Gohten
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The Gohten (轟天 is a drill-nosed spaceship which appears in the Gōten, lit. "Roaring Heavens")1977 Toho film The War in Space. It is a variation of the Gotengo from Atragon.
Name
The Gohten's name comes from that of the Gotengo — literally translated as "Roaring Heavens" — but without the -gō (号) suffix which is typically given to ships and other machinery. Its name is distinguished from the Gotengo's in English by its romanization of the long o sound in Gōten as "oh." The name "Gohten" appears on the uniforms of the ship's crew in the film as well as on official merchandise as recent as the Toho SFX Movies Authentic Visual Books. The -gō is also omitted from the name of the Gotengo in GODZILLA: Monster Apocalypse; however, in this novel the craft is more reminiscent of the version of the Gotengo featured in Atragon than the Gohten. The Gohten is sometimes given the full designation UNSF-Gohten,[2] which stands for "United Nations Space Force Gohten."
Development
The Gohten was designed[7] and modeled by Yasuyuki Inoue of Alpha Planning,[8] formerly an employee of Toho. Producer Tomoyuki Tanaka, who penned the story for The War in Space under the pseudonym Hachiro Jinguji (the name of the Gotengo's captain from Atragon), suggested the inclusion of the Gotengo in the film, which led to the creation of the Gohten.[9] Aside from being patterned after the Gotengo, Inoue explained that the ship's revolving cannons were inspired by a revolver his father brought back from the Russo-Japanese War when Inoue was a child.[10] Two total miniatures were produced of the Gohten: a 2.4-meter long, 1/80th scale model and a 1.2-meter long, 1/160th scale one.[8]
Ironically, the Gohten would go on to inspire the re-design of the eponymous Gotengo in Godzilla Final Wars, as director Ryuhei Kitamura was a fan of The War in Space.[11]
History
- The War in Space (1977)
- Shin Ultraman (2022) [model]
Showa era
The War in Space
The Gohten is the flagship of the human fleet. After a vicious battle against the Messiah 13 aliens around the spaceship's base, it travels to Venus. Afterwards, it travels across the planet in search of the alien base.
Capabilities
Flight
Gohten can fly at a top speed of Mach 816,326, approximately 93% the speed of light, with a cruising speed of Mach 528,961.[12] It can also travel through space.
Drill
Gohten is armed with a drill.
Revolver Cannon
Gohten is armed with two six-barrel rapid-fire Revolver Cannons (リボルバーキャノン Riboruba Kyanon).[12]
Air-based depth charges
Gohten is armed with at least seven aerial depth charges designed to detonate in the air.
Active Radar Missile
Gohten is armed with 34 Active Radar Missiles (アクティブ・レーダー・ミサイル Akutibu Reda Misairu).[12]
Laser cannon
Gohten is armed with nine laser cannons.
Ether Bomb
Behind the drill, Gohten has the Ether Bomb (エーテル爆弾 Etheru Bakudan).[12] This weapon has enough power to destroy Daimakan and the planet Venus.
Video games
- Godzilla: Monster of Monsters! (1988) - Nintendo Entertainment System / Famicom
Godzilla: Monster of Monsters!
In this side-scrolling game produced for the NES, the Gohten is one of several opponents the player has a chance of fighting in the Hyperspace areas of each level. The Gohten will fire upon the player using its various cannons, but will otherwise stay stationary. The player can choose to destroy the Gohten by attacking its cannons, or simply walk to the right and leave the Hyperspace area.
The Gohten's sprite in Godzilla: Monster of Monsters!
Gallery
Production
Screenshots
The War in Space
Merchandise
Super Gotengo card featured in the Godzilla Wars 2 line of Toy Card 100 trading cards.
References
This is a list of references for Gohten. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]
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Bibliography
- Kaneda, Masumi; Oishi, Shinji; Konuta, Kenji; Eguchi, Mizuki; Maruyama, Takeshi (28 July 2014). Toho Special Effects All Monster Encyclopedia (1st ed.). Shogakukan. ISBN 978-4-09-682090-2.
- Nakamura, Satoshi; Shimazaki, Jun (1 April 2005). Godzilla Toho Giant Monster Pictorial Book (1st ed.). Kodansha. ISBN 4-09-280052-5.
- Motoyama, Sho; Matsunomoto, Kazuhiro; Asai, Kazuyasu; Suzuki, Nobutaka; Kato, Masashi (28 September 2012). Toho Special Effects Movie Complete Works (1st ed.). villagebooks. ISBN 978-4864910132.
- Ozawa, Ryoko; Murai, Shugo; Imai, Atsushi; Nakamura, Satoshi; Tomoi, Kento; Shimazaki, Jun, eds. (20 July 2018). All Toho Mechanic Pictorial Book (2nd ed.). Yosensha. ISBN 978-4-8003-1461-1.
- Toho SFX Mechanic Chronicle 1954-2003. Supervised by Koichi Kawakita. Shinkigensha. 10 April 2003. ISBN 978-4-7753-0142-5.CS1 maint: others (link)
- Murai, Satoshi, ed. (1 March 2005). Godzilla Final Wars Super Complete Works (2nd ed.). Shogakukan. ISBN 4-09-101498-4.
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