is a 1990

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

action film directed by Tōru Murakawa, and produced by

Toei Company () (also styled TOEI) is a Japanese film, television production, and distribution and video game developer and publishing company. Based in Tokyo, Toei owns and operates thirty-four movie theaters across Japan (all but two of them operated by i ...

in association with Mitsui & Co. and

Tohokushinsha Film is a Japanese film distributor, production company and dubbing studio based in Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo. It was founded in 1961 by Banjirō Uemura (who was also once the head of the Japanese branch of ITC Entertainment) as a dubbing house for fo ...

. The screenplay was written by Murakawa with Makoto Takada. The film stars

Yūji Oda is a Japanese actor and singer. He is one of Japan's 11 most popular male entertainers, according to an NHK survey taken in 2004.Mark D. West ''Secrets, Sex, and Spectacle: The Rules of Scandal in Japan'' 2008 - Page 179 "Fukunaga, the boy band ...

Naomi Zaizen is a Japanese actress. Filmography Films * (1989) * (1989) * '' Heaven and Earth'' (1990) * '' Best Guy'' (1990) * * (1991) * (1993) * (1994) * (1995) * (1997) * (1998) * ''Avalon'' (2001) * ''Ouran High School Host Club'' (2012) * ...

Masato Furuoya was a Japanese actor. He won the award for best actor at the 2nd Yokohama Film Festival and at the 5th Hochi Film Award for ''Disciples of Hippocrates'' and at the 12th Yokohama Film Festival for '' Uchū no hōsoku''. He committed suicide on Mar ...

, Masato Nagamori, and Toshio Kurosawa. The title refers to the highest rank of the

JASDF The , , also informally referred to as the Japanese Air Force, is the air and space branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, responsible for the defense of Japanese airspace, other air and space operations, cyberwarfare and electronic warfare. ...

's F-15J training program. The film's aerial scenes were produced in cooperation with the JASDF, using the

Mitsubishi F-15J The Mitsubishi F-15J/DJ Eagle is a twin-engine, all-weather air superiority fighter based on the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle in use by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF). The F-15J was produced under license by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries ...

- the country's variant of the

McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an American twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). Following reviews of proposals, the United States Air Force selected McDonnell Douglas's ...

. Seen by movie critics as a copy of ''

Top Gun ''Top Gun'' is a 1986 American action drama film directed by Tony Scott, produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, with distribution by Paramount Pictures. The screenplay was written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr., and was inspired by an a ...

'', ''Best Guy'' was a box-office failure in Japan, earning 230 million."Distribution Revenues for Japanese Movie Freebooking", ''

Kinema Junpo , commonly called , is Japan's oldest film magazine and began publication in July 1919. It was first published three times a month, using the Japanese ''Jun'' (旬) system of dividing months into three parts, but the postwar ''Kinema Junpō'' ha ...

'', February 1992, p. 143.

Plot

Fresh from his transfer from

Nyutabaru Air Base is a military aerodrome of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. It is located north of Miyazaki in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan. In July 2021, Japan’s Defense Minister, Nobuo Kishi, announced that the base will host the F-35Bs of the JASDF. A ...

Chitose Air Base , is a Japan Air Self-Defense Force base located in Chitose, Hokkaidō, adjacent to New Chitose Airport. It is the JASDF's primary base in northern Japan and tasked with monitoring Japan's maritime borders with Russia. It was also Hokkaidō ...

, Lieutenant Hideo "Goku" Kajitani joins the 201st Tactical Air Squadron and participates in the base's three-week fighter training program with the goal of attaining the title of "Best Guy". Despite having his pilot's license revoked three times at Nyutabaru, he has earned the title due to his natural expertise in piloting the

. Goku feels animosity towards his trainer Major Nobuaki "Zombie" Yoshinaga, who he feels is responsible for his brother Tetsuo's death in a flight accident years ago. At the same time, he develops a rivalry with Captain Teruichi "Imagine" Nadaka, who dislikes Goku's reckless piloting skills. For the training program, Goku is assigned to the Fox team led by Lt. Colonel Tadayuki "Odyssey" Yamamoto, while Imagine becomes part of the Bear team led by Zombie. During his time at Chitose, Goku befriends Miyuki Mizuno, a video director sent to the base to film a music video for Canadian singer Sheree, but decides to cover the Best Guy program instead. One day, Goku and Imagine scramble when a couple of

