Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Ocean (2005)

A drama set during World War II where a submarine carrying a secret weapon attempts to stop a planned third atomic bombing of Japan. Based on Harutoshi Fukui's novel Shuusen no Lorelei.

Directors:

Shinji Higuchi, Cellin Gluck

Writers:

Harutoshi Fukui (novel), Satoshi Suzuki (screenplay)

Stars:

Kôji Yakusho, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Toshirô Yanagiba

Cast

Credited cast:
Kôji Yakusho	...	Masami Shin'ichi
Satoshi Tsumabuki	...	Yukito Origasa
Toshirô Yanagiba	...	Kizaki Toshiro
Yû Kashii	...	Paula Atsuko Ebner
Shin'ichi Tsutsumi	...	Asakura Ryokitsu
Ken Ishiguro	...	Narumi Takasu
Colter Allison	...	Lt. Eric Minott
David Austin	...	Lt. Dodet
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nicholas Dombrovskis	...	German Scientist
Christopher Ryan Doyle	...	Captain's Talker
Norman England	...	Sonar Operator #1
Caroline Paris Gluck	...	Girl on Beach
Isao Hashizume	...	Sadamoto Nishimiya
Masatô Ibu	...	Eitaro Narazaki
Takaya Kamikawa	...	Man

Storyline

A drama set during World War II where a submarine carrying a secret weapon attempts to stop a planned third atomic bombing of Japan. Based on Harutoshi Fukui's novel Shuusen no Lorelei.

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Plot Keywords:

weapon | japan | submarine | secret weapon | supernatural power | 

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller | War

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The design of the I-507 submarine is based upon a real one : the french submarine 'Surcouf', launched in 1929, was the biggest submarine ever launched at the time.

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Soundtracks

Wiegenlied (Cradle Song)
Composed by Bernhard Flies
Lyrics by Friedrich Wilhelm Gotter
Performed by Hayley Westenra

User Reviews

Watch it with the right expectations

If you, like me, watch this hoping to see a Japanese "Das Boot" one of three things will happen:

1. You fail to realise that this is not a Japanese "Das Boot". You won't like the film and you will leave a 1-star rating.

2. You do realise that this is not a Japanese "Das Boot", but don't like what it in fact is. Ratings will range from "I didn't like this, and that's all that counts" 1-star ratings to good ratings of "while I didn't like this, I can appreciate the movie for {how it was made/story line/whatever}".

3. You do realise that this is not a war movie but in fact a science fiction drama in a world war II submarine setting, and that is something that you at least don't immediately dislike just because of that.

Once I came to terms with this being a science fiction-movie I actually started to enjoy it. I like the fictional story line as well as the science fiction parts of the movie and the movie feels very good made. If I watch it again starting with the right expectations it's even possible that the rating will go up another star.

I think that where the movie falls short when compared to other movies en large is just the mix of genre and setting. It's like the Caprica TV-series, said to be a Sci-Fi Dallas. While not a bad series in itself people who like Dallas doesn't necessarily like Sci-Fi and vice versa, and therefore the series gets a bad average rating. I can therefore understand the low average grade this movie gets despite that this movie actually is quite good.

Details

Official Sites:

Fuji TV [Japan]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese English

Release Date:

5 March 2005 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Lorelei I-507 - Deutsche Wunderwaffe im Pazifik

Filming Locations:

Toho Studios, Tokyo, Japan

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$19,806,585

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cine Bazar, Fuji Television Network, Kansai Telecasting (KTV)

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1