The Rhedosaurus is a giant dinosaur appearing in the 1953 film The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, and was Ray Harryhausen's first solo movie. it along with them, King Kong are the films responsible for the Godzilla franchise.
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms[]
Somewhere in the arctic circle, a nuclear bomb is tested, right after the blast, physicist Thomas Nesbitt goes exploring with a fellow worker but he falls down a hole only to sight the creature walking along an icy cliff edge. The explosion had awakened a 10 meter tall, 30 meter long fictional carnivorous dinosaur known as the Rhedosaurus, the bomb thawing it out of the ice where it had been hibernating for 100 million years.
The Beast starts making its way down the east coast of North America, sinking a fishing boat off the Grand Banks, and then takes out a lighthouse in Maine, and crushing buildings in Massachusetts. The Beast eventually comes ashore in Manhattan, and after tearing through power-lines, he attacks the city. The Beast's rampage causes the death of 180 people and injures 1,500 causing $300 million dollars worth of damage.
Arriving on the scene, the military troops of Cornel. Jack Evans blast a bazooka hole in the Beast's throat and drive it back into the sea. Unfortunately, it bleeds all over the streets, but its blood turns out to be radioactive so it unleashes a "horrible, virulent" prehistoric germ, which begins to contaminate the populace, causing even more deaths.
In the end, it is lured into an ammusement park were it is decided to shoot a radioactive isotope into the Beast's neck wound with hopes of burning the Rhedosaurus up from the inside, killing it.
Military Sniper Corporal Stone takes the potent radioactive isotope launcher, it is the only one of its kind outside of Oak Ridge so he can't miss, and climbs onboard a rollercoaster cart. Riding the coaster to the top of the tracks so he can get to eye-level with the Rhedosaurus, he fires the isotope into the Beast's wound. The Beast lets out a horrible scream and studders for a few minutes crashes to the ground dead, with the surrounding park ablaze. letting his body burn in the flames.
Trivia[]
- The Rhedosaurus is a fan favourite, of the harryhausen monsters.
- There is a gashapon toy of the Rhedosaurus.
- The Rhedosaurus, along with King Kong, was one of the main inspirations for Gojira (Godzilla), which has spawned many many movies, several tv series, many video games and many many toys.
