{"id":20009,"date":"2022-08-17T19:55:50","date_gmt":"2022-08-18T02:55:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/?p=20009"},"modified":"2022-08-29T19:19:00","modified_gmt":"2022-08-30T02:19:00","slug":"beast-movie-best-animal-predator-action-thrillers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/beast-movie-best-animal-predator-action-thrillers\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Beast&#8217; &#038; Our Favorite Movies About Killer Animals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Icelandic director Baltasar Korm\u00e1kur is no stranger to high-stakes survival stories and he&#8217;s returning to theaters with another one in the form of <em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.atomtickets.com\/movies\/beast\/318783\">Beast<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, starring Idris Elba and Sharlto Copley. With both <em>Everest<\/em> (2015) and <em>Adrift<\/em> (2018), what makes Korm\u00e1kur\u2019s work stand out is his focus on telling terrifying stories that are grounded and pull at realistic fears that one could face in the real world. In the past, these have been blizzard storms and horrific hurricanes. He\u2019s turning again to another naturalistic fear, and this time, it\u2019s the king of the jungle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Beast | Official Trailer\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oQMc7Sq36mI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Beast <\/em>tells the story of Dr. Nate Samuels, who returns to South Africa with his grieving children following the loss of their mother, but their journey in the wildlife takes a turn for the worse when a hungry, man-eating lion steps into their path. At its simplest, it\u2019s Idris Elba versus a lion, and the lion has home field advantage in the sweltering heat of the African savanna. Only, both opponents view the other as a threat. The lion has suffered its own loss: loss of its pride at the hands of encroaching poachers, and it is intent on surviving this new human threat. Even though the lion is made with CGI technology, the predator isn\u2019t larger than life, nor is it designed to be a spectacle. It\u2019s raw, it&#8217;s realistic, and it could even be hunting you \u2013 if you ever find yourself stranded amongst African wildlife. Only one king can rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Beast<\/em> roars into theaters everywhere on August 19. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atomtickets.com\/movies\/beast\/318783\">Run fast and get tickets now<\/a>. If your heart isn\u2019t already racing, you can check out some of our other favorite movies featuring formidable animal predators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">King Kong (1933)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/king-kong-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-20018\" srcset=\"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/king-kong-980x735.jpeg 980w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/king-kong-480x360.jpeg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1024px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Since Hollywood\u2019s early days, audiences have loved big spectacles, and even more if they can get us screaming and crying in terror. So Hollywood went about as big as it could go with groundbreaking special effects and new camera tricks to create one very big gorilla for what would become the first monster movie of many to come. Ironically, to create such a big movie, filmmakers utilized highly skilled techniques on the small scale. To bring the 18-feet-tall Kong to life, models of just 18 inches high were made for the film. This miniature scale model technique became a Hollywood staple for creating some of the most beloved blockbusters, including <em>Star Wars<\/em> (1977), <em>Alien<\/em> (1979), and <em>Blade Runner<\/em> (1982). While in more modern films, CGI has all but replaced the need for miniatures, <em>King Kong<\/em> paved the way for creative solutions to larger-than-life filmmaking that kept audiences on the edges of their seats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Godzilla (1954)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/godzilla-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-20019\" srcset=\"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/godzilla-980x551.jpg 980w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/godzilla-480x270.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1024px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Starring another monstrous creature, the <em>Godzilla<\/em> franchise is currently the longest-running film franchise, spanning nearly 70 years. That makes for a lot of nightmares revolving around a gigantic, radioactive sea creature. Originating in Japanese kaiju culture, there\u2019s no shortage of films and content for <em>Godzilla<\/em> fans either, with currently 36 films starring the monster, along with additional television shows, video games, and books. Unlike Kong, the role of Godzilla was portrayed by an actor in a suit \u2013 a suit that weighed over 200 pounds at one point. The suit was so heavy that actor Haruo Nakajima could only be in it for a few minutes at a time before passing out. Even more impressive is that he carried the <em>Godzilla<\/em> torch for nearly 20 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Birds (1963)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/the-birds-1024x576.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-20020\" srcset=\"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/the-birds-1024x576.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/the-birds-980x551.jpeg 980w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/the-birds-480x270.jpeg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1024px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Leave it to the Master of Suspense to make every moviegoer afraid of something so simple: birds. What\u2019s worse? The movie is based on actual events of birds attacking a seaside town while crashing into cars and coughing up fish everywhere. So at least any fears of seagulls are legitimate. Though Alfred Hitchcock, of course, takes the horror several levels further. Birds of all kinds wreak havoc on Bodega Bay: seagulls, sparrows, crows. <em>The Birds<\/em> even used mostly all live birds to film its horrific scenes of swarming homes, telephone booths, and restaurants. The creatures show no mercy, even pecking and attacking children. It\u2019s eerie, ominous, and you\u2019ll never look at a flock of birds perched together the same way ever again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Jaws (1975)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"976\" height=\"596\" src=\"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/jaws.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-20021\" srcset=\"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/jaws.jpg 976w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/jaws-480x293.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 976px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Jaws<\/em> is the reason so many of us are afraid of sharks, or even the whole ocean. Before there was Shark Week, Steven Spielberg instilled a fear in every beachgoer about what might be lurking just beneath the surface of the water, waiting to strike and chomp down on an unsuspecting swimmer. The massive 25-foot-long great white shark that preys on the town of Amity Island \u2013 swimming along to the most suspenseful theme that has ever graced the big screen \u2013 is the reason we jump ten feet in the air when a harmless piece of seaweed brushes against our leg. But in the summer of 1975, <em>Jaws<\/em> wasn\u2019t just hungry for the local townsfolk. It was hungry for a big box-office hit. And boy, it sure got it. Say what you will about the design of the mechanical shark (whose name was Bruce), but as the first big movie to be shot on the ocean, <em>Jaws<\/em> delivered a spectacle that would define the summer blockbuster movie for all of Hollywood: thrilling, easy-to-follow action that jumped right off the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Fly (1986)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"575\" src=\"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/the-fly-1024x575.