Planet R
Planet R (新天体R Shin Tentai Āru, lit. "New Astronomical Object R") is a rogue planet discovered by the Pairans in the 1956 Daiei film Warning from Space.
Name
The planet is referred to in the Japanese dialogue as New Astronomical Object R, or simply R. However, the film's English dub and the English subtitle track on Arrow Video's Blu-ray instead use "Planet R," as well as indirect phrases like "runaway planet" which were not originally present. The Japanese version nonetheless refers to R as a planet on a few occasions: by Ginko Amano and a radio bulletin using the term 星 (hoshi)—literally meaning "star," but also used for planets—and by a newspaper headline using the more explicit 遊星 (yūsei).
History
- Warning from Space (1956)
Showa era
Warning from Space
Planet R was discovered by the Pairans on a collision course with Earth. They knew that they needed to warn humans and tell them how to deflect the planet, but worried about how humans would react to finding that aliens really existed. After some time, Ginko Amano, who was revealed to be an alien because of her superhuman traits and the ability to understand a formula for a nuclear weapon, told humans about the incoming threat. They appeal to the World Congress about the situation but were rejected, with Planet R's existence being argued to be just a myth. Not long afterwards, the World Congress changed its opinion, and agreed that Planet R was real and a threat to the Earth. Deciding to resolve the situation on their own, the governments of every nuclear-capable nation on Earth announced that they would launch all of their nuclear weapons in an attempt to destroy Planet R. An evacuation of Tokyo was carried out, in spite of how futile the situation truly was.
With Planet R visible in Earth's sky, the nuclear weapons were launched into space, but exploded uselessly against it, failing to do anything to change the rogue planet's trajectory. As Planet R drew even nearer to Earth, the sheer amount of light it produced caused Earth's sky to change color to an eerie red hue. At such a close distance, Planet R emitted enough electromagnetic radiation to wreak havoc on Earth's climate, and atmospheric temperatures started to steadily climb. Following the disruption to the climate, Planet R induced powerful tidal interactions with the Earth, triggering massive earthquakes and tsunamis which inundated Japan's coasts. With the end seemingly near, Ginko returned to find that humanity was unable to destroy the rogue planet. With not a moment to lose, the Pairans used their technology to locate Matsuda, who was wearing a Pairan ring, and obtained the completed formula, using it to create a weapon of their own containing a radioactive element named Urium. The weapon was successfully deployed, and blew Planet R to pieces, saving the Earth from certain destruction.
Gallery
Screenshots
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Planet R next to Earth -
Planet R explodes
Trivia
- From the effects and physical qualities it demonstrates, Planet R has more in common with a red dwarf star than a rogue planet; it glows a rich reddish-orange, produces large quantities of electromagnetic radiation which affects Earth's climate, and emits enough light when at its closest approach to change the colour of Earth's sky, suggesting that it is capable of carrying out nuclear fusion.
- A planet by the name of Planet R - depicted as a planet in the vicinity of Venus rather than a rogue planet - later appeared in the 16th episode of Ultraman, Science Patrol Into Space, where it served as the base of operations for the second attempted invasion of Earth by the Baltans.
See also
Comments
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