Bill Wrobel's DVD - Film Score Rundowns

opinion, and, well, unnatural-looking (I prefer a natural-looking monster based on
realistic colors)! Maybe if it was a different shade of green, it could camouflage itself
better in a forest. That way it would’ve survived a lot longer, hide out up in the green
branches of a big tree. Of course when it grew too big, its head would be sticking out
from the treetops, and that would be too conspicuous. A helicopter would definitely spot
it. Now: While not quite “bright green” or “spring green” in the sunlight (certainly never
a “neon green”!), it still looked vivid, almost like a Chartreuse, or even a Harlequin. Most
times it looked “yellow-green” (see 1:07:35, for instance, or 1:16:00)—much more
“yellow-green” than the brighter “green-yellow.” “Lime” is more like “green-yellow,” so
the Ymir never looked (or liked) Lime (it preferred yellow sulphur for food, you see, not
limes!). So maybe the sulphur made its skin look more “yellow-green” than “greenyellow.”
I don’t know. This is just conjecture. The Ymir never looked as dark green as
the military vehicle (see 1:15:53) or even the helicopter (see 00:53:02). The car is more a
dark asparagus, or more an “India green” than a “Pakistan green.”(although it might be an
“olive drab” or even a “sap green”). It could be a “Sacramento State green” but I don’t
think so because the scene is in Rome, Italy. The car could be a “Hooker green” but I
don’t think so because there were four men only in that vehicle. Of course, I am
diverging from the specific topic (the precise color of the monster, not the car). I just
asked my wife about the Ymir color. “It’s good,” she stated. It was not an enthusiastic
response (more neutral or matter-of-fact) but since she has better color sense than I (she
was a dresser and did a lot of stage work), I guess I’ll let this discussion come to a
conclusion! Besides, despite the Ymir color, I am still glad I forked over my greenbacks
to the dvd store for the movie!
I enjoyed William Hopper (of Paul Drake fame later in Perry Mason)—although
he tends to over-act expressively here and with his loud voice many times (00:49:22 for
instance) much as William Shatner did. But I think Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock
tackling the creature would’ve been interesting (but we’d have to wait nine years before
Mr. Spock came to screen)! Joan Taylor returns from the previous Harryhausen flick,
Earth vs. the Flying Saucers. I liked her but, once again, where is Paula Raymond! Even
if the Ymir was just an un-animated puppet on strings like The Giant Claw, I’d still buy
the movie if Paula Raymond was in it! I liked the Disc Two special features. A carryover
was the David Schecter presentation of the music, and the weird Tim Burton interview
with Harryhausen. I liked seeing the feature about the colorization process. I am now
watching the “Remembering 20 Million Miles To Earth” documentary. It lasts about 26
minutes.
I got a few chuckles from the movie that I’m sure were unintended by the
production people. Remember that scene when the Ymir at night goes into the stable?
Before that he first scared away the horses. Then he scared the sheep, except for one
youngster that was just curious, not scared. Fortunately the Ymir eats sulphur, not sheep!
So this passing-over-the-little-sheep scene establishes that here is a “nice” monster. The
viewer can be sympathetic towards this stranger in a strange land (nasty Earth). Then the
Ymir scares more horses in the stable. Of course the poor Ymir did not intend to scare
these creatures. It’s just that they were scared of it innocently wandering around looking
for sulphur. Then we come to the 00:39:00 scene. It was not enough that the horses, the
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