The Beast (1996 film): Difference between revisions

*The Beast*
The Beast
Based on	Beast; by Peter Benchley
Screenplay by	J. B. White
Directed by	Jeff Bleckner
Starring	William Petersen; Karen Sillas; Charles Martin Smith; Larry Drake; Ronald Guttman;
Music by	Don Davis
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producer	Peter Benchley; Dan Wigutow
Producer	Tana Nugent Jamieson
Production locations	Patonga, New South Wales, Australia; Sydney
Cinematography	Geoff Burton
Editor	Tod Feuerman
Running time	176 minutes
Production companies	MCA Television Entertainment; Dan Wigutow Productions; Michael R. Joyce Productions
Budget	$12,000,000
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	April 28 –; April 29, 1996

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The Beast is a 1996 television movie starring William Petersen, Karen Sillas and Charles Martin Smith. Aired in two parts as a miniseries, the movie is based on the 1991 novel Beast by Jaws author Peter Benchley. The film is about a giant squid that attacks and kills several people when its food supply becomes scarce and its offspring is killed.

It was filmed primarily in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.^{[citation needed]}

Plot

The film begins with Howard Griffin and Elizabeth Griffin having a romantic night out on a yacht near the Pacific Northwest resort community, Graves' Point. After a freak occurrence causes the yacht to sink, the two are forced to head for shore in a lifeboat, only to be attacked and eaten by an unseen creature hours later. The next day, local fisherman Whip Dalton (William Petersen) finds the empty lifeboat and discovers a large claw stuck into the boat. Whip Dalton sends the claw to a university to be analyzed and it ends up in the hands of marine biologist Dr. Herbert Talley (Ronald Guttman), alongside assistant Christopher Lane; given pair of who comes to Grave's Point claiming it is from the tentacle of a giant squid. The island harbor master Schuyler Graves (Charles Martin Smith) and assistant (Mr. Jamison) hire Lucas Coven (Larry Drake) to kill the squid after both Whip Dalton's initial advice to leave it alone and several more deaths caused by the squid. Lucas Coven succeeds in slaying a squid and the carcass is promptly sold by Graves to Sea Land Texas owner Osborne Manning (Denis Arndt). The unmanned sonar detects another, much larger squid which remains unnoticed by the islanders.

When Whip Dalton and Herbert Talley are not allowed to see the squid to examine it, Dr. Herbert Talley organizes a submersible expedition to explore the squid's habitat. After analyzing the carcass of the dead squid, the scientists determine it is just a 37 ft (11 m), 2,000 lb (910 kg) baby of only three months. The information comes too late, however, and the adult squid, the baby's 66 ft (20 m), 3,000 lb (1.4 t) mother, attacks the submersible, killing everyone on board. Whip Dalton angrily blames Graves for the incident, having killed Mr. Jamison which also resulted in the death of its driver (Everetts) and Christopher Lane, Herbert Talley's assistant and boyfriend of Dana Dalton (Missy Crider), Whip's daughter. Graves then blackmails Lucas, threatening to shut Lucas down for illegal trap fishing unless he resumes the hunt for the adult squid. Dr. Talley explains to Whip that the giant squid is killing out of vengeance for the death of her offspring rather than hunger, and is now even more dangerous as a result.

Lucas Coven resumes the hunt along with Whip's friend, Mike Newstead, and another crew member named Scranton (David Field). After enduring stormy weather they decide to head back to shore and continue the hunt the next day. The Squid attacks the boat before they make it to shore, devouring Scranton and knocking a cargo net on Mike Newstead, injuring him. It then attacks Lucas Coven in the helm who fires a couple of shots with his gun at its tentacles. The squid then bites a hole in the hull. With water pouring in, it pulls the entire boat underwater, drowning Lucas. Whip, after learning that Mike Newstead went out to help Lucas Coven comes to the rescue and, finding Mike holding onto a buoy, pulls him out of the water and takes him to the hospital. After hearing the squid came ashore one night, Whip Dalton then agrees to go out and hunt the giant squid but only if he can use his boat and Graves goes with him. He is also accompanied by coast guard officer, Lt. Kathryn Marcus (Karen Sillas), Dr. Talley, and Manning.

