Gorath (film)

{{{name}}} Directed by Ishiro Honda Producer Tomoyuki Tanaka Written by Jojiro Okami Takeshi Kimura Music by Kan Ishii Distributor Toho Company Ltd.JP Brenco Pictures Corp.US Rating Not Rated Budget $?,???,??? Box office $?,???,??? Running time 89 minutesJP (1 hour, 29 minutes) 83 minutesUS (1 hour, 23 minutes)

Gorath (妖星ゴラス,   Yosei Gorasu, lit. Planet Gorath), is a Japanese science fiction tokusatsu film produced by Toho in 1962. The story for Gorath was written 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. It was released to Japanese theaters on March 21, 1962.

Synopsis

The film depicts a runaway star on a collision course with Earth in the then-future decade of the 1980s. 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.

Staff

Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.

• Directed by   Ishiro Honda
• Written by   Jojiro Okami, and Takeshi Kimura
• Produced by   Tomoyuki Tanaka
• Music by   Kan Ishii
• Cinematography by   Hajime Koizumi
• Edited by   Reiko Kaneko
• Assistant directing by   Katsumune Ishida, Koji Kajita, Shoji Kuroda, and Masashi Matsumuto
• Special effects by   Teruyoshi Nakano, Kan Narita, Sokei Tomioka, Eiji Tsuburaya, Akira Watanabe, and Koichi Kawakita

Cast

Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.

• Ryô Ikebe   as   Dr. Tazawa - Astrophysicist
• Yumi Shirakawa   as   Tomoko Sonoda
• Akira Kubo   as   Tatsuma Kanai - Cadet Astronaut
• Kumi Mizuno   as   Takiko Nomura
• Hiroshi Tachikawa   as   Wakabayashi - Pilot of Ôtori
• Akihiko Hirata   as   Endô - Captain of Ôtori
• Kenji Sahara   as   Saiki - Vice Captain of Ôtori
• Jun Tazaki   as   Raizô Sonoda - Tomoko's Father
• Ken Uehara   as   Dr. Kôno - Astrophysicist
• Takashi Shimura   as   Kensuke Sonoda - Paleontologist
• Seizaburô Kawazu   as   Tada - Minister of Finance
• Kô Mishima   as   Sanada - Engineer
• Sachio Sakai   as   Physician
• Takamaru Sasaki   as   Prime Minister Seki
• Kô Nishimura   as   Murata - Secretary of Space
• Eitarô Ozawa   as   Kinami - Minister of Justice
• Masanari Nihei   as   Itô - Astronaut of Ôtori
• Kôzô Nomura   as   Observer of Ôtori
• Keiko Sata   as   Prime Minister's Secretary
• Hideyo Amamoto   as   Man in bar
• George Furness   as   Hooverman (as Jôji Fânesu)
• Ross Benette   as   Gibson (as Rosu Benetto)
• Jun'ichirô Mukai   as   Space Base Security Guard
• Nadao Kirino   as   Manabe - Takiko's Lover
• Fumio Sakashita   as   Hayao Sonoda - Tomoko's Brother
• Ikio Sawamura   as   Taxi Driver
• Toshihiko Furuta   as   Observer of Ôtori
• Yoshiyuki Uemura   as   Mathematician of Ôtori
• Rinsaku Ogata   as   Engineer of Ôtori
• Masayoshi Kawabe   as   Observer of Ôtori
• Yasushi Matsubara   as   Radio Operator of Ôtori
• Tadashi Okabe   as   Mathematician of Ôtori
• Kôji Uno   as   Reporter
• Yukihiko Gondô   as   Pilot of Ôtori
• Ken'ichirô Maruyama   as   Engineer of Ôtori (as Ken'ichiro Maruyama)
• Yasuhiko Saijô   as   Radio Operator of Ôtori
• Katsumi Tezuka   as   Radio Operator of Ôtori
• Akira Yamada   as   Engineer of Hayabusa
• Hiroshi Takagi   as   Engineer of Hayabusa
• Toshitsugu Suzuki   as   Pilot of Hayabusa (as Kôji Suzuki)
• Wataru Ômae   as   Mathematician of Hayabusa
• Ichirô Shôji   as   Observer of Hayabusa
• Yasuo Araki   as   Observer of Hayabusa
• Hideo Shibuya   as   Reporter (as Shinpei Mitsui)
• Kazuo Imai   as   Radio Operator of Hayabusa
• Takuya Yuki   as   Mathematician of Hayabusa
• Koji Ishikawa   as   Pilot of Hayabusa (as Kôji Ishikawa)
• Yûsuke Suzuki   as   Fuel Checkout of Hayabusa
• Takuzô Kumagai   as   Government Personnel (as Jirô Kumagai)
• Hiroshi Akitsu   as   Goverment Personnel / Man Pointing at Sky
• Enver Altenbay   as   Member in the South Pole Base
• Ryûtarô Amami   as   Goverment Personnel / Worker in the South Pole Base
• Henrî Ban   as   Man in Convention Hall
• Hank Brown   as   Member in the South Pole Base
• Ichirô Chiba   as   Goverment Personnel
• Kenzô Echigo   as   Astronaut of Ôtori / Observer of Space Station
• Bin Furuya   as   Reporter
• Ted Gunther   as   Member in the South Pole Base
• Shinjirô Hirota   as   Goverment Personnel
• Hans Horneff   as   Dr. König
• Tsurue Ichimanji   as   Maid of Sonoda Family
• Toku Ihara   as   Worker in the South Pole Base
• Saburô Iketani   as   News Anchor
• Minoru Itô   as   Astronaut of Ôtori
• Ralph Jesser   as   Member in the South Pole Base
• Saburô Kadowaki   as   Reporter
• Kuniyoshi Kashima   as   Worker in the South Pole Base
• Yoshio Katsube   as   Reporter / Observer of Space Station
• Keiichirô Katsumoto   as   Goverment Personnel
• Shigeo Katô   as   Worker in the South Pole Base
• Ikuo Kawamura   as   Astronaut of Ôtori
• Akira Kitchôji   as   Goverment Personnel
• Akio Kusama   as   Goverment Personnel
• Edo Kîn   as   Representative of U.S.S.O.
• Senshô Matsumoto   as   Goverment Personnel

Appearances

Weapons, Vehicles, and Races

• JX-1 Hayabusa
• SSS-1
• Space Station Terra
• Atomic Burrower
• V-TOL
• JX-2 Ootori
• Capsule 1

Monsters

• Maguma

Gallery

Main article: Gorath (1962 film)/Gallery.

Soundtrack

Main article: Gorath (Soundtrack).

Alternate Titles

• Suspicious Star Gorath
• UFOs to the Destroy the Earth
• Clash of the Planets

Theatrical Releases

• Japan - March 21, 1962  [view poster]
• United States - May 15, 1964  [view poster]
• West Germany - July 10, 1975
• France
• Greece

U.S. Release

American Gorath poster

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 character Maguma 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. 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.

Videos

Trailers

Trivia

• The planet Gorath later appeared as a meteorite in Godzilla: Final Wars. According to the Xiliens, a dead star went supernova and expelled Gorath, possibly a small planet broken into smaller chunks after this event. In truth, Gorath was part of the Xiliens' plans to bring their most powerful weapon, Monster X, to Earth, while still fooling the humans into believing that the Xiliens intended to save the Earth from the collision.
• The U.N. V-TOL prop was later modified by Tsuburaya Productions to represent the SSSP's numerous Jet VTOLs in the company's hit TV Series Ultraman.