The Man Who Stole the Sun (1979) Taiyô wo nusunda otoko (original title)

Director:

Kazuhiko Hasegawa

Writers:

Leonard Schrader (screenplay) &
Kazuhiko Hasegawa (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

9 October 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Thriller

Plot:

A misfit high-school science teacher decides to build his own atomic bomb. He steals isotopes from a...

Plot Keywords:

Atomic Bomb | Japan | School Bus | Misfit | Hijacking

Awards:

8 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Bunta Sugawara	...	Inspector Yamashita
Kenji Sawada	...	Makoto Kido
Kimiko Ikegami	...	Zero Sawai
Kazuo Kitamura	...	Tanaka, the director of the National Police Agency
Shigeru Kôyama	...	Nakayama
Kei Satô	...	Dr. Ichikawa
Yûnosuke Itô	...	Bus Hijacker
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Eimei Esumi	...	Egawa
Hiroshi Gojo	...	Identikit Officer
Tatsuya Hamaguchi
Hajime Hoshi
Junichi Hosokawa
Akinobu Imamura
Yukiko Inoue
Yudai Ishiyama	...	Detective Ishikawa
Kazuhiro Iwamoto
Yûji Kamata
Rika Kayama	...	Student
Morio Kazama	...	Asai
Hôsei Komatsu	...	Loan Officer
Toshizô Kudô
Kiyoshi Kurosawa	...	Suspect on tv news
Kôjirô Kusanagi	...	Technician of Phone Company
Yasuyoshi Masuda
Ken Mizoguchi
Yutaka Mizutani	...	Police Officer
Midori Mori
Tatsuya Mori
Yôji Mori
Satoru Nabe
Masaharu Nagai
Toshiyuki Nishida	...	Loan Collector
Daisuke Odera
Takayuki Ohira
Tomokazu Sakamoto
Ryôichi Satô
Jôji Sawada
Saburô Shôji	...	Detective Mizushima
Nanako Takahashi
Isao Takanami
Chiaki Takayama	...	Apartment Manager
Eigo Taniguchi
Kyôko Togawa	...	Student
Masao Ueda
Michiyo Yamazoe	...	Student

Directed by
Kazuhiko Hasegawa

Writing credits
Leonard Schrader		(screenplay) (as Renâdo Shureidâ) &
Kazuhiko Hasegawa		(screenplay)
Leonard Schrader		(story) (as Renâdo Shureidâ)

Produced by
Kei Ijichi	....	producer
Mataichirô Yamamoto	....	producer

Original Music by
Takayuki Inoue

Cinematography by
Tatsuo Suzuki		(as Daruma Suzuki)

Film Editing by
Akira Suzuki

Production Design by
Yoshinaga Yoko'o

Set Decoration by
Tomoyuki Maruo
Kazunori Sawaji
Masumi Suzuki
Osamu Yamaguchi

Costume Design by
Masami Saito
Minoru Yamada

Production Management
Yuya Furuta	....	assistant unit manager
Kiyoshi Kurosawa	....	unit production manager
Yasuyuki Ohtani	....	unit production manager
Tsutomu Yamamoto	....	assistant unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Koji Enokido	....	assistant director
Takeo Moriyasu	....	second assistant director
Shinji Sômai	....	assistant director
Yoshiro Takahashi	....	second assistant director
Hironari Yano	....	second assistant director

Sound Department
Kenichi Benitani	....	sound recordist
Mineharu Kitamura	....	assistant sound
Toshio Nakano	....	assistant sound
Minoru Nobuoka	....	assistant sound
Saburo Takahashi	....	sound mixer

Stunts
Ryojiro Nishimoto	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Takashi Anpo	....	still photographer
Takehiko Fukae	....	assistant camera
Fumikazu Fukumoto	....	additional camera operator
Akihiro Itô	....	assistant camera
Seisaku Kimura	....	lighting technician
Kazuya Kobayashi	....	lighting technician
Hideo Kumagai	....	gaffer
Toyomichi Kurita	....	assistant camera
Tsunekazu Kurosawa	....	assistant camera
Kenichi Nagano	....	lighting technician
Yôhei Nagasaka	....	still photographer
Kiyoshi Nishiura	....	additional camera operator
Riyoji Shigeta	....	assistant camera
Makoto Watanabe	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
Akio Kawashima	....	assistant editor
Yoshio Kitazawa	....	assistant editor
Yoshiyuki Okuhara	....	negative cutter

Other crew
Haruko Imamura	....	script supervisor
Emiko Ninagawa	....	wigs supplier
Yasuaki Sakuraba	....	publicist
Kimi Yoneyama	....	wigs supplier

Production Companies

• Kitty Films
• Tristone Entertainment Inc.

Distributors

• Toho Company (1979) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Amuse Video (2001) (Japan) (DVD)
• Kitty Enterprises (1980) (USA) (subtitled)
• Toshiba Entertainment (2005) (Japan) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Den Film Effect  special effects
• Imagica  35 mm
• Japan Action Club  stunts
• Nikkatsu Studio  sound stages
• Yamada Wigs  wigs

Also Known As:

"Taiyô wo nusunda otoko" - Japan (original title)

Runtime:

147 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.96 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Kumamoto Castle, Kumamoto, Japan

Company:

Kitty Films

Trivia:

At one point when Kenji Sawada is fending off the nuclear plant workers, the sound effects are taken from the video game Supêsu Inbêdâ (1978) (VG) which was enjoying massive success in Japan at the time of the movie's release. The movie begins and ends with exactly the same sound: a ticking clock, and then an explosion.

Quotes:

Makoto Kido:When you have an atomic bomb, you can do anything you want. The funny part is ... I have no idea what I want. If you were me -- what would you want?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance (2009)

great film !!

Kazuhiko Hasegawa is a great film director.

Though I have been an enthusiastic fan of Kazuhiko Hasegawa's, in the beginning I've had no connection with him, and moreover, I am an ordinary office worker. One day I heard a sad news, "Kubrick is dead", which made me decide to establish Kazuhiko-Hasegawa's website. That's because I believe it is only Hasegawa that can make films like Kubrick's works. After a while, I got a connection with him through the cyberspace, and exchanged opinions each other with e-mails, which we called "e-sessions". One day I suddenly received his phone call. He just said to me, "I want to begin my project on your site"........ Thus I have built up the website to let people submit their scenarios for his new film.