by jkrouskop » Thu Apr 13, 2006 11:05 pm
Read the book many, many times, as I have always had a major fear of squids. Awesome book.
The movie is a mixed bag. On the one hand it is very, very well-acted and treats its subject matter with the right degree of seriousness. On the other, its depiction of the squid (from a behavioral standpoint) is far more fanciful than the book, and it is missing the book's wonderfully over-the-top climactic scene. I agree also that the addition of the JAWS 3-D baby/mother squid element and the stretching of the story to make a four hour miniseries hurt it immeasurably.
With the right script and the right director, BEAST (not THE BEAST, as it was filmed for TV) would make a great theatrical film. As a TV movie it was a couple of notches above the usual made-for-TV monster fare, but not entirely satisfactory.