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Rating: **
Genre: Anime War/Submarine Combat with Politics thrown in MPAA: NR (I think it should be PG) English Language Version 1998 Review #: 3 Cast: Captain Kaieda...B.H. O'Neill Captain Fukamachi...Maurizio Peppicelli Captain Ryan...Robert L. Gorman Prime Minister Takegami/Admiral Steiger...Raul Bayone Rest are Unknown | |
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Review:
When the US Department of Foreign Affairs decides to build a the first in a new class of nuclear submarines with the japanese government, and without the knowledge of the Department of Defense, the most powerful warship in history has to be manned by Japanese citizens. There are two runners-up for the job of sub captain: Kaieda and Fukamachi. The Powers that Be chose Kaieda, who's psychological profile is that of a calm, calculating, by-the-book sort of person, whereas Fukamachi is known to be more informal, and something of a risktaker. Kaieda christens the new nuclear sub the 'Seabat', because submarines are like bats who are blind and feel around using sound waves. His mission is to rendevous with, and join up with, the American 7th Pacific fleet. |
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| Kaieda, however, has different plans for the Seabat. As soon as he's in open water, Kaieda declares his submarine an independant country, named Yamato. His plan is to prove the Yamato an unstoppable force by crippling the American Pacific fleet on his way back to Tokyo, where he'll sign a peace treaty with Japan. Getting back to Tokyo Bay isn't going to be a cakewalk, even for the most advanced war machine ever invented. This movie proves to be genuinely exciting while maintaining a very complex plot, with tons and tons of politics. You see, if Kaieda succeeds, and cripples the United States Navy, then it will inspire rebels and terrorists to attempt it, and if Japan signs the treaty, the international community will accuse them of returning to militarism. |
| In my opinion, this movie is better than the last sub movie I saw, 'Crimson Tide'. I still feel that it's plot had several problems. First of all, it spends so much time developing characters, most notably Fukamachi, but then it does literally nothing with them. Fukamachi doesn't advance the plot at all, and he's offscreen so long during the second half that you actually forget that he exists. You are expecting some sort of sub showdown, a clash of captains, but instead you get nothing. In fact, the ending comes so suddenly that I thought there was still at least half an hour of movie left! As far as I can tell, there's no sequel, but I would snatch it up if there were. I can see the wisdom in ending it where they did, but I still want more. It's worth a rent, but it certainly isn't worth $20. |
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One odd little fact about this movie was the distincly anti-american
tone that it has. The American government is divided, with one department
trying to build a superweapon behind the backs of the other departments,
and the Americans mercilessly attack the Japanese subs and SDF ships without
a second thought, even though the Japanese refuse to fire on the Americans.
Perhaps the biggest sign was when the American President reviews a folder
titled: "Re-occupation of Japan", as one of his options in dealing with
the Yamato crisis. Of course, the Japanese bigwigs didn't really seem that
impressive either, but I failed to understand most of the subtler points
of the Japanese Governmental system, as it's a subject with which I'm not
at all familiar. This movie was meant to have a message about how America
is always butting in, and only cares about it's own interests.
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