There are, of course, some obvious Dumbest Possible Action twists, such as when a farmer’s dog attacks the creature and is pummeled, and then later, when the creature is huge, and takes on an elephant, in this film’s version of Kong’s set-to with a T. rex. After all, most animals will not attack things they are not familiar with. And elephants, especially, would not go on a rampage against an unknown predator. And, despite coming from another planet, the elephant is clearly larger and heavier than the creature, and tramples it several times.

Yet, the creature is unhurt, as it is also not hurt by bullets. The pseudo-scientific explanation is that the creature’s Venusian adaptations include no heart nor lungs, so it is a spongy mass. Okay, well… then why does it succumb to bullets in the final scene atop the Coliseum? And does it survive the multi-ton elephant trampling because it’s spongy, too? And, if it lacks lungs, why do we see it clearly breathing from its torso when it is electrically sedated in Rome? And how could the U.S. have launched a rocket ship to Venus without the press knowing of it? This assumes that the conquest of the moon has already been made, as well.

And, after the first few encounters, one would hope that the military and scientific men would notice that the creature is not hostile, unless provoked. Hell, Calder even admits so in the barn sequence. But, what does he go and do, mere seconds later? He provokes it with a stick instead of radioing in for help and overwhelming force to subdue it. And the Italians are even worse and more Neolithic than the Americans. The Americans, at least, want to capture the creature alive and study it, while the Italians (Sicilians) just want it dead. These, and many other queries have to be overlooked (and I won’t even get into the scientific anachronism of Venus as a habitable planet), but it’s a sci fi film, so a certain suspension of disbelief is required, and the movie rewards that small request with non-stop action, and, as stated, the best acting performance in the film coming from Harryhausen’s creature.

The film also features a classic 1950s era opening narrative about ‘SCIENCE!’: "Great scientific advances are often times sudden accomplished facts before most of us are dimly aware of them. Breathtakingly unexpected, for example, was the searing flash that announced the atomic age. Equally unexpected was the next gigantic stride, when man moved out of his very orbit to a point more than 20 Million Miles To Earth!" Cue the start of the film!