Talkback: Gorath (1962)

[BlankAccount]

I think you guys are overthinking it. It's a thrill when one of these obscurities is somehow suddenly remembered and included in something official. Like seeing Gezora in the comics, Kamoebas in Tokyo S.O.S or Baragon in GMK..

Right, this is kind of where I come from with it.

If they were to show some Monster Island in a future film and Maguma was chilling there, my reaction would be "oh man, that's cool!" not "ugh that fucking walrus from Gorath that people keep talking about."

I think there are just a handful of obscure, random kaiju that people enjoy. Not much wrong with that.

I mean, I'd have the same reaction too. It's just that Gorath is a really good film and anytime I hear people talking about it, it's only the Maguma scenes. Kind of a "Really?" moment.

It is odd.

In our review (before YT nuked it!) Mr. Toots and I talked about how just truly batshit crazy the ending is, they literally built a giant rocket booster on the ass end of the world and moved the Earth a little ways so Gorath would pass by. And while the film did show this act did cause disasters, it was no where the same level as it would be in real life. Like, okay you moved the Earth out of it's orbit, whats to keep it from flying off into space or the sun now?

[Maritonic]

Right, this is kind of where I come from with it.

If they were to show some Monster Island in a future film and Maguma was chilling there, my reaction would be "oh man, that's cool!" not "ugh that fucking walrus from Gorath that people keep talking about."

I think there are just a handful of obscure, random kaiju that people enjoy. Not much wrong with that.

I mean, I'd have the same reaction too. It's just that Gorath is a really good film and anytime I hear people talking about it, it's only the Maguma scenes. Kind of a "Really?" moment.

It is odd.

In our review (before YT nuked it!) Mr. Toots and I talked about how just truly batshit crazy the ending is, they literally built a giant rocket booster on the ass end of the world and moved the Earth a little ways so Gorath would pass by. And while the film did show this act did cause disasters, it was no where the same level as it would be in real life. Like, okay you moved the Earth out of it's orbit, whats to keep it from flying off into space or the sun now?

yeah there are a lot of things in Gorath that I'm surprised people don't talk about more, such as the implications of the ending.

[eabaker]

To me, the most interesting aspect of Gorath may be the decision to cast the inherently likable Akira Kubo as the nasty, petty Kanai, probably the most unpleasant of the various unpleasant protagonists (or secondary protagonists) Takeshi Kimura contributed to the genre.

[Godzilla21]

So my copy of Gorath has the Maguma scene. What exactly happens during that part in the American cut? I've never seen it. Based on some comments here there is still an indication of the scene in the American version?

[eabaker]

So my copy of Gorath has the Maguma scene. What exactly happens during that part in the American cut? I've never seen it. Based on some comments here there is still an indication of the scene in the American version?

They cut out the shots of Magma, but left in the rest of the shots around it, leading to a nonsense sequence of a ship firing at nothing in particular, and jarring jumps in the music (which means the deletion must have occurred awfully late in the preparation of the American version, since that last part would have been pretty easily fixed with the split audio elements that were almost certainly provided).

[Terasawa]

I really like this matte painting from the film.

[Stump Feet]

That is really nice, I wish I had a better transfer of this movie

[LSD Jellyfish]

I really like this matte painting from the film.

If you didn't tell me that I wouldn't have known.

[Godzilla21]

Is Gorath available in HD anywhere? My copy is SD and I'd love to upgrade

[Mr_Goji_and_Watch]

Is Gorath available in HD anywhere? My copy is SD and I'd love to upgrade

Get a Japanese iTunes or Amazon account and buy/rent it through their service.

[Godzilla21]

I really like this matte painting from the film.

If you didn't tell me that I wouldn't have known.

Same. Looks fantastic.

I think the South Pole base might be Tsuburaya’s best work.

[Terasawa]

I think the South Pole base might be Tsuburaya’s best work.

Some great stuff in the climactic climate disaster caused by Gorath's approach. It's hard to get still shots of that sequence but I especially like the miniature Tokyo set that gets flooded.

[edgaguirus]

I've yet to see Gorath, but those South Pole sets are excellent.

[Ultraman02]

It is odd.

