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The Man Who Stole the Sun (1979)

Taiyô wo nusunda otoko (original title)
| Action, Crime, Thriller | 9 October 1980 (USA)
The Man Who Stole the Sun Poster
A high school science teacher builds an atomic bomb and uses it to extort the nation, but cannot decide what he wants. Meanwhile, a determined cop is catching up to him, as is radiation poisoning.

Director:

Kazuhiko Hasegawa

Writers:

Leonard Schrader (screenplay) (as Renâdo Shureidâ), Kazuhiko Hasegawa (screenplay) | 1 more credit »

Stars:

Bunta Sugawara, Kenji Sawada, Kimiko Ikegami | See full cast & crew »
Reviews
8 wins & 7 nominations. See more awards »

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Edit

Cast

Credited cast:
Bunta Sugawara Bunta Sugawara ... Inspector Yamashita
Kenji Sawada Kenji Sawada ... Makoto Kido
Kimiko Ikegami ... Zero Sawai
Kazuo Kitamura Kazuo Kitamura ... Tanaka, the director of the National Police Agency
Shigeru Kôyama Shigeru Kôyama ... Nakayama
Kei Satô Kei Satô ... Dr. Ichikawa
Yûnosuke Itô Yûnosuke Itô ... Bus Hijacker
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Eimei Esumi Eimei Esumi ... Egawa
Hiroshi Gojô Hiroshi Gojô ... Identikit Officer
Tatsuya Hamaguchi Tatsuya Hamaguchi
Hajime Hoshi Hajime Hoshi
Junichi Hosokawa Junichi Hosokawa
Akinobu Imamura Akinobu Imamura
Yukiko Inoue Yukiko Inoue
Yûdai Ishiyama Yûdai Ishiyama ... Detective Ishikawa
See full cast »
Edit

Storyline

A misfit high-school science teacher decides to build his own atomic bomb. He steals isotopes from a nuclear reactor and manages to create two warheads, but at the same time is present at a botched school-bus hijacking and is publicly coronated as a hero. Nevertheless, he uses the bombs to extort the police, first by demanding that baseball games be shown without commercial interruptions and then by having the Rolling Stones play in Japan despite their drug bust. Soon it's a race to see what wins first: the determined cop who's after him, the bomb he's carrying, or a burgeoning case of radiation poisoning... Written by Serdar Yegulalp

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

teacher | japan | atomic bomb | police | misfit | See All (36) »

Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

Certificate:

See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

Add content advisory for parents »
Edit

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

9 October 1980 (USA) See more »

Also Known As:

The Man Who Stole the Sun See more »

Filming Locations:

Kumamoto Castle, Kumamoto, Japan See more »

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kitty Films,Tristone Entertainment Inc. See more »
Show more on IMDbPro »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.96 : 1
See full technical specs »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

At one point when Kenji Sawada is fending off the nuclear plant workers, the sound effects are taken from the video game Space Invaders (1978) 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. See more »

Quotes

[Writing a long, complex formula]
Makoto Kido: ...and thus, acidic plutonium becomes plutonium metal. Any questions?
Student: Yeah... so, making atomic bombs is going to be included on the exam?
Makoto Kido: ...the exam?
Other Student: Well, if it isn't, could we move on to something else, please? We're the only class still on this!
See more »

Connections

Referenced in Evangerion shin gekijôban: Ha (2009) See more »

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User Reviews

 
This is a good thriller!!
22 April 2000 | by Nam – See all my reviews

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.
3 of 13 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you? | Report this
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