# What's the largest beast depicted on film? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 16, 2013, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-beast-depicted-on-film/676510 "2013-12-16T22:43:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-beast-depicted-on-film/676510/1 "2013-12-16T22:43:29Z")
The new epic Godzilla trailer showed the monster stomping through San Francisco, seemingly as tall as the 779-foot Bank of America building in that city. This is significantly larger than the earlier Godzillas, about 100m (330 feet) during the 1990s Heisei movie series. I was trying to think of the largest monsters on film. Gamera and Godzilla’s foes were roughly the same size each other in their movies. Wiki says Cloverfield was 25 stories tall, and I’ve read the Category V Pacific Rim kaiju was around 600 ft. What would be the biggest animal to be shown in film? My nomination: The space slug in Empire Strikes Back, big enough where the entire Millennium Falcon could fit between its teeth. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-beast-depicted-on-film/676510/2 "2013-12-16T22:48:34Z")
Do trees count? If so, the giant tree-habitat from Avatar (the blue aliens, not the martial arty dancing) would likely be up there also. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-beast-depicted-on-film/676510/3 "2013-12-16T22:50:24Z")
I take it we’re limiting ourselves to biological self-contained entities and not cosmic lifeforms like Galactus as depicted (sort-of) in that _Fantastic Four_ movie. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-beast-depicted-on-film/676510/4 "2013-12-16T22:50:55Z")
How about robots? Unicron was a planet-devouring planet that transformed into a giant robot. ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-beast-depicted-on-film/676510/5 "2013-12-16T22:52:34Z")
Well, there was the 11,000 mile wide amoeba in Star Trek’s “Immunity Syndrome” episode, season 2. I don’t know if it’s nautical or statute miles in case there’s a face off with another ginormous creature. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-beast-depicted-on-film/676510/6 "2013-12-16T22:58:46Z")
There was the one in Woody Allen’s _Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask_. Oh wait, that was the largest _breast_. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-beast-depicted-on-film/676510/7 "2013-12-16T23:05:39Z")
I haven’t seen it, but apparently the 2006 version of Terry Pratchett’s _Hogfather_ has a shot of Great A’tuin, the planet-bearing turtle. He/she must be pretty big. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-beast-depicted-on-film/676510/8 "2013-12-16T23:07:21Z")
Did they ever discuss the size of the Crystalline Entity in _TNG_? That thing looked pretty huge. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-beast-depicted-on-film/676510/9 "2013-12-16T23:10:28Z")
John Holmes? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-beast-depicted-on-film/676510/10 "2013-12-16T23:41:24Z")
Well, there’s Colossus, the Cosmic Giant, who had [a single appearance](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCB33JNJob4) on the _Super Friends_ cartoon. The Earth was marble-sized to him, making him… I dunno… a million miles tall? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-beast-depicted-on-film/676510/11 "2013-12-16T23:53:23Z")
Reviewing the evidence, it looks like Ghidorah for the win. [cite](http://killallmonsters.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/monstersize.jpg) [cite](http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/30300000/Godzilla-Sizes-Comparison-Chart-godzilla-30353570-946-491.jpg) [cite](http://img.myconfinedspace.com/wp-content/uploads/tdomf/219706/o372420.jpg) [cite](http://www.geocities.ws/monsterpreparedness/Godzilla_chart_1.jpg) [cite](http://www.npr.org/assets/img/2010/10/26/moviemonsters_custom.jpg) [cite](http://i.imgur.com/dgQRvWS.jpg) [cite](http://i.imgur.com/Vda0REh.png) ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-beast-depicted-on-film/676510/12 "2013-12-16T23:56:49Z")
There’s that worm thing from _The Empire Strikes Back_. Before reading this thread, I would have guessed that was the biggest. Now I feel so inadequate. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-beast-depicted-on-film/676510/13 "2013-12-16T23:56:52Z")
The planet in _Solaris_ was a single, sentient organism, wasn’t it? Likewise, Mogo, the Living Planet from the Green Lantern comics has shown up in a couple of DC cartoons. Slightly smaller scale, but there was an episode of _Farscape_ that took place in a mining colony on the corpse of some titanic space lizard. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-beast-depicted-on-film/676510/14 "2013-12-17T00:00:18Z")
Solaris, definitely. Only the creature in Jack McDivitt’s **Cauldron** was bigger. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-beast-depicted-on-film/676510/15 "2013-12-17T00:08:02Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Solaris, definitely. Only the creature in Jack McDivitt’s **Cauldron** was bigger. Bigger than Fred Hoyle’s Black Cloud? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-beast-depicted-on-film/676510/16 "2013-12-17T00:15:25Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Bigger than Fred Hoyle’s Black Cloud? Or the universe? I’ve run across some living universes in fiction. Besides, it’s hard to get bigger than the creature at the end of [Men In Black](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJOVUF-HaDw). ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-beast-depicted-on-film/676510/17 "2013-12-17T00:17:58Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Besides, it’s hard to get bigger than the creature at the end of [Men In Black](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJOVUF-HaDw). Heck, by that standard, Adam West and Rob Lowe are even bigger. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-beast-depicted-on-film/676510/18 "2013-12-17T01:12:20Z")
Beast. Not breast. Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-beast-depicted-on-film/676510/19 "2013-12-17T01:19:17Z")
Among those planet-bound, the worms of Dune (1,000 long in the movie but can reach a mile in length.) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-beast-depicted-on-film/676510/20 "2013-12-17T01:47:40Z")
Dang, **Der Trihs** beat me to it. Though if we’re considering all fiction, not just movies, the all-time champ, not likely to ever be dethroned, is the creatures at the beginning of the classic SF short story “He Who Shrank”, by Henry Hasse. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-beast-depicted-on-film/676510.md?page=2)