They plan to snare the squid, reel it in and shoot it multiple times with darts full of cyanide. The plan succeeds and the squid appears dead. But when the ship's engine breaks down, Manning reveals that he filled the darts with tranquilizer instead of cyanide so he could take the squid alive back to Sea Land. Graves tried to escape on a lifeboat as Whip cuts the squid loose just as it awakes. The squid soon chases down and kills Graves. Afterword's, it resumes the attack on Whip's boat, killing Manning and then jumping on the boat. It then grabs Talley and eats him. A coast guard helicopter arrives in time to pick up Kathryn and Whip Dalton. As he boards the helicopter, Whip Dalton fends the squid off with an axe, chopping open several extra fuel drums and has Kathryn use a flare gun to set his boat on fire. The squid is unable to escape as an explosion blows up the squid's beak and lower body, killing it. The helicopter flies them back to the shore where they reunite with Dana Dalton.

Cast

William Petersen as Whip Dalton
Karen Sillas as Lt. Kathryn Marcus
Charles Martin Smith as Schuyler Graves
Ronald Guttman as Dr. Herbert Talley
Missy Crider as Dana Dalton
Sterling Macer Jr. as Mike Newcombe
Denis Arndt as Osborne Manning
Adrienne-Joi Johnson as Nell Newcombe
Larry Drake as Lucas Coven
Murray Bartlett as Christopher Lane
Laura Vazquez as Hadley
Blake Kearney as The Sax Player
Marshall Napier as Commander Wallingford
David Argue as Bates
Justin Monjo as Lieutenant Henderson
Tyler Coppin as Harry
Robert Mammone as Ensign Raines
Angie Milliken as Elizabeth Griffin

Differences from novel

This TV adaption based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name is mostly faithful to the source material; but some changes were made for the sake of film locations and pacing. In the novel, the squid has much younger offspring which do not make an appearance until the end of the novel, and the titular squid is killed by a sperm whale, not by an explosion as in the movie. Many storylines and characters are added or changed in the TV adaptation. For one thing, the book took place in Bermuda while the movie took place in a Pacific North West community resort called Grave's Point. While still gigantic, the squid is smaller than portrayed in the book. While the movie has it at 66 ft (20 m) long, the book depicts the squid as being 100 ft (30 m) in length.

References

^ "ATTACK OF THE GIANT SQUID". buffalonews.com. Buffalo News. 26 April 1996.

External links

The Beast at IMDb
The Beast at AllMovie

[1] "ATTACK OF THE GIANT SQUID". buffalonews.com. Buffalo News. 26 April 1996.

[1]

