Leofwine_draca THE BEAST was one of the big TV miniseries of 1996 and widely heralded as a follow up to JAWS. It's based on another Peter Benchley novel and is very similar in story and structure to the Spielberg classic, with the twist that now it's a giant squid terrorising a small coastal town. The TV movie feel means that this isn't particularly dangerous or frightening, but I found that there was enough interesting material to sustain the three-hour running time and it's pretty entertaining to boot.The film boasts a good mix of characters, half of whom will get inked or swallowed by the climax, and some nice character actors in the mix. William Petersen is the hero who nobody listens to and Charles Martin Smith the antagonist in a suit. Best of the bunch is DARKMAN's Larry Drake as the drunken fisherman who steals all his scenes. The '90s-era CGI effects have dated badly, but the life-size squid effects are pretty decent and overall this is solid enough, if no classic.

Coventry Well intended but pretty boring – especially since it's nearly three hours long – monster movie about a small fisherman community named Grace Point that has a bit of a sea creature problem. It starts with the disappearance of a young couple out on a sailing trip and then it takes an awful long time (again, this movie is freaking three hours long!) before anything remotely significant happens. Thanks to the discovery of one miserable little claw, however, highly respected fisherman Whip Dalton can derive they're up against a 60ft tall squid. With his knowledge, this guy should have been the assistant of Steve Irwin. Maybe then he would still be alive today! Anyways, because of the so-called "trap-fishing" that became quite popular in Grace Point, there's hardly any fish left near the coastal town and the octopus' natural source of food is as good as extinct. This leaves the creature no choice but to go after the inhabitants of Grace Point instead. Naturally, and in good old-fashioned "Jaws" tradition, the arrival of the squid coincides with the annual town's festival and there are obviously a lot of people that want to make tons of money on the account of the exceptionally large sea monster. Of course, you can't really blame writer Peter Benchley for ripping off "Jaws", as he himself was also the creator of "Jaws". Since this is a three hour long movie (not sure if I emphasized that little detail already) there's also a whole lot of tedious, dreadful and irrelevant nonsense going on in this film. Multiple romantic sub plots, for example, involving the leading man's slow progress towards a first new relationship since the passing of his wife. Ironically enough, he eventually falls for a female coast guard member who isn't ready for a new lover in her life either. Whip Dalton's teenage daughter discovers the meaning of love for the first time in her life as well, and her story is actually hilarious if you're a cynical bastard who finds joy in the agony of others. Throughout the entire first half of the movie, this girl nags that she's stuck in a small fisherman town without cute boys, yet when she meets the oceanologist's young assistant and spends a few romantic days with him, he subsequently gets eaten by the squid. There, I just summarized altogether 60 minutes of running time for you. The second half of the film is dragging and dull, with overlong and unnecessary sequences and a sub plot that is directly stolen from "Orca – the Killer Whale" (another "Jaws" imitation) suggesting that the octopus is killing with a grudge. For you see, a couple of over-anxious hunters claimed they eliminated the monster, whereas they only killed a baby species. In the second half of the film, mommy returns with a vengeance. The make-up effects and squid models are quite good, especially the baby-squid corpse that floats around on the water surface throughout the entire second part. Decent acting performances and good casting decisions as well, with Charles Martin Smith ("The Untouchables") as the obnoxious bureaucrat mayor and Larry Drake ("Darkman", "Dr. Giggles", "Dark Night of the Scarecrow") as the sleazy, drunken and loud-mouthed troublemaker in town. "The Beast" certainly isn't a bad film, but I just wished I watched the short and simple version instead.

badmofu This film first aired on television when I was in middle school. They advertised it heavily and it turned out to be a really great film. It is a well produced television movie that will give you the creeps at certain points. One underwater scene near the beginning of the second half of the film will really get you going. This is the uncut version I am talking about.There are several cuts of the film that are out there that are very incomplete. The version I have is the one that originally aired on t.v. If you are into things like jaws and King Kong, then you will get a lot of enjoyment out of this film. Some of the characters may be a bit corny but they are played well by some familiar character actors. William Petersen is especially good in the lead role. You really buy the weight he brings to the character. He seems like a genuinely good guy.

vmorris9386 i read the Peter Benchley book The Beast a few years ago. When they came out with the t.v. movie, I thought "Wow! maybe it'll be like the book." Boy was I wrong! This worthless piece of dung can't even be described. These script writers must have been stoned to make the movie out like this. There are some strange going-ons in this small harbor town. A giant squid is attacking the locals, so the town officials hire a drunken, idiotic boat captain to kill the beast. Personally, I think they should have left it alone. It probably would have died of boredom after watching its rendering in this crap-fest. Trust me, go to your local library, and read the book. Much better!