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User:Tocharianne/Gorath

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Gorath
Directed byIshirō Honda
Written byJojiro Okami (story)
Takeshi Kimura
Produced byTomoyuki Tanaka
Edward L. Alperson (USA)
StarringRyo Ikebe
Yumi Shirakawa
Takashi Shimura
Akira Kubo
Kumi Mizuno
Ken Uehara
Paul Frees (USA)
William Eidleson (USA)
Virginia Craig (USA)
CinematographyHajime Koizumi
Edited byReiko Kaneko
Music byKan Ishii
Distributed byToho
United States Brenco Pictures
United States Allied Artists
United States Heritage Enterprises (TV release)
Release dates
Japan March 21, 1962
United States May 20, 1964
United States 1968 (Re-release)
Running time
89 min.
Country Japan
LanguageJapanese

Gorath, released in Japan as Yosei Gorath (妖星ゴラス, Yosei Gorasu, lit. "Calamity Star Gorath"), is a Japanese science fiction tokusatsu film produced by Toho in 1962. The story for Gorath was by Jojiro Okami, a former Japanese Air Force pilot who also gave the original ideas to the films The Mysterians, Battle in Outer Space, and Dogora.

Synopsis

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The film depicts a runaway star on a collision course with Earth in the then-future year of 1980. Unlike most other impact event stories, in which mankind must abandon the Earth (When Worlds Collide) or destroy the threat (Deep Impact, Armageddon), Gorath sees humanity attempt to avert disaster by disengaging Earth from its own orbit around the Sun. While the American When Worlds Collide can be seen as an influence on the story of Gorath, Daiei's 1956 film, Warning from Space, in which a planet is on a collision course with Earth, may have been a more direct inspiration.

One of the efforts to save the earth was to place several rockets in Antarctica and other parts of the world, designed to push the Earth out of the runaway star's path, and, once the threat had passed, push it back. The movement causes numerous disasters around the world, and the heat from the ignition had an unexpected consequence—releasing the giant walrus Magma from his icy prison. As Magma ravaged the nearby military bases with its sharp tusks and large fins, the plans to evade the incoming star were temporarily put in peril. Magma was ultimately shot down by a laser from an incoming VTOL, and the rockets reached their destination and destroyed the incoming star.

Production

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Director Ishirou Honda went to the Department of Science of Tokyo University with Teruyoshi Nakano and Tatsuji Kajita for one week to do research for the story. Professor Seki from the University wrote the equation drawn on the blackboard in the movie. It was an accurate calculation of the earth's movement for the movie.

Because of the success of several Toho movies featuring monsters, the producer Tomoyuki Tanaka insisted there be a kaiju in the movie. Even though the director Honda disapproved, the character of Magma was created. The suit was designed by special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya. As with most Toho kaiju of the era, Magma was portrayed by Haruo Nakajima who also played Godzilla.

U.S. Release

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The film was released in the United States by Brenco Pictures. Most of the visual content was kept intact, but the six-minute sequence featuring the walrus kaiju Magma was removed. The distributors found the character's appearance comical, even dubbing him "Wally the Walrus" (most likely inspired by Wally Walrus, an antagonist from the Woody Woodpecker cartoons popular at the time). As such, they removed the sequence for their cut of the film, and it has never been restored to the English-language edit, which was aired several times on television throughout the 1960s and '70s.

The English dubbing was done by Ryder Sound Services, and scripted by Star Trek writer John Lucas.[1] Only four voice actors were used to dub the film. Besides the voices, the audio track was tampered with, including adding a sound effect for the meteor which was not in the original Japanese version.

Brenco Pictures re-released the film on a double-bill with The Human Vapor in 1968, but between the two releases never turned a profit on their investment in Gorath. The company closed in 1969 soon after the death of co-owner Edward L. Alperson on July 3 of that year. The film was purchased by Heritage Enterprises and distributed to U.S. television. Presumably, it was seen by more people on TV than by people who saw it between its two theatrical releases.

Cast

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Trivia

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  • Gorath also appeared in Godzilla: Final Wars as a fictional planet, once again on a collision course with Earth.
  • Toho's 1977 film The War in Space is considered a sequel to Gorath, in that they share common plot points, such as the UN Space Station Terra.[2]
  • The sequence featuring Magma only makes up approximately six minutes of the finished film, but played a key role in the film's advertising, being a centerpiece of the poster.

Footnotes

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  1. ^ http://www.sfwa.org/news/jlucas.htm
  2. ^ http://www.tohokingdom.com/reviews/romero/war_in_space.htm

References

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Tsuburaya, Hideyo. (1983) "Gorath Retrospective" in The Japanese Fantasy Film Journal (#15), p.10-17.

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Problem English

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  • Director Ishirou Honda went to a department of science of Tokyo University with Teruyoshi Nakano and Tatsuji Kajita of assistant director for a Scientific proof for one week. [I think this means Nakano or Kajita or both were assistant directors]
  • Toho demanded an appearance of Kaijuu Magma from director Honda. Director Honda showed disapproval. However, turns of Shimura Takashi increased because Magma appeared in the South Pole. [Does this means Takashi was given a bigger role because of the appearance of Magma?]
  • The lawyer whom George Furnace was Tokyo Trial, and acted as a Japanese side defense lawyer. [Does this really mean the actor Furnace was a lawyer at the Tokyo Trial?]

Category:1962 films Category:Japanese films Category:Japanese-language films Category:Tokusatsu films

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