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 {{more citations needed|date=January 2021}}
 {{Infobox television
-| image       = The Beast (1996).jpg
+| image              = The Beast (1996).jpg
-| caption     =
+| caption            =
-| genre       =
+| genre              =
-| based_on    = {{based on|''[[Beast (Benchley novel)|Beast]]''|[[Peter Benchley]]}}
+| based_on           = {{based on|''[[Beast (Benchley novel)|Beast]]''|[[Peter Benchley]]}}
-| screenplay  = J. B. White
+| screenplay         = J. B. White
-| story       =
+| story              =
-| director    = [[Jeff Bleckner]]
+| director           = [[Jeff Bleckner]]
-| starring    = {{plainlist|
+| starring           = {{plainlist|
 * William Petersen
 * Karen Sillas
@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 * Ronald Guttman
 }}
-| music       = [[Don Davis (composer)|Don Davis]]
+| music              = [[Don Davis (composer)|Don Davis]]
-| country     = United States
+| country            = United States
-| language    = English
+| language           = English
-| executive_producer = [[Peter Benchley]]<BR />Dan Wigutow<br>Julie Cohen (co-executive producer)
+| executive_producer = [[Peter Benchley]]<BR />Dan Wigutow
+| producer           = Tana Nugent Jamieson
-| producer    = Tana Nugent Jamieson<br>Michael R. Joyce (supervising producer)<br>Judith Craig Marlin (associate producer)
-| location    = Patonga, New South Wales, Australia<br>[[Sydney]]
+| location           = Patonga, New South Wales, Australia<br>[[Sydney]]
-| cinematography = Geoff Burton
+| cinematography     = Geoff Burton
-| editor      = Tod Feuerman
+| editor             = Tod Feuerman
-| camera      =
+| camera             =
-| runtime     = 176 minutes
+| runtime            = 176 minutes
-| company     = [[MCA Television Entertainment]]<br />Dan Wigutow Productions<br />Michael R. Joyce Productions
+| company            = [[MCA Television Entertainment]]<br />Dan Wigutow Productions<br />Michael R. Joyce Productions
+| budget             = $12,000,000<ref>{{cite web|title=ATTACK OF THE GIANT SQUID
-| distributor = [[NBC]]
+|url=https://buffalonews.com/news/attack-of-the-giant-squid/article_7566edca-5805-5b2f-8a3c-f20935cb6190.html|website=buffalonews.com|date=26 April 1996 |publisher= Buffalo News|language=en}}</ref>
-| budget      = $12,000,000<ref>{{cite web|title=ATTACK OF THE GIANT SQUID
+| network            = NBC
-|url=https://buffalonews.com/news/attack-of-the-giant-squid/article_7566edca-5805-5b2f-8a3c-f20935cb6190.html|website=buffalonews.com|publisher= Buffalo News|language=en}}</ref>
+| first_aired        = {{Start date|1996|04|28}}
-| network     = NBC
+| last_aired         = {{End date|1996|04|29}}
-| picture_format = Color
-| audio_format   = [[Stereophonic sound|Stereo]]
-| first_aired = {{Start date|1996|04|28}}
-| last_aired  = {{End date|1996|04|29}}
 }}
@@ Line 42: / Line 39: @@
 ==Plot==
-The film begins with Howard Griffin and Elizabeth Griffin having a romantic night out on a [[yacht]] near the [[Pacific Northwest]] [[resort]] community, Graves' Point. After a freak occurrence causes the yacht to sink, the two are forced to head for shore in a lifeboat, only to be attacked and eaten by an unseen creature hours later. The next day, local [[fisherman]] Whip Dalton ([[William Petersen]]) finds the empty lifeboat and discovers a large claw stuck into the boat. Whip sends the claw to a [[university]] to be analyzed and it ends up in the hands of [[marine biologist]] Dr. Herbert Talley ([[Ronald Guttman]]), who comes to Grave's Point claiming it is from the [[tentacle]] of a [[giant squid]]. The island [[harbor master]] Schuyler Graves ([[Charles Martin Smith]]) hires Lucas Coven ([[Larry Drake]]) to kill the squid after both Whip's initial advice to leave it alone and several more deaths caused by the squid. Coven succeeds in slaying a squid and the carcass is promptly sold by Graves to Sea Land [[Texas]] owner Osborne Manning ([[Denis Arndt]]). The unmanned sonar detects another, much larger squid which remains unnoticed by the islanders.
