Gorath (1962)
"Yôsei Gorasu" (original title)

Japanese disaster film about a giant meteor on a collision course with the Earth. The dubbed American version of this film is missing a giant walrus which appeared briefly in the Japanese ... See full summary »

Director:

Ishirô Honda

Writers:

Takeshi Kimura (screenplay), Jôjirô Okami (story)

Stars:

Ryô Ikebe, Yumi Shirakawa, Akira Kubo

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ryô Ikebe	...	Dr. Tazawa - Astrophysicist
Yumi Shirakawa	...	Tomoko Sonoda
Akira Kubo	...	Tatsuma Kanai - Cadet Astronaut
Kumi Mizuno	...	Takiko Nomura
Hiroshi Tachikawa	...	Wakabayashi - Pilot of Ôtori
Akihiko Hirata	...	Endô - Captain of Ôtori
Kenji Sahara	...	Saiki - Vice Captain of Ôtori
Jun Tazaki	...	Raizô Sonoda - Tomoko's Father
Ken Uehara	...	Dr. Kôno - Astrophysicist
Takashi Shimura	...	Kensuke Sonoda - Paleontologist
Seizaburô Kawazu	...	Tada - Minister of Finance
Kô Mishima	...	Sanada - Engineer
Sachio Sakai	...	Physician
Takamaru Sasaki	...	Prime Minister Seki
Kô Nishimura	...	Murata - Secretary of Space

Storyline

Japanese disaster film about a giant meteor on a collision course with the Earth. The dubbed American version of this film is missing a giant walrus which appeared briefly in the Japanese version.

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Plot Keywords:

astronaut | disaster film | walrus | south pole | disaster | 

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Taglines:

See! the world doomed by an invading wild sun 6000 times bigger than earth!

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Genres:

Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese English

Release Date:

15 May 1964 (USA)

Also Known As:

Gorath

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toho Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Perspecta Stereo (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Originally, the film wasn't going to include the giant walrus, Magma. However, producer Tomoyuki Tanaka insisted that the monster be put into the film so Ishirô Honda added the sequence, albeit reluctantly.

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Quotes

News Anchor: If we could come together and cooperate to overcome the danger that threatened us, can't we take this opportunity to work together for all eternity?

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Connections

Edited into Doomsday Machine (1972)

User Reviews

Don't let the Giant Walrus scare you away

Gorath is not the name of a giant Walrus in the Japanese version of this film. Though not badly done, as giant Walruses go, this is not a giant Walrus film. It's as you can see by other reviews a space/disaster film. The Walrus and one other scene of a group of men deciding to spontaneously sing a song while flying in a helicopter are really the only two bad moments in the film. I guess the Walrus is gone from the American print which might be just as well, though the widescreen FX and photography really need to be seen letter-boxed to be appreciated.

Overall this is a pretty large scale disaster film with many, and mostly good, miniatures, a number of them on a very large scale, fleets of ships, the Arctic, Tokyo being flooded etc. The whole film moves much better than the American film WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE and is especially helped by a very good musical score that reminds me of those done by James Bernhard for Hammer horror films.

The killer "star" which gives the films is named Gorath and it is quite well done as are all the space effects. This film will disappoint giant monster fans since the giant monster is only in a couple of scenes, but those who like science fiction films will find a pretty serious and mostly credible film here, one that looks far newer than it's actual age. Recommended to fans of director Honda and certainly those of Japanese Science fiction, those who prefer films that actually work rather than those that are just silly and insane. I enjoy both types and found this film to be well worth checking out, letter-boxed and in Japanese at least. Oh as is typical, even in the Japanese language version, some characters do speak English occasionally