- When a crew of scientists returns from Mars with a sample of the space spores that contaminated their ship, the sample escapes and grows into an enormous, rampaging beaked beast.
- The spaceship AAB-Gamma is dispatched from FAFC headquarters in Japan to make a landing on the planet Mars and investigate reports of UFOs in the area. As they near the red planet, they encounter a mysterious UFO that coats the ship's hull with unusual spores. Taking one of the specimens back to earth, it soon develops and grows into a giant chicken-lizard-alien monster that tramples Japan.—Jeremy Lunt <durlinlunt@acadia.net>
- A small helicopter comes in for a landing at remote location, the pilot unloads a crate marked FAFC. With extreme care the crate is loaded into a small vehicle and driven away
At the installation Dr Berman (Franz Gruber) is introduced to Dr Kato (Eiji Okada) who is the director of spaceflight at the space center
The crew of an upcoming space flight is gathered for their final briefing. Capt Sano (Shun'ya Wazaki) is singled out for further explanation. This ship will be the seventh in the series of missions to Mars. The previous six flights have all been lost with all hands. Capt Santo has been given information about the previous lost ships having encounters with UFOs before disappearing.
The discussion then turns to Lisa (Peggy Neal) the missions biologist. She is to collect specimens on Mars, but not to touch anything without the express permission of Capt Sano. Dr Shioda (Keisuke Sonoi) is the ships doctor. Making up the final member of the crew is Miyamoto (Shin'ichi Yanagisawa) is the ships communication officer.
The crew is then introduced to Dr Berman who accompanied the crate on the helicopter. The crate contained the nuclear fuel to be used on the mission. Finally Dr Kato wishes the crew well on their mission, and reminds them every foreseeable safety device has been built into the ship.
The ship launches without issue and the crew settles in for the long trip to Mars
Back on Earth Kato and Berman discuss what might have happened to the previous flights. Berman does not believe any design weakness caused the losses. He thinks the secret lies with a mysterious magnetic pulse hitting the ships when the UFO appeared. He believes this pulse rendered the ships inoperable.
On the ship, Lisa reports increasing radiation counts. Sano believes it is solar flare activity and other than disrupting communications, no other effects should be felt.
The UFO appears and suddenly Dr Shioda comes down with an intense fever causing him to collapse at his station. Sano orders everyone to their stations as they chase the UFO. Lisa clashes with Sano over her insisting on checking Dr Shioda. As they approach, the UFO vanishes, allowing communications with Earth to be reestablished. The ship is diverted to the Moon so Dr Shiodas health can be assessed.
Once on the Moon it is confirmed Shioda suffered a bout of space sickness. The rest of the crew enjoys some rest and recreation while waiting to see if Dr Shioda will fly again or be replaced for the mission to Mars.
Finally word comes through that Dr Stein (Mike Danning) is to replace Dr Shioda, he is less than thrilled about the assignment and quickly gets on the nerves of the crews. He complains endlessly the food and Lisas efforts to prepare it. Before the crew can finish expressing their frustration to Stein, the ship is caught in a meteor shower causing the hull to be breached.
The ship is brought under control however Lisa has been injured during the storm. The UFO reappears, but the crew decides to try and disengage tfrom the unknown craft.
Sano realizes the ship is trapped by a magnetic vice generated by the UFO and orders the engines shut down to save fuel. Stein feels this is not a good idea and attempts to take control of the ship. Sano fights him and orders him restrained just as the UFO disappears.
The crew goes outside the ship to inspect the damage done by the meteor shower. While out there; they discover a mysterious substance wrapped around the ship in the area of the engines. They collect a sample and take it inside just as communication is reestablishes with the ship.
They have also discover a 50 percent loss of power from the nuclear core and a rescue mission is mounted from the Moon to resupply fuel.
The fuel transfer is completed and the decision is made to return to Earth. Once successfully home, Berman and Kato supervise the storage of the sample and a home coming party for the crew. At the party Kato receives a call from security at the facility. The sample is missing, and the only evidence is the shattered sample container and a hole melted through the floor of the building.
A footprint is discovered on the laboratory floor. Kato begins to suspect the substance brought back was a seed pod and some alien creature has hatched from it. Nearby, technicians begin to notice fluctuations in the power output at the local plant.
Realizing nothing more can be done, the crew decides to continue their celebration by going out to dinner. At the restaurant there is a power failure. As guests mill around outside; someone spots a strange glowing light coming from behind a nearby hill. Without warning a giant creature rears up and roars. It has a birdlike head with huge antenna. Rather than wings it has arms and reptilian legs
The next morning the astronauts go to investigate the area where the creature was seen. Amid all the carnage they find a giant footprint, identical, except for size, to the one found at the Lab
The scientists advise the military of the situation, a huge creature is on its way to Tokyo and nothing the army has seems capable of stopping it. Dr Kato then tells the meeting he has named the creature Girara Although there is little hope of stopping the creature the army continues to fight, deploying mass tank formations to try and slow the creature down.
Lisa studies another of the spores the team recovered. Shes confirmed the spores hatch when subject to energy. Suddenly the loss of the power on the ship and the previous evening in the city is explained. Lisa believes further research needs to be done in near vacuum conditions, and she along with the rest of the team go to the Moon to follow up her lead.
The army notices the creature seems to be weakening, and possibly looking for power sources to revitalize itself. At the same time Lisas research on the Moon has produced results and they believe a newly discovered element, Giararanium, deflects many forms of energy. The element may be capable of being developed as a weapon to dampen the ability of the creature to feed on energy.
Spacecraft AAB Gama encounters a problem returning from the Moon. Communication is lost and the ship deviates from its course. Lisa realizes a sample of the new element is causing problems for the ship and it is quickly moved to an isolation chamber to protect the nuclear fuel powering the ship
On Earth the monster attacks a nuclear power station, draining all its energy. Its need for energy satisfied, the creature evolves into a new form, a massive egg like creature that can fly. With this new development it able to access other power sources faster and multiply the amount of damage it is doing
Dr Kato sees a pattern to the monsters movements. The creature is going from power supply to power supply, gradually becoming stronger. Kato expects the creature to attack the rocket center and hopes the inbound spacecraft from the Moon arrives before the facility is destroyed.
The ship lands as the monster arrives on its search for the nuclear material held at the center. Although everyone tries to flee the destruction Lisa becomes trapped in wreckage and a desperate rescue attempt begins.
Two of the ships crew decides to load a canister of space fuel into a truck and draw the monster away from the facility. Their plan works and a cat and mouse game develops as they try to stay in front of the charging creature.
Although they have managed to lead the creature far into the countryside and buy time for the rescue of Lisa, their plan ultimately fails when they lose control of the truck and it crashes. Fortunately the two crewmen are thrown to safety and ignored by the creature.
Reports at the base indicate the creature is headed back towards them. Lisa has have been freed and technicians have had time to mount the new element into bombs. These bombs are loaded onto waiting fighter aircraft and the force takes off and moves in for the attack.
Despite heavy losses the Air Force fighters press home the attack; eventually enough of the new element is dropped on the creature to cause a reaction. The monster is shrinking and finally becomes no larger than the spore they originally found.
Once neutralized it is decided the creature cant be destroyed on Earth and the final scene of the movie shows our intrepid crew flying into space to dump the alien spores in orbit around the sun
Chapman_glen@yahoo.com
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By what name was The X from Outer Space (1967) officially released in India in English?
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