In our review (before YT nuked it!) Mr. Toots and I talked about how just truly batshit crazy the ending is,they literally built a giant rocket booster on the ass end of the world and moved the Earth a little ways so Gorath would pass by. And while the film did show this act did cause disasters, it was no where the same level as it would be in real life. Like, okay you moved the Earth out of it's orbit, whats to keep it from flying off into space or the sun now?

Isn't that the plot to that one Futurama episode?

[MaxRebo320]

In our review (before YT nuked it!) Mr. Toots and I talked about how just truly batshit crazy the ending is, they literally built a giant rocket booster on the ass end of the world and moved the Earth a little ways so Gorath would pass by. And while the film did show this act did cause disasters, it was no where the same level as it would be in real life. Like, okay you moved the Earth out of it's orbit, whats to keep it from flying off into space or the sun now?

I'm pretty sure they state at the end that they intend to move Earth back to its rightful orbital spot, knowing all of the destruction that will happen if it doesn't return, even if that will require as much work as it did getting it out.

But hey, maybe they wound up moving it to a different spot that was near a moon, hence the moon being back by 1999 in DAM...

[szmigiel]

The premise is both fantastic and grounded at the same time. It is a different take on "When Worlds Collide", instead of leaving Earth for a new planet, they are able to save the Earth by getting the world to act together. For a sci-fi movie of the early 60's it tries to be hard sci-fi, with the ships actually have to turn and decelerate, delay in communication, and traveling inside the solar system taking a long time. Gorath being super heavy and having a huge gravity, but not being huge in size. These are concepts not really found in late 50's or early 60's Sci-Fi films.

But it does have the fantastic element of changing the Earths orbit, that probably will never be realistic. However if you expect the premise of being able to move the Earth to avoid a collision, then they would be able to figure out how to move it and keep a stable orbit that doesn't fling the Earth out of control. I also like how they show that moving the Earth isn't a simple thing that doesn't cause any collateral damage.

Over all I think Gorath is my favorite Sci-Fi/Space movie from Toho. I would say non-kaiju film but it does have one needless squeezed in the film I really don't think is needed, I don't mind it being cut from the US version of the film. I also like how it shares a lot with Ultraman including props and actors.

Lastly, why do fans want to put this film in continuity with the Godzilla films? Just because of Maguma? The moon being destroyed pretty much means trying to put it into continuity isn't possible.

[Gigantis]

Weird thing to talk about,but everyone,even the film makers themselves,say Maguma has blue eyes...but they look green. Am i slightly colorblind or...?

[Zarm]

I noticed the same thing. It's odd. Maguma's green eyes are his most striking feature.

[Mac Daddy MM]

But hey, maybe they wound up moving it to a different spot that was near a moon, hence the moon being back by 1999 in DAM...

Pretty sure, like 100%, that Gorath is not part of the Showa Godzilla continuity... Or any continuity outside of its own. I know Maguma is listed to have appeared in GXMG/Tokyo SOS's timeline, but I'm also pretty sure the movie itself isn't. Same way the movie seems to ignore the fact Kamoebas' is an alien-based mutant and state that Gaira was killed by Masers. Even when you look at GXMG's official timeline ( https://www.tohokingdom.com/articles/im ... _gmmg1.htm ), Maguma is listed to have appeared in 1962 rather than the '80s where Gorath take place.

[tlyon2]

But hey, maybe they wound up moving it to a different spot that was near a moon, hence the moon being back by 1999 in DAM...

Pretty sure, like 100%, that Gorath is not part of the Showa Godzilla continuity... Or any continuity outside of its own. I know Maguma is listed to have appeared in GXMG/Tokyo SOS's timeline, but I'm also pretty sure the movie itself isn't. Same way the movie seems to ignore the fact Kamoebas' is an alien-based mutant and state that Gaira was killed by Masers. Even when you look at GXMG's official timeline ( https://www.tohokingdom.com/articles/im ... _gmmg1.htm ), Maguma is listed to have appeared in 1962 rather than the '80s where Gorath take place.

I'm pretty sure that Gorath is part of the Showa Godzilla continuity' there are the two space stations Delta and Terra that show up in other films.

The Space Station Delta shows up in a blink and you miss it cameo in Invasion Of The Astro-Monster as the P-1 rocket ship heads back to Earth. Space Station Terra shows up again near the beginning of War in Space, these two space stations are more then enough to make it be part of the Showa Godzilla continuity' at least in my book anyways.