Yôsei Gorasu (1962)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Ishirô Honda

Writers:

Takeshi Kimura (screenplay)
Jojiro Okami (story)

Release Date:

15 May 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

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

Plot:

Japanese disaster film about a giant meteor on a collision course with the Earth. The dubbed American...

Plot Keywords:

Astronaut | Walrus | South Pole | Disaster Film | Disaster

Cast

Ryo Ikebe	...	Dr. Tazawa - Astrophysicist (as Ryô Ikebe)
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
Ko Mishima	...	Sanada - Engineer (as Kô Mishima)
Sachio Sakai	...	Physician
Takamaru Sasaki	...	Prime Minister Seki
Kô Nishimura	...	Murata - Secretary of Space

Also Known As:

Astronaut 1980
Gorath (USA)
Gorath, the Mysterious Star
Suspicous Star Gorath
Yosei Gorath

Runtime:

88 min | Germany:84 min | USA:83 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese | English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Perspecta Stereo (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

West Germany:12

Company:

Toho Company

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.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Gojira ni-sen mireniamu (1999)

One of the better Japanese sci-fi films.

GORATH (1962) begins with a Japanese Space Exploration ship fatally encountering a run-away planet smaller than Earth, but much greater in mass. It is now up to Earth scientists to build rocket boosters at the South Pole in order to move the Earth out of it's orbit. For logic, GORATH is a scientific mess (One scientist watches Gorath suck up the moon "The moon's gone. But it gives us the boost we need!") Huh? However, GORATH is a charming sci-fi film. Akira Kubo (A Japanese actor who resembles Speed Racer) is the astronaut who takes on a suicidal space mission to observe Gorath when his relationship with a young woman is at it's lowest ebb. His return to Earth, as a shell-shocked wreck is quite touching. Tsuburaya's minatures are also at a low here. The space scenes a re quite beautiful and haunting despite that. Basically, GORATH, for all it's screenwriting and cinematograhic faults, has an entertaining charm.