A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Giant Behemoth - in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[JoshZ]

I've always pronounced the word Behemoth as "buh-hee-muth." On the Warner Archive podcast, the hosts repeatedly pronounced it as "bee-muth," and mentioned that it could alternately be pronounced "be-hem-muth" or "beh-hem-moth." Never once did they mention "buh-hee-muth."

Mirriam Webster seems to back me up, with the primary pronunciation as bi-ˈhē-məth and alternates as: bē-ə-məth, -ˌmäth, -ˌmȯth

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/behemoth

Is it pronounced differently in the movie?

 

[Robert Crawford]

I've always pronounced the word Behemoth as "buh-hee-muth." On the Warner Archive podcast, the hosts repeatedly pronounced it as "bee-muth," and mentioned that it could alternately be pronounced "be-hem-muth" or "beh-hem-moth." Never once did they mention "buh-hee-muth."

Mirriam Webster seems to back me up, with the primary pronunciation as bi-ˈhē-məth and alternates as: bē-ə-məth, -ˌmäth, -ˌmȯth

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/behemoth

Is it pronounced differently in the movie?

I'm with you as far as how I pronounce the word. I don't believe the word is mention in the movie.

 

[CarlosMeat]

The name is mentioned a few times in the film pronounced differently each time but understandable as one is an American, one upper class Brit the other a fisherman making a biblical reference as he dies. Never though is it pronounced beemuth.

 

[bujaki]

Beemuth is related to Mothra.

 

[JoshZ]

I normally wouldn't give this much thought, but the podcast hosts sounded so authoritative about it.

 

[Richard V]

Wink wink nod nod. Or did you mean a commentary on 50-FOOT WOMAN? I did not buy that set.

Say no more

 

[Bob Cashill]

"Giant Behemoth" is redundant. And the movie neither giant nor behemoth, though maybe not as bad as the commentators (all giants and behemoths in their field) make out.

 

[bujaki]

"Giant Behemoth" is redundant. And the movie neither giant nor behemoth, though maybe not as bad as the commentators (all giants and behemoths in their field) make out.

Kind of like a small Leviathan, a small Moby-Dick, etc.

 

[Dick]

"Giant Behemoth" is redundant. And the movie neither giant nor behemoth, though maybe not as bad as the commentators (all giants and behemoths in their field) make out.

This was a staple of the WOR-TV lineup when I was a kid, and I liked the film a lot. Now, I look at the model and see huge flaws, such as the sloppy seams between the front legs and the torso. The whole front axle of the creature looks too bulky. And it moves very jerkily. Too bad this film came after BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS, which Harryhausen animated very smoothly. Fortunately, GORGO came third and last of the Lourie dino films, and in spite of the man-in-suit, is superior to BEHEMOTH. And again, that commentary..coming from two brilliant SPX wizards like Dennis Muren and Phil Tippet...is amateurish, self-righteous and unhelpful. I'd love to see what they'd have come up with in the 50's.

 

[Robert Crawford]

This was a staple of the WOR-TV lineup when I was a kid, and I liked the film a lot. Now, I look at the model and see huge flaws, such as the sloppy seams between the front legs and the torso. The whole front axle of the creature looks too bulky. And it moves very jerkily. Too bad this film came after BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS, which Harryhausen animated very smoothly. Fortunately, GORGO came third and last of the Lourie dino films, and in spite of the man-in-suit, is superior to BEHEMOTH. And again, that commentary..coming from two brilliant SPX wizards like Dennis Muren and Phil Tippet...is amateurish, self-righteous and unhelpful. I'd love to see what they'd have come up with in the 50's.

All three of those films appeared on WOR-TV during my childhood.

 

[Gerani53]

Yes, the commentary for GIANT BEHEMOTH is most fans' first choice for the worst commentary ever recorded. It's become the textbook example of what not to do. I'm just guessing, but because the BEHEMOTH was part of a package with a "campy" theme, I suspect the two commentators (both respected fx artists) were probably encouraged by the video producer to laugh at the film, to poke fun a la MST3000, only offering reasonable data for the monster footage. Ironically, the best thing about GIANT BEHEMOTH is NOT the special effects, but everything that surrounds them. Despite being budget-compromised, TGB is a taut, beautifully-photographed, tensely-acted British investigative procedural deftly directed by a man of skill and taste, Eugene Lourie. Even though he made three dinosaur movies with similar elements, each film has its own distinct personality, and each film is cinematically impressive. By the way, purists may find some interest in the British incarnation, BEHEMOTH THE SEA MONSTER. As Mr. Harris notes, it's shorter, and the background music is far less -- it's like half the score remains to be written. But there are different shots throughout (the scene with the armed rural man and his son getting zapped actually begins with an optical establishing shot of their home, just before the barking dog footage), and the absence of music, while certainly not preferred, can be interesting at times, as it provides many scenes with drier realism. That said, THE GIANT BEHEMOTH as released in the States is the one to watch. Just make sure the commentary button is "off."