ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

Japan's answer to "When Worlds Collide" is a whale of a good science fiction yarn, despite some distracting narrative flaws and an over-abundance of special effects using the teeny-tiny miniatures which Japanese movie makers are so fond of.

However, some of the effects are remarkable, portraying events such as earthquakes, tidal waves, and the passage of a neutron star close to Earth. The film also sports some impressive sets.

The story concerns a neutron star (code-named Gorath) that wanders into the solar system on a collision course with Earth. The nations of the Earth unite to build a massive series of rocket engines at the South Pole so the Earth can be moved out of Gorath's path. The reason the rockets are located at the pole is to prevent the Earth's rotation from interfering with the direction of the rockets' thrust (a clever idea).

In one scene which was cut from the American-release version, the stress from the thrust opens up a huge fissure and releases a giant walrus creature.

Direct by Inoshiro Honda ("Rodan", "Godzilla", many others). The English dubbing is not well done, and the voice of Paul Frees is greatly over-used (he speaks for almost half the male secondary characters!).
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[scotpens]

[Bud Brewster]

[scotpens]

^^ They make tasty sushi and tempura, though.

[Robert (Butch) Day]

Maybe feed the giant squid from 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (1954) to distract it?
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Common Sense ISN'T Common

[bulldogtrekker]

Bud gave me a DVD-R of this movie and I like it. It is not as good as Battle in Outer Space or The Mysterians but it is fun to watch.

I have never seen the version with the walrus.

[Maurice]

Here's ye olde kaiju seiuchi (strange beast walrus) in video.
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"The absence of limitations is the enemy of art."
― Orson Welles

[bulldogtrekker]

Thanks, that was interesting !

[Bud Brewster]

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Here's an unused piece of music from the film's soundtrack which I stumbled across. It certainly adds to the believably of a giant walrus frozen in the ice!

SOUNDTRACK MUSIC FOR THE DELETED WALRUS SCENE
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Robert (Butch) Day]

The Antarctic base:





Building the Antarctic base miniature:



Getting ready to film a space scene:



The Antarctic base miniature with attacking giant walrus man-in-suit:



The giant walrus being prepared for filming:



The main control center. (It looks like a Krell instrument of some sort or a version of the Tar-Ayim Krang!)


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Common Sense ISN'T Common

[Gord Green]

Great post Butch!

So....THAT'S what a giant walrus looks like!
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There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.

[Robert (Butch) Day]

I hope I got the picture sizes correct! Also see my additions to The Mysterians and Battle In Outer Space.
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Common Sense ISN'T Common

[orzel-w]

[Krel]

I never saw this as a kid, but I did see it last year on Comet TV, and it had the Walrus scene. I did notice the Ultraman Science Patrol Rocket Plane was prominently used.

David.

[Bud Brewster]

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The Youtube link below is a truly "Americanized" trailer for this movie, with a melodramatic narrator who pitches the movie with bold claims about how great it is! (I love it!)

You'll enjoy it, I promise!

And while watching it I finally figured out why Japanese science fiction movies have never appealed to me the way American movies do!

Here's why.

Japanese sci-fi movies tell an imaginative tale about a big event that effects the entire nation, with a large number characters involved in the story. A few of the characters are somewhat more important than the rest, but none of them really qualify as the "central hero and heroine".

In other words, the stories are about monumental events which affect the Japanese nation, with a large cast who work as a team to deal with the crisis.

However, American science fictioni movies often tell their stories through the eyes of a few main characters.

War of the Worlds focuses most of the story on Gene Barry and Ann Robinson. This Island Earth spotlights Rex Reason and Faith Domergue. Earth vs the Flying Saucers puts Hugh Marlow and Joan Taylor at center stage.

I prefer that kind of "personal connection" to the Japanese approach, which depicts the conflict as something that threatens the entire country — rather than a few individuals which the movies makes us feel sympathetic towards.

Wow . . . I've never quite realized why I always felt so uninvolved when I watched Japanese sci-fi movies, even when they had good stories and great special effects!
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____________ Gorath (1962) - U.S Trailer (HD)


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)