Beginning of the End

Beginning of the End
by Bert I. Gordon

Beginning of the End
Our Price: $38.00
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $5.99 (click here)
Category: VHS Video
See more movie releases


(Click here)
Buy this VHS video movie at online store in your country
Canada

VHS Tape Cover Information

Actor: Morris Ankrum, Peggie Castle, Peter Graves, Than Wyenn, Thomas Browne Henry
Director: Bert I. Gordon
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog
Format: Black & White, NTSC
Running Time: 76 minutes
Release Date: 1998-04-21
Audience Rating: Unrated
Publisher: Rhino / Wea
Studio: Rhino / Wea

VHS Movie Reviews of Beginning of the End

Movie Review: So This Is How It Ends, Eh?
Summary: 4 Stars

The Beginning Of The End shows us the terrifying scenario of what could happen if Illinois were to come under attack by an army of giant grasshoppers(it's a fear I've struggled with for years).
In the film, entomologist Peter "Have you ever seen a grown man naked?" Graves and his deaf/mute botanist partner have succeeded in using radiation to grow large fruits and vegetables. The idea is to end world hunger, but who wants to eat radioactive fruit? Grasshoppers eat the food, grow enormous and destroy half of Illinois(which I suppose isn't too terrible as long as they destroy all the damn toll booths while they're at it). I can't help but wonder why it's only grasshoppers. I mean, other insects eat tomatoes and strawberries too, ya know? Anyhow, Graves has to race against the clock to find a way to destroy the grasshoppers before they drop The Bomb on Chicago.
Yup, it's Bert I Gordon in the house again! Yup, it's rear projection grasshoppers! And yup, there is a scene on a high rise apartment where a half naked woman is grooming herself in a mirror and a grasshopper appears at the window and smashes his way in! It's 50s big bug horror, and it's one of the better ones. I know that the Mystery Science Theater guys took a stab at this one, and it's easy to see why, the subject is too irresistible. Personally I find that show more irritating than funny, I like it more when I can heckle with my own group of buddies. Sorry about that, but I guess I had to put in my two cents about MST3K sometime.
There's an interesting commentary with Gordon's ex-wife and daughter, but strangely not Gordon himself. Is he ashamed of his filmography? I would have loved to have heard what he had to say.

Summary of Beginning of the End

Leapin' locusts! It's giant-insect time again, only this time the radiation from an agricultural experiment has turned Chicago into a breeding ground for gargantuan grasshoppers. It's all courtesy of '50s sci-fi schlockmeister Bert I. Gordon of The Amazing Colossal Man fame, and with Peter Graves as the nominal bug-busting hero, it's no wonder the guys at MST3K decided to roast this 1957 turkey on their popular TV show. But which is funnier, the movie itself or the skewering it gets from the snickering silhouettes of Joel, Crow, and Tom Servo? No matter, because you can have it both ways on this dubious DVD--plain or nutty! Some of the MST3K gags are cleverly twisted for trivia buffs (as when a cop approaches a wrecked car and Tom Servo says, "Uh... Miss Mansfield?" or when the sight of falling grasshoppers yields the ad-lib "Carry on our businesssssss..."). There are more hits than misses, and the movie's every bit as awful... er, great... as it sounds! --Jeff Shannon

Action & Adventure VHS Video

VHS Video Movies
Movies most talked about in My favorite 50's b&w, television matinee, sci-fi movies
20 Million Miles to Earth Image20 Million Miles to Earth
Release date: 2002-06-25; DVD
Best price: $16.95
Price in other shops: $19.94
I Married a Monster From Outer Space (1958) ImageI Married a Monster From Outer Space (1958)
Paramount; Release date: 1998-09-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops: $19.95
Brain from Planet Arous ImageBrain from Planet Arous
Englewood Entertainment; Release date: 2000-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $10.99
Price in other shops: $19.98
Quatermass 2 ImageQuatermass 2
Starz / Anchor Bay; Release date: 1999-03-23; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $60.74
Land Unknown ImageLand Unknown
Universal Studios; Release date: 1996-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $6.68
Price in other shops: $14.98
Kronos ImageKronos
Tapeworm; Release date: 2002-06-04; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $39.72
Beginning of the End ImageBeginning of the End
Rhino / Wea; Release date: 1998-04-21; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $38.00
Monolith Monsters ImageMonolith Monsters
Universal Studios; Release date: 1996-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $35.40
Godzilla: King of Monsters (Dol) ImageGodzilla: King of Monsters (Dol)
Sony; Release date: 2002-09-17; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $4.90
Price in other shops: $9.98
Mole People ImageMole People
Universal Studios; Release date: 1996-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops: $9.98
Similar VHS Movies
Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (Color Special Edition) ImageEarth vs. the Flying Saucers (Color Special Edition)
Sony; Release date: 2008-01-15; DVD
Best price: $18.09
Price in other shops: $24.96
Them! ImageThem!
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2002-08-06; DVD
Best price: $12.98
Price in other shops: $19.98
The Thing from Another World ImageThe Thing from Another World
Release date: 2003-08-05; DVD
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops: $19.98
Cult Classics: Earth vs. the Spider/War of the Colossal Beast ImageCult Classics: Earth vs. the Spider/ War of the Colossal Beast
Release date: 2006-01-10; DVD
Best price: $7.40
Price in other shops: $14.98
It Came From Outer Space ImageIt Came From Outer Space
UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAIN.; Release date: 2002-05-21; DVD
Best price: $6.98
Price in other shops: $14.98
The Black Scorpion ImageThe Black Scorpion
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2003-10-21; DVD
Best price: $3.50
Price in other shops: $9.98
The Monster That Challenged the World/It! The Terror From Beyond Space ImageThe Monster That Challenged the World/ It! The Terror From Beyond Space
MONSTER THAT CHALLENGED THE WORLD/IT! TE (DVD; Release date: 2005-02-15; DVD
Best price: $4.82
Price in other shops: $9.98
This Island Earth ImageThis Island Earth
Universal; Release date: 2006-08-22; DVD
Best price: $6.44
Price in other shops: $14.98
Kronos ImageKronos
Release date: 2000-08-22; DVD
Best price: $4.95
Price in other shops: $9.99
Target Earth ImageTarget Earth
Release date: 2003-02-25; DVD
Best price: $4.11
Price in other shops: $9.99
Compare prices and read customer reviews for more than one million DVD titles.
Oscar 2005 Winners