Nippon chinbotsu (1973)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Directors:

Shirô Moritani
Andrew Meyer

Writers:

Shinobu Hashimoto (writer)
Sakyo Komatsu (novel)

Release Date:

May 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller | Sci-Fi | Drama

Tagline:

Earthquakes shattered the nation. Cities become raging firestorms. But the worst is yet to come

Plot:

Racked by earthquakes and volcanos, Japan is slowly sinking into the sea. A race against time and tide...

Plot Keywords:

Japan | Earthquake | Volcano | Japanese | Spectacle

Cast

Lorne Greene	...	Ambassador Warren Richards
Keiju Kobayashi	...	Dr. Tadokoro (D-1 Project Leader)
Rhonda Leigh Hopkins	...	Fran
Hiroshi Fujioka	...	Onodera Toshio (Submarine Wadatsumi Pilot)
Tetsuro Tamba	...	Prime Minister Yamamoto
Ayumi Ishida	...	Abe Reiko
Shogo Shimada	...	Watari (Political Fixer)
John Fujioka	...	Narita
Andrew Hughes	...	Australian Prime Minister
Nobuo Nakamura	...	Japanese Ambassador to Australia
Haruo Nakajima	...	Prime Minister's Chauffeur
Takeshi Yamamoto
Joe Dante	...	(US version)
Susan Sennett	...	(US version)
Hideaki Nitani	...	Dr.Nakata (Cognitive Science D-2 Project Leader)

Also Known As:

Japan Sinks
Submersion of Japan
Tidal Wave (USA)

Runtime:

Japan:143 min | USA:82 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG

Company:

Toho Company

Movie Connections:

Remade as Nihon chinbotsu (2006)

A unique disaster flick that gathers support by story, not SFX

This is the original film adaptation to the popular science fiction novel by Komatsu Sakyo, Nihon Chinbotsu. The scale of the disaster and the uniqueness of the implications has never before been matched by any film (except for probably the remake). Here's why: Nihon Chinbotsu is very simply about Japan Sinking in to the ocean. With great eruptions of volcanos and tremendous earthquakes, the homeland of the Japanese will completely disappear along with their factories, landscapes, cherry blossoms, cultural artifacts, and the homes and lives of millions. And none of these things can be rebuilt. The Japanese do not rise out of the ashes with a will to reconstruct their nation, the Japanese do not find hope in the rubble, there is nothing. The homeland is lost forever and the Japanese will have to live amongst people they have no ties with, in a culture foreign and a language unknown, amongst hatred with the label a refugee forever.

You can clearly see that this movie is not the traditional disaster flick. If you just want to see exciting heroics and special effects, this movie will not deliver. It's an old film and from 21st century standards, the visible strings and cheesy explosions cannot satisfy. But the movie makes up for it in substance. The story, the characters, the despair, is all believable. The questions raised like, are the Japanese worth saving once they've lost all their economic power? And because the story takes place in Japan, of course the people also begin to consider dying with their homes.

It's definitely a must watch especially if you've seen the recent remake or don't have time to read the book. If you're Japanese, take the extra moment to think about what you would do in this situation and this movie will leave a lasting impression on your mind.