Attack Squadron! (1963)
"Taiheiyo no tsubasa" (original title)

Lt. Col. Senda resists the idea of sending Japanese fighter pilots on suicide missions. He believes that what is really necessary for Japan to regain momentum in the war is for the air ... See full summary »

Director:

Shûe Matsubayashi

Writers:

Shinobu Hashimoto, Shin'ichi Sekizawa,

Stars:

Toshirô Mifune, Yûzô Kayama, Takashi Shimura

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Toshirô Mifune	...	Lt. Colonel Senda
Yûzô Kayama	...	Captain Shiro Taki
Takashi Shimura	...	Admiral
Yôsuke Natsuki	...	Captain Nobuo Ataka
Makoto Satô	...	Teppei Yano
Yuriko Hoshi
Ryô Ikebe
Kiyoshi Atsumi
Kô Nishimura
Susumu Fujita	...	Yamato Commander Ito
Jun Tazaki	...	Commander
Akihiko Hirata	...	Senda's Aide
Yoshifumi Tajima	...	Sailor
Yoshio Kosugi	...	Destroyer Captain
Mie Hama

Storyline

Lt. Col. Senda resists the idea of sending Japanese fighter pilots on suicide missions. He believes that what is really necessary for Japan to regain momentum in the war is for the air force to gather its most brilliant pilots into an elite squadron and use the unit to pinpoint attacks on the Americans. Disrespected by the kamikaze pilots who think the "non-suicidal" pilots are afraid, the unit redeems itself by stunning victories. But success leads the military leaders to expect too much of the unit, and new orders portend disaster.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | War

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

3 January 1963 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Kamikaze

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toho Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Edited into Rengô kantai shirei chôkan: Yamamoto Isoroku (1968)

User Reviews

Japanese point of view

As the plot line says, it's not a movie about kamikaze pilots, but only about fighting pilots during the last months of the war against the US army. I should say an ordinary war movie, but from the Japanese side. The characters are well described, as an American movie should have made too. Toshiro Mifune plays hare a commanding officer who fights against the idea to send pilots to death as kamikaze . The air battle sequences are effective for the period, but there is nothing special to say about this movie. I could have expected more powerful, poignant sequences as we saw in 2007 in Clint Eastwood's LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA.

Japanese movie industry is well known for making very depressing films, a reflection of the pain and tragedies Japan has lived since 1945.

But it's a very hard to find movie. Worth watching although.