WWII Japanese movies

[Zen Blade]

Hi guys...

as most of you know, here in the US there have been a number of WWII movies... some great, some just funny as hell.

The Longest Day is one of my favs...

BUT, there are also some told from other points of view...

i.e. Das Boot.

The German film.

I was wondering, aside from some of the lamer, one-sided US movies, have there been any good Japanese films made about WWII.

And I mean good thematically, and how it was made. Not just some sort of propaganda or make believe thing.

-Zen Blade

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Zen Blade Asai
Red Devil
Last of the RSG
Clan Tenki Council-Unity

[Dark Phoenix]

Well there is a new Japanese movie that is coming out or is out that says that Japan freed countries from Imperial rule or something similar. I wonder if thois wat they were doing when they decided to bomb Australia.

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DoragonPhoenix of the Clan Doragon

[Kurando]

I'd highly recommend is Kon Ichikawa's horrifying 1959 Anti-War film "Nobi" (http://us.imdb.com/Title?0053121) (a.k.a. "Fires On The Plain" in it's English release)

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/6302844282.01.MZZZZZZZ.gif

I saw it at an international film festival about 16 years ago, and it haunts me to this day.

An interesting footnote about Nobi:
When I saw it I was accompanied by a Japanese friend and he told me he could barely understand the dialogue. He explained that it was performed in "old style" Japanese (maybe similar to old-school Shakespeareian parlance compared to modern English), most interesting...

[Kurando]

You know, as far as American stuff goes, one of the best WW2 things I've ever seen, (done from the Japanese perspective no less), is the Twlight Zone episode "A Quality of Mercy" (featuring a young Leonard Nimoy).

Rod Serling himself was a former US Paratrooper and WW2 Veteran (Pfc Theater) + reportedly he had a very hard time over there and his experiences in the War influnced his work to a very great degree, and basically ended up dominating his whole life. "A Quality of Mercy" was Serling at his very best.

[Takeda Shingen]

Well Zen_Blade i have seen most of the Japanese War films have some on video so here's some that i think are pretty good.
The first one is Retreat from Kiska this film deals with the Japanese Navy trying to rescue the soldiers from Kiska which does it very well.The Japanese were able to take off the entire garrison of 5,183 officer's and men plus the remains of 115 of the garrision.So on July 29th 1943 a squadron of 11 ships left Kiska for their home port of Paramushiro,all that was left on the island when the American's landed a few weeks later were 2-dogs.This movie was the best of the WWII War movies because it told a good and true story.The other 2 War films are called The Grand Fleet(also know as the Imperial Navy) and the Purple Squadron(also known as Kamikaze).The Grand Fleet tells the story of the Imperial Japanese Navy from the attack on Pearl Harbor to the sinking of the Mighty Super Battleship Yamato.This film on a whole is'nt that bad in telling the story but it's hard to argue against it.And the Purple Squadron which is the story of a group of various elite and high quality pilots from around the Pacific,whom the Japanese command decide to bring them together and form an elite squadron.This one i can't say how much of it is true but it still makes a good story.

Michael

[Anssi Hakkinen]

Nobi is based on a book by the same name, by Ôka Shohei (or something to that effect). I hear it's a great read as well.

[BlackWatch McKenna]

The Harp of Burma.

I dont even think its in English - i watched it in my Japanese History class long ago. It takes place during the war and revolves around one of the soldiers who decides to become a monk and goes off with his harp.

I am sure it was philisophical.

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// Black
// "Did we win?"

[Zen Blade]

Thanks guys...
Something to keep in mind next time I go to Blockbuster.

-Zen Blade

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Zen Blade Asai
Red Devil
Last of the RSG
Clan Tenki Council-Unity

[Anjin-san]

How about 1970's Tora! Tora! Tora!. It was a American and Japanese movie. It's VERY good.

[Takeda Shingen]

Yes Tora-Tora-Tora is a very good film if i want to see a movie about the events leading up to and including the Attack on Pearl Harbor i'll see this one.Although i will go see the new Pearl Harbor movie even though i know it's a love story first and foremost.

Michael

[Dwimmerlaik]

........and a very bad one at that I hear...