+The film begins with Howard Griffin and Elizabeth Griffin having a romantic night out on a [[yacht]] near the [[Pacific Northwest]] [[resort]] community, Graves' Point. After a freak occurrence causes the yacht to sink, the two are forced to head for shore in a lifeboat, only to be attacked and eaten by an unseen creature hours later. The next day, local [[fisherman]] Whip Dalton ([[William Petersen]]) finds the empty lifeboat and discovers a large claw stuck into the boat. Whip Dalton sends the claw to a [[university]] to be analyzed and it ends up in the hands of [[marine biologist]] Dr. Herbert Talley ([[Ronald Guttman]]), alongside assistant Christopher Lane; given pair of who comes to Grave's Point claiming it is from the [[tentacle]] of a [[giant squid]]. The island [[harbor master]] Schuyler Graves ([[Charles Martin Smith]]) and assistant (Mr. Jamison) hire Lucas Coven ([[Larry Drake]]) to kill the squid after both Whip Dalton's initial advice to leave it alone and several more deaths caused by the squid. Lucas Coven succeeds in slaying a squid and the carcass is promptly sold by Graves to Sea Land [[Texas]] owner Osborne Manning ([[Denis Arndt]]). The unmanned sonar detects another, much larger squid which remains unnoticed by the islanders.
-When Whip and Talley are not allowed to see the squid to examine it, Dr. Talley organizes a [[submersible]] expedition to explore the squid's habitat. After analyzing the carcass of the dead squid, the scientists determine it is just a baby. The information comes too late, however, and the adult squid, the baby's mother, attacks the submersible, killing everyone on board. Whip angrily blames Graves for the incident, which also resulted in the death of Christopher, Talley's assistant and boyfriend of Dana (Missy Crider), Whip's daughter. Graves then blackmails Lucas, threatening to shut Lucas down for illegal trap fishing unless he resumes the hunt for the adult squid. Dr. Talley explains to Whip that the giant squid is killing out of vengeance for the death of her offspring rather than hunger, and is now even more dangerous as a result.
+When Whip Dalton and Herbert Talley are not allowed to see the squid to examine it, Dr. Herbert Talley organizes a [[submersible]] expedition to explore the squid's habitat. After analyzing the carcass of the dead squid, the scientists determine it is just a {{convert|37|ft|m|abbr=on}}, {{convert|2,000|lb|kg|abbr=on}} baby of only three months. The information comes too late, however, and the adult squid, the baby's {{convert|66|ft|m|abbr=on}}, {{convert|3,000|lb|t|abbr=on}} mother, attacks the submersible, killing everyone on board. Whip Dalton angrily blames Graves for the incident, having killed Mr. Jamison which also resulted in the death of its driver (Everetts) and Christopher Lane, Herbert Talley's assistant and boyfriend of Dana Dalton (Missy Crider), Whip's daughter. Graves then blackmails Lucas, threatening to shut Lucas down for illegal trap fishing unless he resumes the hunt for the adult squid. Dr. Talley explains to Whip that the giant squid is killing out of vengeance for the death of her offspring rather than hunger, and is now even more dangerous as a result.
-Lucas resumes the hunt along with Whip's friend, Mike, and another crew member named Scranton (David Field). After enduring stormy weather they decide to head back to shore and continue the hunt the next day. The Squid attacks the boat before they make it to shore, devouring Scranton and knocking a cargo net on Mike, injuring him. It then attacks Lucas in the helm who fires a couple of shots with his gun at its tentacles. The squid then bites a hole in the hull. With water pouring in, it pulls the entire boat underwater, drowning Lucas. Whip, after learning that Mike went out to help Lucas comes to the rescue and, finding Mike holding onto a buoy, pulls him out of the water and takes him to the hospital. Whip then agrees to go out and hunt the giant squid but only if he can use his boat and Graves goes with him. He is also accompanied by [[coast guard]] officer, Lt. Kathryn Marcus ([[Karen Sillas]]), Dr. Talley, and Manning.
+Lucas Coven resumes the hunt along with Whip's friend, Mike Newstead, and another crew member named Scranton (David Field). After enduring stormy weather they decide to head back to shore and continue the hunt the next day. The Squid attacks the boat before they make it to shore, devouring Scranton and knocking a cargo net on Mike Newstead, injuring him. It then attacks Lucas Coven in the helm who fires a couple of shots with his gun at its tentacles. The squid then bites a hole in the hull. With water pouring in, it pulls the entire boat underwater, drowning Lucas. Whip, after learning that Mike Newstead went out to help Lucas Coven comes to the rescue and, finding Mike holding onto a buoy, pulls him out of the water and takes him to the hospital. After hearing the squid came ashore one night, Whip Dalton then agrees to go out and hunt the giant squid but only if he can use his boat and Graves goes with him. He is also accompanied by [[coast guard]] officer, Lt. Kathryn Marcus ([[Karen Sillas]]), Dr. Talley, and Manning.
