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Gorath (妖星ゴラス Yōsei Gorasu, Ominous Star Gorath) is a Japanese science fiction film directed by Ishiro Honda. Based on an idea by Jojiro Okami, the film is a story of mankind's efforts to move Earth out of its orbit to avoid it from colliding with a runaway star. The film was extensively edited for its American release.
A month later in 1980, astronomers and astrophysicists throughout the international community announce that the enormous celestial body would collide with the Earth in two years time. Later at the United Nations, a gathering of Earth’s top scientists resolved to this all-important goal by pooling together large amounts of technical advancements they made in the past two decades. After much debriefing, the scientific community unvaild their plan to save the Earth. They dub the plan the South Pole Operation. The South Pole operation base is to be designed to house a large international team of engineers and scientists. The plan involves the construction of huge rocket thruster engines, 500 meters below the surface and in an area 600 kilometers in diameter, producing an atomic force equal to that of 6,600,000,000 megatons. When completed and activated, these mega-thrusters would serve to literally move the Earth more than 400,000 kilometers out of its orbit in 100 days until it was safely out of range of both the approaching star Gorath and its devastating gravity well, and then move the Earth back into its proper orbit once the danger had completely passed.  The U.N. then sends the remaining prototype sub-light spacecraft JX-2 Eagle into space to obtain further data on Gorath. Construction on the massive South Pole base is put into action as ships and helicopters from many nations bring in building material necessary to the plan. In addition, powerful mobile heat-generating devices known as atomic burrowers were quickly cobbled together to assist in the project of creating the caverns in the icy terrain of the Antarctic that would be needed to house the booster rockets. Meanwhile, in deep space, the JX-2 Eagle succeeds in its mission. The data they acquired, including the disturbing fact that Gorath was continuously adding to its mass by absorbing more space debris in the path of its gravity well. This information was sent to the U.N. personnel on the three space stations SSS-1, Terra and Delta.  Back on Earth, the first preliminary test of the rocket thrusters is about to commence. Around the world, anxious citizens watch live television broadcasts of the event. The thrusters are activated and the results are witness from the orbiting space stations the Earth is gently along. The South Pole Operation is hailed as a success and the Earth was moving out of the way of Gorath's path. Meanwhile, in space, With this news, the JX-2 Eagle is ordered to return to its base on Earth, along with the three-space stations (all of which were moved from orbit to avoid having the multibillion-dollar constructs being struck by Gorath when it approached the Earth).  Back on Earth, an unexpected threat was literally unearthed when the completed rocket boosters were tested. The backlash of incredible heat this created caused a gigantic, 30-meter-long walrus to emerge from its home deep below the frozen tundra [this creature was later named 'Maguma' in Japanese press info about this incident; Maguma was evidently a hidden remnant of prehistoric creatures that survived into modern times. Angered by the dramatic intrusion into his home, Maguma began attacking the U.N. base. Acting to save the installation, a small VTOL craft that was used as a means of fast cargo transport, but also equipped with a powerful laser, was sent to stop the kaiju's assault. The pilot was determined to halt the creature without killing him, and initially used the laser cannon to cause an avalanche that buried the beast. Maguma easily escaped, however, and continued his attack. This left the South Pole crew no choice but to turn the craft's deadly laser beam on the creature himself, and the enormous animal was killed. Back in deep space, Gorath was continuing its destructive path, now absorbing the rings of Saturn. The JX-2 and the three space stations finally arrive back on Earth.  Sometime later, Gorath is close enough to the Earth to be seen by the naked eye and the atmosphere is reacting as the clouds are drawn toward the star. Tides begin to rise and a State of Emergency is declared. The Moon, Earth's lone satellite is pulled in by Gorath's gravity well and is obliterated. Gorath's full effect upon the Earth is felt as the great city of Tokyo is flooded by a tsunami. At the Interstellar Exploration Agency launch site at Mt Fuji, the JX-2 and the Space Station Terra are destroyed by an earthquake. The situation also became critical at the South Pole Operation base, as flooding waters enter the thruster area, extinguishing several fires. After the critical moment passed, the full global cooperation of every nation on the planet succeeded marvelously and Earth was moved out of Gorath's path, and then successfully actuated back into its normal orbit, thus saving the planet from destruction.  Cast
 Release
Gorath was released theatrically in Japan on 21 March 1962 where it was distributed by Toho. It was released in the United States as Gorath by Brenco Pictures through Allied Artists Pictures with an English-language dub on 15 May 1964. The film was double-billed in the United States with The Human Vapor.
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Release Dates
March 2024
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