Reviews & Ratings for
The Man Who Stole the Sun More at IMDbPro »Taiyô wo nusunda otoko (original title)

11 out of 15 people found the following review useful:
Like the bubble gum Kido seems to blow continuously, the story is finally stretched beyond its natural limits, leaving it with only one thing left to do: burst., 13 September 2006

Author: angelosnow from Australia

The Man Who Stole The Sun "Taiyo o nusunda otoko" (1979) The Man Who Stole the Sun is a title which invokes the myth of Prometheus, who stole fire from the Gods to give to man and was duly punished for it. The film revolves around a science teacher, Makato Kido (Kenji Sawada) who steals the secrets of the atom, constructing his own atomic bomb from stolen plutonium and holding Tokyo to ransom.

Kido, the long haired, bubble gum chewing teacher who smokes too much and sleeps in class, goes by the terrorist codename "Nine". A symbolic reference to the eight nations who possess nuclear weapons (America, Soviet Union, England, France, China, India, Israel, South Africa), thus making him, potential nuclear threat number nine. Kido's flawed portrayal is as a man who desires the knowledge and power of an atomic bomb, yet upon attaining it, he is at a loss on what do with it. Subsequently, he calls up the vacuous, pretty radio hostess "Zero" (Kimiko Ikegami) and asks what others would demand if they had a nuclear bomb. The demand: that Rolling Stones would perform in Tokyo.

The Rolling Stones is just one reference which contextually marks this late 1970s film. The other themes of the film: the Vietnam and Cold War, nuclear proliferation and the power of nations over the individual, reflects a social context where the autonomy of the individual was second to government agendas. By giving nuclear power to Kido, the film espouses a very liberal agenda of an individual (or public opinion) being able to assert his will on the government.

Yet, as with many Japanese films, the fascination of the bomb – its raw destructive potential as well as its slow decaying effects – is a constant reminder of what the dangers of such power, placed in the wrong hands, can do. But who can blame them, being the only nation to experience the devastating effects of the atomic bomb? (Apart from South Australia of course, but according to the government, Aborigines don't count). "Prolonged exposure to radiation leads to hair loss, tissue decay and eventual death" Zero tells us. The death of Kido's cat through plutonium poisoning, hair falling out, bleeding gums, nausea, vomiting and finally culminating in Zero's ironic death as an indirect result of the bomb are constant reminders of this.

Cinematically, Tokyo is captured beautifully through filters, portrayed as an almost surreal, blue urban landscape which infests the very streets, office hallways and the panoramic locations. The scenes in which Kido steals the plutonium is one of the highlights, reminiscent of the stills sequence of Chris Marker's La Jetée. Iran and South Korea could even take a few pointers from Kido's plutonium enrichment techniques – heating by home stove-oven.

However, the film falls flat in the last half hour. The director had three chances to resolve the ending, but he forgoes all three. As a result, the film seems to protract itself needlessly. The last few minutes turns almost into a mockery of what the director had worked to build in the first one and a half hours, degenerating into a clichéd Hong Kong-esquire action/comedy car-chase and final violent showdown. It also shatters the audience's presumptions about Kido's character, as he desperately attempts to hold onto the bomb which he has no real use for.

The film finally ends the only way it could be ended at this point – with Kido strolling down the street, atom bomb at his side. Like the bubble gum Kido seems to blow continuously, the atomic bomb (and the story) is finally stretched beyond its natural limits, leaving it with only one thing left to do: burst.

2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Fun, Overblown Nuclear Thriller, 13 January 2006

Author: lovegnu from Japan

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Look out for this hilariously overblown, big-budget Japanese film from the 70s, in which a trendy young high-school science teacher somehow makes a nuclear bomb in his Tokyo studio apartment, in order to hold the world to ransom. The bubble-gum blowing anti-hero is played by then pop-star Julie (a guy despite the girl's name) who looks more like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever than any school-teachers I remember. The film, (co-written by "Taxi-Driver" writer Paul Schrader's brother) plays on the public's fear of nuclear weapons, but whether or not you're scared depends on how far you're willing to suspend your disbelief. After some early attempts at political commentary, it turns into a full-blown action film, with endless jaw-dropping stunts. Julie single-handedly hijacks a power station to steal plutonium for the bomb, and the cop in hot pursuit throughout the movie (a brilliant Bunta Sugawara)is as tenacious and indestructible as a Terminator as he dodges explosions and jumps from helicopters. Although overlong at 2 and a half hours, this film is constantly mad, unpredictable and unintentionally amusing. Animal lovers beware- Julie does some rather nasty things to his cat in the name of science.

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Flawed yet fascinating, 8 April 2007

Author: rjobrien_1943 from United Kingdom

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I watched the Hong Kong DVD release of this film - still available, I believe - which offers reasonable quality, though the Japanese characters have been given Chinese names and the English subtitles are sometimes poor. I thought the first half of the film was intriguing, outlandish, imaginative and weirdly funny. The introduction of a rather irritating DJ character added little to the movie, other than an obligatory romantic interest for the anti-hero. As other reviewers have pointed out, the film goes on too long, offering a succession of action set-pieces that seem at odds with earlier scenes. The main character's motivations remain a mystery and the downbeat ending falls a little flat, given the subject matter. For all these faults, I'd give it another look, but what could have been a great movie slipped away somehow.

