Catastrofe

Since this was a full-scale production, Toho required the use of all of their own visual effects soundstages. However, during filming of a special effects scene, a pyrotechnical accident caused a fire that burned down part of the main visual effects soundstage, an incident that was very widely reported in Japan at the time. The fire destroyed a number of costumes and props from earlier Toho tokusatsu classics that were kept in storage at the time, including the original Mogera costume from I misteriani (1957).

Closing title card reads: The story you have just seen was a work of fiction. The events it portrayed, however, may take place in our world. It's up to you to take action to ensure the these events do not come to pass...

There are three versions of Nosutoradamusu no daiyogen that are known to exist:

• The original Japanese release, "Nosutoradamusu no daiyogen" (literal translation: "Great Prophecies of Nostradamus", which ran at about 114 minutes. After the film was banned in Japan, this version was only shown once on Japanese television in the early 1980's and has since been unavailable except by obtaining copies via the grey market.
• The second version, titled "Catastrophe 1999: Prophecies of Nostradamus" was an English-dubbed variant of "Nosutoradamusu no daiyogen", but was shorn of some 25 minutes of footage. The excised footage consisted of mainly dialogue scenes, but the original prologue and ending were trimmed greatly or excised altogether. The only known release of this variant is a long out-of-print Danish video release, which runs at about 90 minutes (PAL speed).
• The third, and possibly most familiar variant is titled "The Last Days of Planet Earth". This version was for American television showings and was prepared by United Productions of America. For this particular release, the film was cut even further. It actually added an annoying narrator commenting on the events, replacing the original accompanying female voice reading from Nostradamus' predictions. It is this version that has been circulating on video and TV in the United States. Running time: 88 minutes (without commercials)

Edited into Il ritorno di Godzilla (1984)