The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Matheus C

  
  The rare sci-fi that is able to overcome its B-movie sensibilities and become an engaging drama and a study of everything from sexism and sexual frustration to a view of an American family during the Cold War years to finally end up pondering over the meaning of the universe. Heavy… More
  The rare sci-fi that is able to overcome its B-movie sensibilities and become an engaging drama and a study of everything from sexism and sexual frustration to a view of an American family during the Cold War years to finally end up pondering over the meaning of the universe. Heavy stuff for such a small protagonist.

• AJ V

  
  Another of my favourite sci-fi movies of the fifties. This movie is great not just because of the cool special effects, the story is fantastic. At first it seems a bit silly because the idea is that he shrinks after being exposed to atomic bomb mist or something, but after that it… More
  Another of my favourite sci-fi movies of the fifties. This movie is great not just because of the cool special effects, the story is fantastic. At first it seems a bit silly because the idea is that he shrinks after being exposed to atomic bomb mist or something, but after that it has elements of a romantic drama, horror, and in the end really makes you think about life on Earth. I highly recommend this movie.

• Stella D

  
  an excellent film with imaginative old school effects. the shrinking man's trials seem funny at first but by the epic adventure in the basement, i was totally on his side. great ending

• Anthony L

  
  Such an influential film, Jack Arnold at his best and a truly wonderful sci-fi classic. The last scene is so haunting and totally unexpected and the special effects are special, beats CGI any day!

• Bruce B

  
  This is one that was on Chiller Theater when I was growing up. Typical Sci Fi Movie from the Fifties, A couple are out in a boat when hubby sends the wife below deck to get him a beer, that was back in the time when wife?s did things for there husbands, anyway while below deck a… More
  This is one that was on Chiller Theater when I was growing up. Typical Sci Fi Movie from the Fifties, A couple are out in a boat when hubby sends the wife below deck to get him a beer, that was back in the time when wife?s did things for there husbands, anyway while below deck a strange cloud overcomes the boat and the man is covered in Glitter, 6 months later he stars shrinking, remember this was the era of worries about nuclear bombs and children at school getting in hall ways covering there heads and eyes. All in all its enjoyable, not scary but enjoyable. Sharp Picture Quality for a Black & White. Good Acting 3 stars for the couple from Teaneck New Jersey.

• Pierluigi P

  
  so I finally got to see it again, after so many years when I was just a little kid, the power of this fantastic movie is even stronger than what I remember. Suspenseful and imaginative sci-fi classic, with Richard Matheson's thoughtful prose, and remarkable special effects.… More
  so I finally got to see it again, after so many years when I was just a little kid, the power of this fantastic movie is even stronger than what I remember. Suspenseful and imaginative sci-fi classic, with Richard Matheson's thoughtful prose, and remarkable special effects. Imagine your own house as an immense fortress full of deadly traps and gigantic monsters around the corner. Fascinating stuff.

• Randy T

  
  Top notch science fiction with mind blowing special effects, especially when you consider that this film was released in 1957!

• Veronique K

  
  "the incredible shrinking man" distinguisghes itself from the rest pieces in the sci-fi genre by its poetic stroke of existentialism, analouous to kafka's "mtamorphosis", a tale about the alienated solitude as well as the discrimination toward the other. BUT… More
  "the incredible shrinking man" distinguisghes itself from the rest pieces in the sci-fi genre by its poetic stroke of existentialism, analouous to kafka's "mtamorphosis", a tale about the alienated solitude as well as the discrimination toward the other. BUT kafka's culprit is the unacceptance of social norm; shrinking man's fault-blamer is the exposed chemical mist which might be an rumination toward the atomic period in the cold war. human suffers his own deformity and departs farther from society due to his metamorphosis. a man sails on sea joyfully with his wife while a peculiar mist pervades toward him then he starts to shrink drastically to the point of helpless despair depsite his spouse still keeps her loyality to him. to overcome such bizarre feeling of misfit, he seeks solace from a female midget in the circus as if he's no longer alone. but tragically his shrinking progress deepens so much that he withdraws from her group as well. eventually he ends up in a doll house with his being menaced by his former pet which by now is a giant monster preying on him as potential food. then he tumbles into his own basement, trapped there to duel the ghastly spider for a piece of cheese to live on his existence. during the process of glorious fight, he learns the meaning of universe, conquering his own fear to integrate into this blissful annihilation of the whole cosmos without remorse. the masterful touch is the microcosmos of basement as the modern pilgrime of robinson cruso that adds up a sense of existentialistic absurdity. and it transcends its limit of sci-fi genre to a revered sublimination of human dignity: the honorable death shall be to bleed and sweat for your existence then embrace enuii of life easefully since everyone inevitably would vanish into a particle within the earth, so why bother to feel so angst-ridden? that's the genuine meaning of zen, the fatalistic acceptance of oblivion.

• Barry L

  
  Brilliant and very daft.

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