This movie presents some shortcoming typical of TOHO/low budget Japanese productions, EG some miniatures look like garage sale toys and some SFX are poor, yet i found it extremely enjoyable. Remember it was 1962, much before big budgeted Hollywood movies. The movie is easily watchable (got a letter-boxed edition), images are very clear, SFX very good period-wise. The plot (albeit very simple) unfolds nicely. There are many far fetched assumptions and scientific nonsense, EG the moon gets destroyed, earth is moved 400.000 km, YET nothing major happens as Gorath drifts away in the deep space. The space mission obsession continues. In 1982 (that's when Gorath was supposed to collide with earth ) they portray dozens of space stations, and tremendous ease to travel upto Saturn, Jupiter etc. We're 25 years past 1982 and not the tiniest fraction of such advancements has been made. There are a few subplots, which do not get in the way. Character development is extremely limited, if any. All in all an enjoyable movie worth watching twice. I saw the giant walrus, too. I suppose it was a diversion to improve the rhythm, which was running in circles around the Pole operation. A giant planet, whose extension is barely 3/4 earth's but whose mass is 6000+ times, is on collision course with earth. A first space mission perishes while trying to investigate the matter. Yet UN scientists have been alerted and plan to install reactors to the pole to propel earth 400.000 away, to avoid Gorath's devastating gravity. Pretty much all there.
The scientific rationale behind stars of incredible density/gravity was popular back then and stemmed from (incorrect) assumptions about the origins of gamma ray bursts first uncovered by US spy satellites looking for Soviet nuclear tests. Gamma ray bursts (according to a theory popular back then) originated from Gorasu kind of stars.
The scientific rationale behind stars of incredible density/gravity was popular back then and stemmed from (incorrect) assumptions about the origins of gamma ray bursts first uncovered by US spy satellites looking for Soviet nuclear tests. Gamma ray bursts (according to a theory popular back then) originated from Gorasu kind of stars.