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Tu-16 Badgers enter Japanese airspace. Following a dogfight with the Su-27 Flankers, the duo manages to drive the intruding aircraft away. On their way back to Chitose, Goku suddenly experiences

vertigo Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...

and loses control of his plane before he ejects and is safely rescued at sea. Because of this, he loses confidence in flying. Zombie visits Goku at his quarters, but Goku's hatred leads to him attacking Zombie before the latter reveals the truth about his brother's death. On that fateful night, Zombie (who used the call sign "Demon") was Tetsuo's

radar intercept officer A naval flight officer (NFO) is a commissioned officer in the United States Navy or United States Marine Corps who specializes in airborne weapons and sensor systems. NFOs are not pilots (naval aviators), but they may perform many "co-pilot" or ...

when their F-4EJ Phantom II flew into an electrical storm outside Komatsu Base and Tetsuo blacked out from vertigo; Zombie ejected before their plane crashed. Feeling further demotivated by the truth, Goku leaves for

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surroun ...

to reconcile with an old lover, only to discover that she has moved on with another man. He then travels to Tokyo to meet up with Miyuki, who reveals that her documentary video was cancelled due to a sponsor dropping out of the project. After seeing her emotions, Goku realizes his purpose in life and returns to Chitose. The final day of training is decided between Goku and Imagine, with Miyuki filming the event. During the fierce mock dogfight, Imagine scores the kill on Goku and is awarded the title of "Best Guy" while Goku takes the runner-up title of "Top Gun" and Second Lieutenant Atsuo "Duck" Nakagawa takes the third place title of "Early Bird". Following the program, Odyssey retires and bids farewell to the 201st Squadron, with Goku and Imagine escorting his plane off the base.

Cast

as Lieutenant Hideo "Goku" Kajitani *

as Miyuki Mizuno *

as Major Nobuaki "Zombie/Demon" Yoshinaga * Masato Nagamori as Captain Teruichi "Imagine" Nadaka * Toshio Kurosawa as Lt. Colonel Tadayuki "Odyssey" Yamamoto * Masahiro Sudou as Major Haruo "Thunder" Yashiki * Mikihisa Azuma as Second Lieutenant Yoshitaka "Robin" Muramatsu * Zenkichi Yoneyama as Second Lieutenant Atsuo "Duck" Nakagawa * Hikaru Kurosaki as Junior Officer Yusuke "Yunker" Tateishi * Chiharu Iwamoto as Second Lieutenant Akiko Shibata * Akiji Kobayashi as Yoshi Kamogawa * Masaru Matsuda as Tsuyoshi Tokuda * Jun Negami as Taichirō Kanō * Akiko Kana as Yumiko Yoshinaga * Chiyoko Shimakura as the Chief Nurse *

Takaaki Enoki is a Japanese actor and artist from Isa District, Kagoshima. He is known for his role as private detective Mitsuhiko Asami in the ''Asami Mitsuhiko Series''. He attended Musashino Art University but left before graduating and joined the Shiki The ...

as Tetsuo "Apollo" Kajitani *

Naoto Takenaka is a Japanese actor, comedian, singer, and director from Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, affiliated with From First Production. He is married to idol singer and actress Midori Kinouchi. He is also known as the voice of Samuel L. Jac ...

as the Air Traffic Controller

Soundtrack

The soundtrack album was released by

BMG Victor Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of a German media company Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008. Although it was established in 1987, the music co ...

on October 21, 1990 and features songs performed by Canadian singer Sheree, who also makes an appearance in the beginning of the film.

Track listing

Marketing

Hasegawa issued a "Best Guy" edition of their 1/48 scale F-15J Eagle model kit to promote the film.Hasegawa 1/48 F-15 Eagle "Best Guy"
/ref>

References

External links

''Best Guy'' at AllCinema

''Best Guy'' at Kinenote
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Best Guy 1990 films 1990 action films 1990s Japanese-language films Japanese aviation films Films set in Hokkaido Films shot in Hokkaido Japan Air Self-Defense Force Toei Company films 1990s Japanese films