, also known as ''Operation Kamikaze'', is a 1953 Japanese epic

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...

directed by

Ishirō Honda was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 44 feature films in a career spanning 59 years. The most internationally successful Japanese filmmaker prior to Hayao Miyazaki, his films have had a significant influence on the film industry. Honda enter ...

, with special effects by

Eiji Tsuburaya was a Japanese special effects director and cinematographer. Known as the he worked on 250 feature films in a career spanning 50 years. He is regarded as one of the co-creators of the ''Godzilla'' series, as well as the main creator of the ...

. The film dramatizes the start of Japan's military action in World War II, with an emphasis on the role of

Isoroku Yamamoto was a Marshal Admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet during World War II until he was killed. Yamamoto held several important posts in the IJN, and undertook many of its changes and reor ...

Cast

* Denjirō Ōkōchi as Admiral

* Hiroshi Nihonyanagi as Commander Furukawa * Eijirô Yanagi as Admiral

Mitsumasa Yonai was a Japanese general and politician. He served as admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy, Minister of the Navy, and Prime Minister of Japan in 1940. Early life and career Yonai was born on 2 March 1880, in Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, the firs ...

* Minoru Takada as Prince Fumimaro Konoe *

Masao Shimizu was a Japanese actor. His wife was actress Yumi Takano. His first starring role in the film was in ''Momoiro no Yuwaku'' in 1931. In 1947, he formed the Mingei Theatre Company. Shimizu often work with Akira Kurosawa. He appeared in more than 25 ...

as Commander Kashima * Ichiro Sugai as Admiral

Koshirō Oikawa was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy and Naval Minister during World War II. Biography Oikawa was born into a wealthy family in rural Koshi County, Niigata Prefecture, but was raised in Morioka city, Iwate prefecture in northern Ja ...

* Toshiro Mifune as First Lieutenant Tomonaga *

Takashi Shimura was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 200 films between 1934 and 1981. He appeared in 21 of Akira Kurosawa's 30 films (more than any other actor), including as a lead actor in '' Drunken Angel'' (1948), ''Rashomon'' (1950), ''Ikiru'' (1952) a ...

as Staff Officer of the Army *Bontaro Miake as Commander of the Task Force *

Haruo Nakajima was a Japanese actor best known for playing Godzilla in 12 consecutive films, starting from the original '' Godzilla'' (1954) until '' Godzilla vs. Gigan'' (1972). He also played various other giant monsters in ''kaiju'' films, including ''Moth ...

as Pilot in Flaming Zero * Sachio Sakai *

Katsumi Tezuka was a Japanese actor. He is best known for playing monsters in several Toho science fiction and horror films directed by Ishirō Honda. Career Tezuka was born in Tokyo, Japan. His first credited role in a motion picture was in the 1940 fil ...

*Shin Otomo

Production

Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer ...

intended ''Eagle of the Pacific'' to be an ambitious, Hollywood-style film. The studio used storyboarding to plan the visual effects sequences, a technique they would repeat on ''

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film '' Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produ ...

''. Stock footage was utilized extensively in ''Eagle of the Pacific''; some sources claim that producer Sojiro Motoki secured approval for the film by offering to reuse action sequences from '' The War at Sea from Hawaii to Malaya''. Thus, special effects director

's return to Toho was not a lavish affair. It is mostly rehashed footage augmented by a few new effects, and he only had a small crew. Many newspaper critics weren't fooled by Toho's trick photography, citing stock footage as evidence.

Reception

''Eagle of the Pacific'' grossed 163 million yen, the third highest total for a Japanese film in 1953.

Release

The film was released on DVD in Japan in 2005.

References

Bibliography

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External links

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Eagle of the Pacific
' at Japanesegiants.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Eagle Of The Pacific 1953 films World War II aviation films Japanese black-and-white films Films directed by Ishirō Honda Films produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka Toho films Cultural depictions of Isoroku Yamamoto Japanese drama films 1953 drama films 1950s Japanese films