The Colossus of New York (1958)

Excellent science-fiction ideas and high moral purpose with classy actors- what could be better? A lot could be better- its too static, a general stasis pervades most of the scenes.A brilliant scientist is artificially trapped in a Stephen Hawking-esque existence. The film largely takes place in an eerie dark mansion that contains a laboratory with the usual oscilloscopes, and (since this was entering the modern era) a tape-drive computer console, yet another movie brain-in-a-tank sequence and other sci-fi components, all nicely done for the 1950's.Veteran stars of film and the New York stage with impressive acting credentials such as Otto Kruger and Mala Powers give solid performances, and fine actor Ross Martin is very good, both as a human and in his Hawking-esque voice only mode. I only mention Dr. Hawking out of respect, to illustrate how far ahead of its time the film's basic concept was.The actors at times have a curious lack of cohesion interacting with each other, a situation that is clearly the fault of the director, as is the slow pace, and in fact I would place all the blame for every fault of this film squarely in the lap of the director, who in my opinion seriously bungled what is otherwise a potentially very fine film. A reviewer here mentions the scene of a crowd just standing while being zapped- such stasis in scenes is inexcusable. And I agree with reviewers who decry the lack of a "rampage"- a good monster menace should ideally rampage around the city a little but this one doesn't (he moves around the city some while hidden in a clever way, but the result is: no rampage).I will give "The Colossus of New York" 5 stars out of 10 but wish I could give it a higher rating. Just can't do it.

"The Colossus of New York" has aged rather well. It still evokes the same strange fascination it had back in the late 1950s, when its story and title character startled me. It was evident back then that the film was a low-budget production, and that it was not a masterpiece of fantastic cinema, but its variation of the theme of the scientist that creates a monster was interesting, and the appearance of the colossus was impressive. I have read a couple of commentaries from producer William Alland, in which he expressed that he was very unsatisfied with the results, and put all the blame on Eugène Lourié. Allan definitely did not paid too much attention to the limitations of the budget he administered –forcing to reuse shots, and the inclusion of stock footage-, of Thelma Schnee's weak script, or the negligence of Floyd Knudtson's editing. But especially, Alland overlooked John F. Warren's images, some of which are remarkable. This is also due to Lourié's background: he was originally an art director and set designer, and it shows. The lightning, compositions and camera angles are effective most of the times, and compensate for the shortcomings. Where Lourié's lack of expertise shows is in the routine camera set-ups, putting the camera (and the spectator) in the same position, in scenes that take place in the same locations, but separate in time. This somehow makes the movie unfold too cautiously, an explanation to the speed up of some shots when the colossus moves. Otherwise it is a recommended, little cult film that will stick to your memory.

Reviewers appear to be about evenly divided on this film. Half are enraptured by "The Colossus of New York", and half think it's laughably bad. I tend to be in the middle somewhere. I think the movie is a slightly above average 1950s sci-fi/horror flick with a very good cast and some interesting twists. However, I've never thought the film represented some sort of special viewing experience.Ross Martin plays a scholar/humanitarian/all around good guy who is killed off in an unfortunate accident early in the film. His father (Otto Kruger, in an extremely pompous performance) implants Martin's brain in a huge Frankenstein-ish robot (played by Ed Wolff).Naturally, the robot doesn't just sit around smoking cigarettes and watching TV--he predictably goes berserk, wreaking havoc on Martin's enemies and, in a somewhat mawkish plot twist, befriending an innocent little boy. After smashing all kinds of things, the robot commits suicide with the help of his little schoolboy friend, dying at the UN building in New York.The pluses are a good cast, fine piano score, and very good photography on a limited budget. The minuses are the predictable storyline and the awkward relationship between the homicidal robot and a little boy. Worth a look, but not a classic in my opinion.

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.