarded the Nobel Prize is killed in a traffic accident. The world mourns but not Otto Kruger who takes the body and does some Frankenstein like experiments.In short he puts Martin's preserved brain in the body of one rather large and powerful robot who can kill with a ray gun blast. The values he developed as a human gradually fade away.Watching The Colossus Of New York I thought back to this truly horrid film They Saved Hitler's Brain where some Nazis have concluded the genius of the Fuehrer must be preserved for eternity. This is a much better film, but the same principle applies. Applied in fact by a father who just will not accept his son's death at the height of his fame and ability to do good works.Not a big budget film, but it does give one a lot to think about. What are human beings without the packaging?
View MorePlot-- Brilliant research scientist Jerry Spensser (Martin) dies before completing his revolutionary work in food production. His equally brilliant father (Kruger) keeps portions of him alive by transferring his brain to a huge mechanical robot whose behavior is sometimes glaringly unpredictable. Meanwhile, family and friends get involved like it or not. Tepid sci-fi, that's well produced and well acted within the confines. Trouble is the monster looks more giant than colossus and not very fearsome. It also looks like the scripter was reaching for a philosophical sub-text about the importance of a soul, which of course the Colossus doesn't have. In short, having only a brain but no soul, means he can think, but without moral considerations. Ironically, however, the climax appears to question this separation. Shrewdly, the script doesn't hit us over the head with the sub-text. On the other hand, the screenplay and direction fail to generate needed suspense. In short, the movie is too talky. Making the monster's behavior more unpredictable would have generated more drama. Then too, staging is sometimes erratic, like when the UN crowd stands implausibly around while getting zapped by the monster. Thus, the scene fails to impart a needed sense of fear to viewers.Something should be said about producer William Alland, an executive position too often overlooked in movies. Considering his prolific output in the 50's, it's surprising how many good sci-fi's he collaborated on—This Island Earth (1955), It Came From Outer Space (1953), Tarantula (1955), among others. Unfortunately, this effort doesn't reach that rank, but neither is it 1950's sci-fi dreck. In short, the results are middling, at best.
View MoreWhile not nearly as smitten with it as some folks, The Colossus of New York does maximize a rather small budget and presents an interesting story. The story involves whether men with great minds also have souls as a father and brother of just such a mind resurrect the brain of a lost son/brother through their knowledge of brain surgery and robotics. They place the brain in a hideous monstrous creation with a huge gigantic body and eyes like lasers(in fact shoot something like lasers to kill). Yes, this is heavily reliant on the Frankenstein mythos about playing God and tampering with what makes up human beings - body and soul. The film's story does have glaring weaknesses which the inferior budget magnifies unfortunately. The acting as well is not all that good despite a pretty good cast with Ross Martin in his brief role as the great mind prior to his new home in a basement creation basically. Martin was the best actor in the whole film and is in it barely 10 minutes! His father is played by Otto Kruger who just looks like he is in a daze the whole time and gives a very wooden performance. Playing the brother is John Baragrey who is adequate. Mala Powers as the grief-stricken wife seems to be taking the news of terrible things rather well, and rounding out the important characters is Charles Herbert as the son. He is okay and a bit too cutesy. The music by Van Cleave is more than intrusive(as another reviewer noted). It is downright annoying and makes the film very static in scenes which should have had more umph if you will. There are few action scenes, a lot of talking, and a rather nicely shot climatic scene at the United Nations, but when all is said and done the movie abruptly ends with major characters walking away looking very disinterested and emotionless. I really did like much of the story and there are several scenes which are rather well-conceived(the outdoor meeting with Herbert and giant Dad and the end of the film for the most part standing out). The film has not had a DVD release and is awfully hard to find on video but can be with some perseverance. While the special effects are incredibly limited and the film has a real cheap feeling to it, The Colossus of New York is better than average if for no other reason than its imaginative script.
View MoreDespite 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.
View More