Gosh darn it, I thought this was better than Gojira (1954) and Rodan (1956). The plot is extremely unique, interesting, and realistic. The mechanics in this movie was pretty kickass and cool. JX-2, Capsule No.1, UN VTOL... It's just great. I thought Magma (the kaiju in this movie) was pretty cool. That walrus looking face was quite charming, but it's a bummer that he didn't get that much screen time. Now let's talk about Gorath. The prop's base was made by an acrylic ball. It's texture made it look like a dangerous star. Any I'll give this movie a 9/10, you should probably watch it, it's pretty good. Here's Leonyan signing off.

GORATH/Yosei Gorasu (1962) is TOHOs' take on the 'end of the world' disaster film. That theme seems to be near and dear to every motion picture company in the world sometime or another. Whether a localized disaster or universal Armageddon there's boffo box-office in seeing masses of humanity and their works trashed.The film is made too the level of the limited budget and technical skills of the Japanese film industry of the time. That did not make it a poor film though and the subject was treated with respect. Unlike TOHOs' next fantasy film KING KONG vs GODZILLA/Kingu Kongu tai Gojira (1962) where the slide to camp kiddie fare began.THE NUTS; GORATH which can be best described as a Red Dwarf Star is on a collision course with the Earth. The solution, move the Earths orbit North by 400,000 Kilometers (est.280,000 Miles) which would tilt the orbital plane allowing GORATH to pass. How to do it, lots of Fusion Rockets at the South Pole. The main focus of the movie is the building of the Rockets and scenes of major destruction with GORATHs' passing. In addition there is a bonus Monster/Kaiju of a Giant Walrus that looks like stuffed foam rubber and which was eliminated from U.S.A. release.Though not up to THE MYSTERIANS/Chikyu Boeigun (1957) it's as good as BATTLE IN OUTER SPACE/Uchu daisenso (1959). It is the last of the 'Space Operas' from 'The Golden Age' of the Japanese fantasy film. Films that we find more enjoyable then those made in the Eastern Block countries and laterally Italy. It is best to get the original Japanese release versions of these films. They are more coherent in their original edit and dubbing translation.

Another gem from Toho. This time a giant meteor called Gorath is on a collision course with Earth. After being discovered by the Japanese space team, scientists here on Earth try to figure out how to stop it . Putting aside their differences for a while, we come up with a plan to literally move Earth itself!Even though I have never seen the original Japanese version- which supposedly includes a giant walrus, there is enough going on that this would not matter. There are sequences set in space that feature a spacewalk that happened in real life a few years after this film was shot. There is a fantastic sequence involving the construction project at the South Pole that features some first rate model animation with all those great Aurora choppers and Revell ship models we all built as kids.Honda and Tsubaraya are in top formagain. This one deserves to be better known. Call it a Kaiju film without a monster, it still is great entertainment and is far more entertaining than the much later "Armageddon" and "Deep Impact" Check it out!

This was the first Japanese film that I saw that didn't rely on a giant monster to make it an interesting story (there is a giant monster, but it is mainly used as filler). Essentially, the message of this film is about how the people of Earth should learn to cooperate, especially when faced with extinction. We do not need an extreme threat like an onrushing planetoid to learn to cooperate due to the fact that we have such threats as global warming, pollution, crime and hunger that are already eating away at us. Also, I hope one day that an uncut version of this film is released in this country. The message of this film has all but been hacked to pieces by the American distributors of this classic piece of Japanese science fiction.