Nihon chinbotsu (2006)

Japan will sink down to the deep sea. The governments only hope is evacuate all Japanese to some other countries.

Director:

Shinji Higuchi

Writers:

Sakyo Komatsu (novel) (as Sakyô Komatsu), Masato Kato (screenplay)

Stars:

Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Ko Shibasaki, Etsushi Toyokawa

1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Tsuyoshi Kusanagi	...	Toshio Onodera
Ko Shibasaki	...	Reiko Abe (as Kô Shibasaki)
Etsushi Toyokawa	...	Yusuke Tadokoro
Mao Daichi	...	Saori Takamori
Mitsuhiro Oikawa	...	Shinji Yuki
Mayuko Fukuda	...	Misaki Kuraki
Hideko Yoshida	...	Tamae Tanokura
Akira Emoto	...	Prof. Fukuhara
Jun Kunimura	...	Kyosuke Nozaki
Kôji Ishizaka	...	Prime Minister Yamamoto
Ken'ichi Endô	...	Shin-ichirou Nakata
Takeshi Katô	...	Prof.Yamashiro
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hideaki Anno	...	Yamashiro's Son in law
Moyoco Anno	...	Yamashiro's Daughter
Harutoshi Fukui

Storyline

In the aftermath of a major earthquake under Suraga Bay, Misaki (a young girl) and Toshiro (a pilot of a deep sea submarine) are rescued from a ruined city street just as leaking gasoline ignites. Reiko Abe arrives just in time, lowered from a helicopter. Scientists predict that Japan will sink within 40 years, due to subduction of a tectonic plate to the west. However, Dr. Tadokoro, who leads an oceanic scientific team that includes Toshiro, calculates that this will happen far sooner, in only 338.54 days. He presents his findings to Prime Minister Yamamoto who decides to create a new department for impending disaster relief assigning Saoro Takamori to cover the new duties, since of all his ministers she will take it seriously but also bring "heart" to the process. As further earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions devastate Japan, the government pleads with other countries to take refugees. Yamamoto flies to China to negotiate relocations there, but his plane is destroyed by a...

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Plot Keywords:

earthquake | japan | tsunami | disaster | disaster film | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

15 July 2006 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Doomsday: The Sinking of Japan

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

JPY 598,694,766 (Japan), 16 July 2006, Limited Release

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dentsu, J Dream, Mainichi Broadcasting System (MBS)

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Final acting role of Tetsurô Tamba.

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Connections

Remake of Tidal Wave (1973)

User Reviews

A Poor Remake

Nihon Chinbotsu is a science fiction story set in the near future. In this story, geologists discover that all of Japan is being sucked under the ocean by plate tectonics. It covers the ongoing disaster from the perspective of several people directly affected by the events, from ordinary people to scientists, rescue workers, and political leaders.

This movie is a remake of a 1973 film of the same title and, in many ways, is a major rewrite. While an excellent premise based loosely upon actual plate tectonics, the elements of social shock which were central to the original film are totally absent from this try, replacing the original message-laden content with Godzilla-style entertainment.

If there's any single impression one can get from a side-by-side comparison of the two films, it's just how far special effects have come over the last 30-odd years. Nonetheless, special effects alone cannot make a great film. I gave this a five out of ten rating.