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-20022\" srcset=\"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/the-fly-980x550.jpg 980w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/the-fly-480x269.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1024px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Have you ever wondered what a hybrid between a human and a common housefly would look like? No? Well, Jeff Goldblum answered that question for us in <em>The Fly<\/em>, anyway. The result is nothing but pure fuel for nightmares everywhere. While \u201cBrundlefly\u201d is not a full insect, after a science experiment gone wrong, Goldblum&#8217;s Seth slowly deteriorates into a creature that is less and less human \u2013 physically, mentally, and emotionally \u2013 terrifying his friends and harming those that try to put a stop to his insectile impulses. On paper, the concept seems ridiculous. Who would be afraid of a harmless little fly? Well, this human-insect hybrid is certainly one to fear. In the gruesome process as the fly\u2019s genes take over his body, Seth loses his hair, teeth, and fingernails, and his skin becomes distorted into something completely monstrous and stomach-churning. And if that image alone isn\u2019t enough, Brundlefly\u2019s corrosive spit is more than enough to send everyone running in the other direction, if they can manage to dodge it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Jurassic Park (1993)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"980\" height=\"652\" src=\"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/jurassic-park.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-20023\" srcset=\"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/jurassic-park.jpg 980w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/jurassic-park-480x319.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 980px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Every kid loves dinosaurs. Some kids love dinosaurs so much that they grow up to become scientists that bring them back to life to create a cool, yet traumatizing theme park. It\u2019s a concept that should remain exactly that: a concept. Because while fun in theory, in reality, of course, it\u2019s doomed for chaotic destruction and a whole bunch of lawsuits. Things start out fun in <em>Jurassic Park<\/em> with beautiful, idyllic displays of a Brachiosaurus, and quickly turn dark and suspenseful once the power goes out and Tyrannosaurs and Velociraptors are free to roam. But it did lead to some of the most iconic shots in movies. Never has the \u201cobjects in mirror are closer than they appear\u201d inscription on a car window been so well utilized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Jumanji (1995)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"622\" src=\"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/jumanji-1024x622.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-20024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/jumanji-980x595.jpeg 980w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/jumanji-480x291.jpeg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1024px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s not just one threat to be on the lookout for in<em> Jumanji<\/em>, but a whole jungle full of them. Bats, giant mosquitoes, monkeys, lions, pelicans, alligators, and even a whole stampede. The quiet town of New Hampshire is quite literally turned into a chaotic zoo full of hungry animals that destroy everything in sight, and all just from a board game. But as terrifying as that sounds, the movie is just simply fun to watch. It\u2019s not horrific and gross, and it doesn\u2019t leave you completely traumatized. Despite the fear of being eaten by a lion or turning into a monkey-human hybrid, it\u2019s a fantastical adventure that you\u2019ll want to rewatch so much, you\u2019ll end up breaking your VHS copy. Or maybe that\u2019s just us. Bonus points, of course, for Robin Williams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Snakes on a Plane (2006)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"691\" src=\"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/snakes-on-a-plane-1024x691.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-20025\" srcset=\"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/snakes-on-a-plane-980x661.jpg 980w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/snakes-on-a-plane-480x324.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1024px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Flights can already be stressful situations. You\u2019re crammed into a small space for hours \u2013 possibly even squeezed between two complete strangers if you\u2019ve acquired the dreaded middle seat \u2013 the food is awful, your headphones have either been forgotten or you realize too late that they\u2019re broken, the bathrooms are a joke, it\u2019s impossible to fall asleep, there\u2019s always a baby crying, and those neck pillows can only bring the illusion of comfort. It couldn\u2019t get worse, right? It definitely could with one simple addition: venomous snakes, as <em>Snakes on a Plane<\/em> proves. Just from the title alone, an Internet fanbase exploded with blog posts, parodies, videos, art, and more \u2013 one of the earliest examples of Internet frenzy over a movie, and how fan involvement can alter the movie\u2019s production. So much buzz was generated about the film on the Internet, and about Samuel L. Jackson\u2019s involvement, that the rating had even been changed from PG-13 to R, resulting in that oh-so-famous quote that we all know and love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Meg (2018)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"425\" src=\"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/meg-1024x425.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-20026\" srcset=\"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/meg-980x407.jpeg 980w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/meg-480x199.jpeg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1024px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As is typical of blockbuster movies, they just keep getting bigger and bigger. If you were afraid of the 25-foot great white shark in <em>Jaws<\/em>, wait until you meet its extinct relative: the 75-foot megalodon shark in <em>The Meg<\/em>. While the great white terrified beach swimmers on the surface, the Meg lurks around the dark ocean floor of the Mariana Trench. If you ask us, big, creepy sea creatures that live that far below the surface can stay right there where they\u2019re comfortable. We\u2019re perfectly fine staying up on the land, far away from them and blissfully unaware of their existence. But there will always be marine scientists that want to poke around in the deep, dark waters. As luck would have it, though, where there is one big shark, you can always count on there being another, bigger shark hiding right behind it, waiting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Icelandic director Baltasar Korm\u00e1kur is no stranger to high-stakes survival stories and he&#8217;s returning to theaters with another one in the form of Beast, starring Idris Elba and Sharlto Copley. With both Everest (2015) and Adrift (2018), what makes Korm\u00e1kur\u2019s work stand out is his focus on telling terrifying stories that are grounded and pull [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":20010,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[40,37],"class_list":["post-20009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorial","tag-featuredpage","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20009"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20027,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20009\/revisions\/20027"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}