20 Million Miles to Earth (also known as The Beast from Space) is a 1957 American science-fiction monster film directed by Nathan Juran and featuring stop-motion animation by Ray Harryhausen.

Set in Italy, the film centers on an alien lifeform from Venus that arrives via a crashed rocket, and begins rapidly growing.

Fishermen in their boats head to the spacecraft, enter it through a hole, and pull two spacemen from the nose-down craft before it completely sinks.

McIntosh arrives, accompanied by scientist Dr. Justin Uhl, and meets with two representatives of the Italian government, informing them the spaceship has returned from Venus.

As police divers begin to search for it, McIntosh offers a half-million lira reward for the capsule's recovery, prompting Pepe to lead them to the empty container.

After the Italian government grants Calder permission to capture the creature alive, he devises a plan to ensnare it in an electric net dropped from a helicopter.

In addition, Ray Harryhausen, credited for the film's "Technical Special Effects" (the stop-motion animation), has an uncredited cameo as a person throwing peanuts to a zoo elephant.

[1] 20 Million Miles to Earth began production in Rome, Italy in September 1956, using only William Hopper of the main cast, and moved to the U.S. from October 30 to November 9 of that year.

All references to the name Ymir were removed from the released version of the film, as Harryhausen was concerned that audiences might confuse it with the Arabic title "Emir".

[6] Marco Lanzagorta of PopMatters gave the film 9 out of 10 stars, calling it "required viewing for those interested in modern cinema".

[7] Time Out wrote: "Don't worry about the dotty script or cardboard performances - just sit back and watch this gelatinous blob in action.

The snake-tailed giant ymir creature is also one of Harryhausen's finest creations: It has a well-defined personality and manages to evoke sympathy for its bewildered plight.

The ymir's fight with an elephant and the Roman locations - especially the climactic Colosseum battle - add unique touches to this minor classic.

"[9]The four-issue comic book mini-series 20 Million Miles More (2008), released by TidalWave Productions as part of their Ray Harryhausen Signature Series, picked up the story 50 years after the events of the film.