recommended

All that we are seeing on the screen is happening with real people, real action sequences in the background, forcing the eye to watch as if we were there.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

This film is low-tech and low-budget and that means that few modern viewers will sit through it, which is too bad. Although modest, this movie is earnest and interesting, and is reflects some of the darker realities of its time.The opening sequence shows a military officer getting caught within the radius of a nuclear explosion and taking a full hit of radioactivity. Fans of classic comic books will note that virtuoso cartoonist Jack Kirby borrowed heavily from this sequence in 1962, to create the 1st and best origin story for The Incredible Hulk, but there is a greater significance.The history of the Cold War is quickly being forgotten and re-written, but it is a fact that in the first decade of that period there were numerous documented experiments where U.S. troops were routinely used as guinea pigs in atomic tests and other experiments.In at least one spectacular incident, hundreds of troops were stationed at the border of a blast area, and then ordered to march directly toward the billowing mushroom cloud so as to gage the capacities of soldiers in an atomic war; we know of this incident because, among other documentation, it was filmed by the military.U.S. troops were also given LSD, unbeknownst to them, and there were many personnel who were either injured or killed testing the multitude of new vehicles and equipment introduced in this period.Our tragic hero, the unfortunate Col. Glen Manning is a kind of surrogate for these men.In addition, there is an interesting little scene early in the film, when Col. Manning is unconscious after getting irradiated. In a delirium, he recalls an incident in the Korean War, when he faced a surprise attack by an enemy troop, and had to resort to hand-to-hand conflict. Baby-faced actor Glen Lanaghan shows a genuine horror, as he must personally impale another man or meet this fate himself.We know now that such experiences often induce PTSD. It is my opinion that later on in the picture, when Col. Manning is running amok in Vegas, he is, partly, experiencing the symptoms of PTSD.While this film was obviously a schlock horror film of the typical variety, it also reflects the concerns of its society and creators, perhaps in ways they did not even consciously intend.Just as King Kong represents the crucifixion of the American Male Libido, the Amazing Colossal Man represents the blood sacrifice of the American Male Conscience.

Pretty good B sci-fi from the 50s. Glenn Langan stars as an Army lieutenant who gets caught in an atomic blast. Having no refrigerator to hide in, he suffers the full brunt of the explosion. Amazingly, it doesn't kill him. Even his burned skin regenerates after only a day. But the good news ends there, as this miraculous healing process doesn't stop. Soon, he's twenty feet tall, with no signs of stopping. His fiancée, Cathy Downs, watches in horror, and William Hudson and Larry Thor try desperately to find a cure. For a while, this film seems pretty good, with the protagonist going through an existential crisis that is easy to sympathize with. Unfortunately, as it goes on, it turns into a very rote monster movie with very cruddy special effects. It's not bad for what it is - I'm sure kids were happy to see the talking stop and see the shooting start - but for a while it almost seemed like it might become the companion piece to the contemporaneous The Incredible Shrinking Man, which provided both thrills and intellect.

A better title for the movie would surely have been "Boring Fat Baldy Bloke In A Nappy", though this may have affected box office takings somewhat. The opening sequence, with an Army Major subjected to a blast from an exploding plutonium bomb, may well have inspired the origin of The Incredible Hulk. The Incredible Expanding Nappy he's given reminds me of Greenskin's never splitting trousers - though a simple explanation for said nappy is given. The instant radiation burns he suffers are actually pretty convincing, but from here on, it's all downhill.Our nominal hero - I say nominal because throughout the movie he creates no sympathy whatsoever for his plight - finds he is growing at the rate of 8 feet per day, having perfectly regenerated his badly burned skin. I suspect the surly mood he displays throughout the production may have to do with the actor's understandable embarrassment at being humiliated in front of thousands of movie-goers. Let's face it, his career was never gonna take off after this! Baldy Bloke In A Nappy(BBIN) gets an understandable strop on, and goes on the rampage in an occasionally back- projected, occasionally made out of cardboard, Las Vegas. If you've lasted this long with the movie you've had to sit through endless chats about his condition, some of the worst scientific reasoning ever committed to celluloid (the heart being a single cell is my own favourite)much moping from his girlfriend, some totally pointless flashbacks of the Korean War, in which stock footage showcases a battle involving four people, two on each side, (our hero is the only one who makes it)said Baldy bloke in a small set with doll's house furniture to convey the fact that he's big, the army apparently being able to feed him 8 feet-long chickens for his meals and a six feet-long hypodermic needle that can fit inside a small helicopter with three people in it.The climax comes when BBIN grabs his girlfriend when the scientists inject a cure into him, being persuaded to lower her to the ground, and promptly being killed by a co-ordinated bazooka strike at the Boulder Dam. Bloody Yanks - he was cured!!!BBIN's look is obviously patterned after Dr. Cyclops (1940) which features a baldy scientist who shrinks the rest of the cast, making himself look huge by comparison. I feel certain Albert Decker, who played the Doc, would never have worn a nappy...Although I have never partaken myself, I would heartily recommend viewing this movie under the influence of various hallucinogenics...

This isn't exactly the Royal Shakespeare Company here and with a title like THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN, you know you're not about to watch something that's due for a re-make on Masterpiece Theater. So, as long as you realize it is first and foremost a schlocky sci-fi horror film from the 50s and have your expectations set relatively low, you'll probably have a good time watching it. On a campy and kitschy level, it's good stuff. I particularly like how his clothes seem to grow with him (thus allowing it to STILL be a family flick) and the scene near the end of the film when they give this crazed giant an injection--his reaction is priceless!! All-in-all, I'd recommend this as a good film to watch with friends. Watch it, laugh and enjoy.