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To be happy it is necessary not to be too intelligent
- Flaubert-

http://cgi.tripod.com/smilecwm/cgi-bin/s/ff4summon/indra.gif

[Shiro]

Very, very, true. I've seen it.

[Ratta Yamamoto]

I've seen Pearl Habor as well (3 times http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/biggrin.gif). I thought that it was a very good film (apart from some cheesy romantic scenes, but the girls love those parts, especially my girlfriend http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif). All the girls in the cinema where crying http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/biggrin.gif. I think the critics are being too mean about it. I personally really enjoyed the film.

(Daimyo of Ratta Clan) www.rattaclan.homestead.com (http://www.rattaclan.homestead.com)

[This message has been edited by Ratta Yamamoto (edited 06-18-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Ratta Yamamoto (edited 06-18-2001).]

[evilc]

ok i might go see it then

[Honorable Chihuahua]

I would definitely recommend TORA-TORA-TORA for anyone interested in Pearl Harbor.

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You are no match for My Chihuahua Tactics!!!!!

[Hawkeye]

[Dark Phoenix]

The movie that you mentioned came out here in Japan not too long ago, about a couple months ago. There were some angry people here over one particular scene in which a native, supposedly from Indonesia or around there, bowed down and kissed the feet of a 'liberating' Japanese soldier. Revisionist history at its best! I cannot recall offhand whether the offending part had been deleted or not.

Japan, a country of extremes.

[Brown Wolf]

Most countries over exagerate on their history.

Japan is probable one of the worst to do so.

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I am soooo depressed.......Microsoft may take over the internet.........nobody will be able to afford to go online, the web has died.

[Takeda Shingen]

Well i went this past weekend to see Pearl Harbor and i did'nt like it that much.Oh the CGI work was great but even so they still got things wrong.For example when you saw the BB Oklahoma capsize they show it to roll all the way over so you couls see all her propeller shafts.I did'nt think much of the love story and some actors like Alec Baldwin as Dolittle and the guy who played Adm Kimmel,thought they did a bad job.Besides the CGI i thought the Japanese actors did a very good job although a very short time on screen.Mako who play Adm Yamamoto did a good job even though the real Adm was missing 2 fingers on his left hand,which he lost at the Battle of Tsushima 1905.If i want to see the attack on Pearl Harbor i'll pop in the Tora! Tora! Tora! video then i'll be happy.

Michael

[Ratta Yamamoto]

This Tora! Tora! Tora! film, is it an American or Japanese film? Is it old? I really want to see it but never heard of it in England.

Ratta Yamamoto
(Daimyo of Ratta Clan) www.rattaclan.homestead.com (http://www.rattaclan.homestead.com)

[Koga No Goshi]

Tora Tora Tora! is supposedly both Japanese and American in make, though I haven't seen it yet.



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Goshi of Koga
Now we disappear,
Well, what must we think of it?
From the sky we came.
Now we may go back again.
That's at least one point of view.
-Hojo Ujimasa's seppekku poem.

[FwSeal]

Tora Tora Tora was indeed an American-Japanese production.
One somewhat lesser known fact is that, at first, Akira Kurosawa was signed on to direct the Japanese side of things. He was released from the production early on, for various reasons. His replacements didn't do a bad job, as the Japanese scenes are generally (and correctly, I think) held to be superior to those shot by the Americans. In fact, to me, the American sequences look a bit behind the times (even for the time, that is, 1970) - like something from a late '50s movie.

[Honorable Chihuahua]

I agree with FwSeal that the Japanese portions of the film look much better.

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You are no match for My Chihuahua Tactics!!!!!

[Warmaker]

While watching the mediocre Pearl Harbor I compared it to Tora! Tora! Tora!(I'll go with TTT for short) which I holded as so far the best of the Pearl Harbor type movies.

I noticed they brought the same actor who played Adm. Nagumo in TTT to have a role in PH only this time as Adm. Yamamoto. At least in PH they didn't make the Japanese look like idiots, unlike in some WWII movies, esp. war-era movies. This was in late '41 so the Japanese had lots of good men with combat experience, pilots, and the Rei-sen.

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There's no such thing as overkill, just ensured victory!