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
A counterculture movie with a preposterous plot..., 21 February 2006

Author: jmaruyama from Honolulu, HI

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Hasegawa Kazuhiko's "Taiyo O Nusunda Otoko" (AKA The Man Who Stole The Sun) is an odd film which seems a bit out-of-place as a late 1970's movie. Its counterculture, anti-authority/anti-establishment themes which may have been in good company with early 70's movies like "Serpico","Easy Rider" and "The Deer Hunter" seems somewhat late in coming for a film that was released in 1979. Sawada Kenji has made a career of playing edgy, hippie-like characters who are idealistic to a fault and who end up dying for a cause. His youthful rebel characters are almost as indelible as Matsuda Yusaku's similar characters in the movies. There are a lot of things that make this movie a bit hard to swallow in the credibility department. Can one seriously believe for one minute that Sawada's character Kido Masato, a high school Physics teacher, has the necessary skills and abilities to infiltrate a Japanese Nuclear plant, steal nuclear grade Plutonium, fashion a crude "dirty bomb" and escape capture numerous times from the Police? I also found the ending almost too ridiculous for words. How can Kido survive a major car crash and then a fall from the top of tall building? Sagawara Bunta's dedicated police inspector Yamashita is your atypical police movie standard but Sagawara's usual tough guy intensity is nice to see. I really wanted to see him capture Kido but then again the tone of the movie screamed out that the "villain" would win. I didn't really know what director Hasegawa was trying to get at. Are we supposed to support Sawada's character in his quest to blowup Tokyo? We weren't really given any reasons for his actions. My guess is that he just wanted to "stick it to the man" but this really isn't made very clear. Quite an odd and disturbing movie especially given what's happening in the world now.

2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Somewhat dated film about a teacher who builds an atomic bomb in his apartment will leave you feeling uneasy and nervous, 26 August 2006

Author: dbborroughs from Glen Cove, New York

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Leonard Schrader wrote this story of a high school science teacher who builds his own atomic bomb that has become legendary in some circles as a "lost" classic.

The plot has a high school teacher kidnapped with his class. In the aftermath he presses forward with his desire to build an atomic bomb. Once he's done he uses the bomb to get what he wants, first he demands that baseball games are televised to their conclusion (Which never happened). Later, as the cops struggle to find the teacher, he demands that the Rolling Stones be allowed to play Japan (their drug problems prevented that).

As a lost classic, I think its time has passed, which is not to say that the film isn't worth seeing. This is a good little film. Actually as a terrifying look at something the world maybe staring in the face right now. Its a sobering little film. The idea that someone could build a bomb in their kitchen is frightening. Of course the result of doing it will probably turn deadly for the builder, something you see here (and which was left out of the similar and clearly inferior Manhattan Project).

There are two things that are wrong with the movie. The first thing is its over length. The film runs nearly two and a half hours and to be honest its too much. The second thing is that the film is very much of its time. This is best explained by the demands that teacher makes. The demands are the sort of thing that will cause people to look side ways at the plotting. While I understand the point is to make the demands trivial, they're too much in a time warp. The problems are best described as "movie conventions from the late 70's" which manage to date the film (I guessed the year of release just by looking at how the film was made) even though its unnerving when you really think about it.

Flaws aside this is a movie to try and find (good luck since its damn near impossible to get a hold of). Its a disturbing little movie that will leave you uneasy.

0 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Good start, weak middle, poor end, 10 July 2007

Author: Banzaemon from Japan

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

The man who stole the sun starts well. Almost like a Japanese 'Taxi Driver' with a high school teacher making an atom bomb in his house. Why does he do it? No idea. Its never explained. The film suffers from personality crisis and shifts constantly. Is the hero a nice guy? Seems to be, everything we know about him says yes. oh wait...hes just killed a pool full of kids. He also seems to hero-worship a police detective (who is the best character in the film) but ends up killing him in a grotesque way, again for no discernible reason. But most seriously, this film is long. Way too long. It stand at 2 hours and 30 minutes...Id take 45 minutes out of it. lose some of the many shots of the hero wandering around doing nothing, or better still cut out the entire pointless love story with the irritating radio DJ. I guess the reason for being overly critical here is that it starts so well. I expected a lot more...

2 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Entirely nihilistic filmgoing experience, 11 February 2006
Author: PiranianRose from USA

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

After being held hostage by a dissatisfied citizen, a high school teacher--who is a hopeless bum with no mission in life whatsoever--follows a similar path to express his dissatisfaction: by building an atomic bomb in his apartment. In the end he blows everything up.

What we have here is a totally nihilistic filmgoing experience. The message seems to be that society has fostered dissatisfied citizens who sense no purpose in life. In fact their only sense of achievement can be felt through destruction. Some fingers are pointed to Mr. Big Brother aka the conservative government, which has oppressed the wants of some people, for example by keeping the Rolling Stones out of the country because the band symbolized drugs.

I think (I hope) anyone can see that the main character here is a nut, albeit a highly dangerous one since he could blow up Tokyo with a little ball. The point is that once the sense of purpose in life is lost, all hell breaks loose.

4 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
great film !!, 3 April 2001

Author: nobuyuki furukawa (bear@tcn.zaq.ne.jp) from Osaka, Japan

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.

1 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
This is a good thriller!!, 22 April 2000

Author: Nam (philiplui@hotmail.com) from Hong Kong

Very well make... there are car chasing, gun shooting and even more... after watching this movie you may know how to make an atomic bomb!! Try to pick up this film in Video or Vcd.

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