-They plan to snare the squid, reel it in and shoot it multiple times with darts full of [[cyanide]]. The plan succeeds and the squid appears dead. But when the ship's [[engine]] breaks down, Manning reveals that he filled the darts with tranquilizer instead of cyanide so he could take the squid alive back to Sea Land. Graves tried to escape on a lifeboat as Whip cuts the squid loose just as it awakes. The squid soon chases down and kills Graves. Afterword's, it resumes the attack on Whip's boat, killing Manning and then jumping on the boat. It then grabs Talley and eats him. A coast guard  helicopter arrives in time to pick up Kathryn and Whip. As he boards the helicopter, Whip fends the squid off with an [[axe]], chopping open several extra [[fuel]] [[Drum (container)|drum]]s and has Kathryn use a [[flare gun]] to set his boat on fire. The squid is unable to escape as an [[explosion]] blows up the squid's beak and lower body, killing it. The helicopter flies them back to the shore where they reunite with Dana.
+They plan to snare the squid, reel it in and shoot it multiple times with darts full of [[cyanide]]. The plan succeeds and the squid appears dead. But when the ship's [[engine]] breaks down, Manning reveals that he filled the darts with tranquilizer instead of cyanide so he could take the squid alive back to Sea Land. Graves tried to escape on a lifeboat as Whip cuts the squid loose just as it awakes. The squid soon chases down and kills Graves. Afterword's, it resumes the attack on Whip's boat, killing Manning and then jumping on the boat. It then grabs Talley and eats him. A coast guard  helicopter arrives in time to pick up Kathryn and Whip Dalton. As he boards the helicopter, Whip Dalton fends the squid off with an [[axe]], chopping open several extra [[fuel]] [[Drum (container)|drum]]s and has Kathryn use a [[flare gun]] to set his boat on fire. The squid is unable to escape as an [[explosion]] blows up the squid's beak and lower body, killing it. The helicopter flies them back to the shore where they reunite with Dana Dalton.
 ==Cast==
@@ Line 63: / Line 60: @@
 * Laura Vazquez as Hadley
 * Blake Kearney as The Sax Player
+* [[Marshall Napier]] as Commander Wallingford
+* [[David Argue]] as Bates
+* [[Justin Monjo]] as Lieutenant Henderson
+* [[Tyler Coppin]] as Harry
+* [[Robert Mammone]] as Ensign Raines
+* [[Angie Milliken]] as Elizabeth Griffin
 ==Differences from novel==
+{{unreferenced section|date=May 2023}}
-This TV adaption based on Peter Benchley's [[Beast (Benchley novel)|novel of the same name]] is mostly faithful to the source material; but some changes were made for the sake of film locations and pacing. In the novel, the squid has much younger offspring which do not make an appearance until the end of the novel, and the titular squid is killed by a sperm whale, not by an explosion as in the movie. Many storylines and characters are added or changed in the TV adaptation. For one thing, the book took place in Bermuda while the movie took place in a Pacific North West community resort called Grave's Point.
+This TV adaption based on Peter Benchley's [[Beast (Benchley novel)|novel of the same name]] is mostly faithful to the source material; but some changes were made for the sake of film locations and pacing. In the novel, the squid has much younger offspring which do not make an appearance until the end of the novel, and the titular squid is killed by a sperm whale, not by an explosion as in the movie. Many storylines and characters are added or changed in the TV adaptation. For one thing, the book took place in Bermuda while the movie took place in a Pacific North West community resort called Grave's Point. While still gigantic, the squid is smaller than portrayed in the book. While the movie has it at {{convert|66|ft|m|abbr=on}} long, the book depicts the squid as being {{convert|100|ft|m|abbr=on}} in length.
 ==References==
@@ Line 72: / Line 76: @@
 ==External links==
 * {{IMDb title|0115109|The Beast}}
-* {{Amg title|162552|The Beast}}
+* {{AllMovie title|162552|The Beast}}
 {{Jeff Bleckner}}
@@ Line 83: / Line 87: @@
 [[Category:1990s American television miniseries]]
 [[Category:American natural horror films]]
-[[Category:American television films]]
+[[Category:American horror television films]]
 [[Category:Films scored by Don Davis (composer)]]
 [[Category:Films about cephalopods]]
@@ Line 97: / Line 101: @@
 [[Category:1990s English-language films]]
 [[Category:1990s American films]]
+[[Category:English-language horror films]]
+[[Category:English-language action adventure films]]

v t e Peter Benchley
Novels	Jaws (1974) The Island (1979) Rummies (1989) Beast (1991) White Shark (1994; republished as Creature in 1997)
TV and film	Amazon The Beast Creature Dolphin Cove The Deep The Island Jaws (franchise)
Related	Nathaniel Benchley Wendy Benchley Etmopterus benchleyi