The Incredible Shrinking Man

The only thing that doesn't shrink in this movie is the rating i gave it. Also everything else except for the Man.

An excellent piece of sci-fi horror from the 50s. The story of a man becoming increasingly dominated by his surroundings and losing his humanity in the process continues to work to this day. The effects are astounding given the time period, and the scenes with the cat and the spider provide fantastic thrills for a film like this. Both contemplative and good fun, I can forgive the overly talky ending.

I found myself laughing at this movie several times, and it's not because the effects are BAD, but it's more like I was just really happy seeing how far they went with the special effects, constructing all kinds of elaborate props and scenery. It's a really uncommon level of ingenuity and craftsmanship. And the ending was VERY surprisingly dark and pensive. Not what I expected at all.

Campy, with impressive props and effects for its time, but not without glaring inconsistencies (while the guy's wedding ring drops off his finger early in his shrinking process, his incredible shrinking clothes opt to continue shrinking along with him), anti-feline characterizations (cats don't scream at their prey) and general silliness, particularly the precious ending sermon.

Okay, here's the deal: It's a low budget, existensial, unashamedly pretentious AND entertaining sci-fi classic that goes off on one of the most wildly overblown and awesome tangents in cinematic history. I mean, what hutzpah! What sheer testicular mass! This film kicks ass for miles and still has energy left for a victory dance that, believe you me, will become the latest craze. Okay, so I'm not sure what that last part meant. Leave me alone, this film rules.

In the better class of sci-fi thrillers -- expert trick photography brings much suspense to scenes of a tiny man pitted against nature. Script always makes it seem believable.

Still a very enjoyable film. The FX are still credible and the story well paced and exciting. Shame about the last 3 minutes though...

Although the ending gets a little too over its own head, the effects are quite remarkable for the time and the tension is palpable enough. Top-shelf entertainment that manages to work on a few levels, if not as many as it aimed for.

Excellent film with extraordinary special effects considering when it was made.

Rewatched, up from 80. What an amazing, existential film this is.

A thrill of a film. Great concept, awesome story. And the presentation, the set pieces and the effects are stupefying. Phenomenal for its time and in general, really. An awesome thriller with horror elements. Wow, the climb scenes, the spider, the total depressing desperation of the penultimate scenes. A must watch - both as an emblematic piece of cinema tech and presentation done right, but also as an incredible science-fiction tale from among the classics of the genre, i.e. thought-provoking.

What did they do to the poor cat?!

the breakdown of marriage and identity subtly and compassionately portrayed. the metamorphosis into a survival film as it burrows into his increasingly surreal, unmoored perspective, thinking through the practical minutiae of his situation and the severe consequences of each trivial action. then finally the existential epiphany, probably the closest western genre cinema gets to WOMAN IN THE DUNES. i was convinced arnold wouldn't fully commit to any of these ideas and he kept proving me wrong.

Visually this was great but storywise it was very dry. I would like to read the book, I'm pretty sure it'll be more fun.

Started out as a really good, fun and interesting "Twilight Zone" episode, but somewhere along the way ran out of ideas. "I don't know...more spider?" the writers said. Distracting that it's a tarantula, which isn't at all native to USA, doesn't spin webs, etc. Stick to "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids".

Fairly entertaining and brilliant special effects but, for a film with this kind of bizarre concept it takes itself awfully serious; at least The Invisible Man knew it was weird and played on that fact using comedy, this film never uses irony or humour even though parts were hilarious. The ending was...bizarre, I did not expect it to take such a religious turn. All that said, still very entertaining and technically impressive.

Fun sci-fi/horror film from the great 1950s era. The practical effects are still pretty amazing; the camera effects are hit or miss. At times, the movie seems to wander about: should it be a simplistic horror film, or a philosophical film, or a character study -- a little more coherence in these parts could have made this a very powerful movie indeed. Still quite enjoyable.

Aw, man. The book's ending is much better. He was still visible!!

Really silly, especially the narration. People being idiots does not make good drama. And how doesn't the giant food clog his arteries?

A visual feast! Amazing props and great sfx for the time....a trained tarantula actor to boot!

Was not expecting that ending in a 50's sci-fi film.

Jack Arnold #3

fun old timey special effects spectacular! they actually did a damn good job and its great to watch. SPOILERS: until suddenly ends on a bizarre cosmic spiritualist note.

82.500

Impressive effects for its time, the super-sized sets are very detailed and convincing. Williams isn't terribly compelling in the lead, but the script makes up for that save a stilted and unsatisfying ending.

A fun plot with great trick shots, however it's let down by the preachy ending. It feels longer than it is because of some dragged out scenes with no real surprises in the latter half.

Could very well have been a great Twilight Zone episode, because some scenes seem to be dragging and that is the most noticeable flaw in this film written by one of the best sci-fi scripters. Story is deeper than you might think at the first glance; ending might have leave people divided, but I personally liked this cosmic philosophy. Tricky cinematography looks great for thew time when it was made.

for being a bit simplistic and having some very bad acting i found this movie to be very watchable. i could have done without that whole speech at the end, and some of the exposition dragged, but i can see why this is on so many lists.

Doneminin imkanlariyla gayet iyi kotarilmis bilim kurgu filmi.

#891

Much of the narration is annoying and unnecessary, and the ending is very heavy-handed, but over all this is quite an enjoyable movie. The special effects, while not always perfect, are well done. The enlarged sets are especially convincing. The movie has a fun sense of adventure that makes it a thoroughly entertaining experience.

Because of the spider.

Wife was better actor than the main protagonist. The story was lame, but sweet. There was no explanation for incident though they build up an cosmic conclusion. Action and special effects were well executed instead the production year.

82.250

The visual effects are by far the strongest part, with most of them holding up really well, and they allow the film to make the most out of a simple concept. The performances have issues but they're good enough to keep things moving along and it's all pretty fun.

A thoughtful, well-made low budget sci-fi film. Great special effects for the period, and--what is rarer--a genuine philosophical perspective on man and his swindling place in the world.

Dated, but really fun piece of pop culture, based on a Richard Matheson screenplay. LOVE the seen where his cat tries to kill him Toe knee :-)

Premise doesn't seem all that credible today, but, good Lord, how fondly I remember this one