Runtime: I saw the full 156 minute version
Directed by: Kinji Fukasaku
Starring: Bo Svenson, George Kennedy, Masao Kusakari, Chuck Connors, Olivia Hussey, & many others
From: Haruki Kadokawa Office
Note: What I saw last night was the full 156 minute version rather than the edited 108 (or shorter) minute cut that took out most of the Japanese scenes.
For years I have known of this motion picture; its plot and international cast fascinated me. The desire to check this out increased due to the unfortunate reality of the global pandemic; its long runtime and apparent downbeat plot meant that it was only last night when I was finally struck with the inspiration to give this (the most expensive Japanese movie ever at the time) a go.
Those used to more Hollywood productions of this ilk-whether or not it has an all-star cast-will probably be surprised at how bleak this was. For certain it is not as haunting or depressing as something like Come and See or Threads... then again this isn't great like those two are. It's still an unflinching look-done more than competently-at how most people on Earth would die if the Americans (of course) created an unstoppable virus which not only killed humans but also wildlife. Indeed, things would be pretty awful and judging by real life, their portrayal of politicians and people bickering w/ each other over how to handle this crisis... that is accurate. As the virus is dormant in cold weather, that is why the surviving members of humanity are in Antarctica. If MacReady had been around then things may have turned out alright but as he wasn't...
The last half hour or so, it did start to lose me with its contrivances and how miserable it became. That is a shame as before that it was an intriguing story which at least was unafraid to bring up some icky questions concerning this horrible scenario... such as how it'd be if there were 863 people left on Earth and only 8 of them are women. The film at least looks nice as it has many famous faces together: Bo Svenson, George Kennedy, Chuck Connors, Olivia Hussey, Glenn Ford, Robert Vaughn, Henry Silva, Edward James Olmos, and Sonny Chiba... & it's all directed by Kinji Fukasaku. Even with the criticism it was still a good movie to me overall; there are no regrets spending 2 ½ hours w/ this last night.
Thankfully COVID-19 has not been as deadly as this movie's virus (mm-88), although the real life terror has been draining on me; quite a few people I know have contracted it. Let's hope humanity never has to deal with a pandemic this lethal.
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