Fukkatsu no hi (1980)

Director:

Kinji Fukasaku

Writers:

Kôji Takada (screenplay) &
Kinji Fukasaku (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

26 June 1980 (Japan)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

The entire world is a graveyard

Plot:

A military-engineered virus, released during a plane crash, kills the entire human population. The only survivors are scientists in Antarctica...

Plot Keywords:

Virus | Antarctica | University Of Maryland | End Of Civilization | Civilization

Awards:

2 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Masao Kusakari	...	Doctor Shûzô Yoshizumi
Tsunehiko Watase	...	Yasuo Tatsuno
Isao Natsuyagi	...	Commander Nakanishi (as Isao Natsuki)
Sonny Chiba	...	Doctor Yamauchi (as Shin'ici Chiba)
Kensaku Morita	...	Ryûji Sanazawa
Toshiyuki Nagashima	...	Akimasa Matsuo
Haruki Kadokawa	...	Team Member - Showa Station
Chû Takatsuki	...	Team Member - Showa Station
Takeshige Hatanaka	...	Team Member - Showa Station
Riki Gonoue	...	Team Member - Showa Station
Eiji Yuki	...	Team Member - Showa Station
George Kennedy	...	Admiral Conway
Bo Svenson	...	Major Carter
Stephanie Faulkner	...	Sarah Baker
Julie Khaner	...	Secretary - Palmer Station

Also Known As:

Day of Resurrection (USA)
The End (USA) (video title)
Virus (Japan: English title)

Runtime:

156 min | USA:108 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese | English | French | German

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:PG | Norway:16 | UK:PG | USA:PG | Argentina:Atp | West Germany:12 | UK:12 (DVD rating) (2004)

Filming Locations:

Alaska, USA

Company:

Haruki Kadokawa Films

Trivia:

Haruki Kadokawa was the heir to a major publishing empire. He entered the film business in the mid-1970s with some high profile features. This was to be his big breakthrough in the international market. He tried to insure its success by casting some U.S. stars and doing major international promotion (under the international title "Virus"). It became a major failure. Although it may have had some special showings in the United States, it did not receive a general release. It was sold directly to pay-tv in an edited 108 minute version.

Goofs:

Plot holes: The chamber where the ARS is located is reached by Yoshizumi and Carter simply blowing two doors open with plastique and climbing down an elevator shaft. A chamber containing a doomsday device probably contains more elaborate security features, such as blast doors.

Quotes:

Colonel Rankin: At the moment, we don't have a credible deterent in the United States arsenal.
Dr. Ed Meyer: At the moment, we are capable not only of reducing each other to rubble, but of reducing the rubble to rubble!

Movie Connections:

References Earthquake (1974)

Soundtrack:

You Are Love (Toujours Gai Mon Cher)

Only Full Length Version is Worth Watching

I saw the original one in cinema when it first came out in 1980 in Japan. Great adaptation of an original novel by Sakyo Komatsu. It was an epic of more than two hours, which shook my youthful soul with the power of love.

I was flabbergasted by how this epic was mutilated when I saw it again in video in USA. The one you can see in USA has no resemblance to the original version, where, I recall, much longer portion of the film was spent describing "the walk". Also all the episodes in Japan were omitted, so most of the Japanese characters in Antarctica made no sense. In a nutshell, the "American" version only talks about American people, so there is really only half the story left in the film. If you can get the original version, it is a very emotional film, 8/10. The "American" version is not worth anything, 4/10.