Virus (1980 film)
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| Virus | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Kinji Fukasaku |
| Produced by | Haruki Kadokawa |
| Written by | Kinji Fukasaku Kōji Takada Gregory Knapp Sakyo Komatsu (novel) |
| Starring | Glenn Ford Sonny Chiba Chuck Connors |
| Music by | Kentaro Haneda Janis Ian Teo Macero |
| Cinematography | Daisaku Kimura |
| Editing by | Akira Suzuki |
| Distributed by | Toho |
| Release date(s) |  Jun 26, 1980 |
| Running time | 156 min |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | English / Japanese |
| Budget | ¥2,000,000 |
| IMDb profile | |
Virus (復活の日 Fukkatsu no hi?) is a 1980 post-apocalyptic sci-fi movie directed by Kinji Fukasaku and starring George Kennedy, Robert Vaughn, Chuck Connors, Olivia Hussey, Edward James Olmos, Ken Ogata, Sonny Chiba and Glenn Ford. The film is notable for being the most expensive Japanese film ever made at the time.
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[edit] Plot
The movie opens with a shady transfer happening between an East German scientist and a group of American secret agents. The Russians have illicitly "acquired" a sample of MM88, a deadly virus created accidentally by an American virologist that magnifies the potency of any other virus or bacteria it comes in contact with. The scientist wants the virus taken to a collegue in Switzerland, but the Americans are only interested in recovering the stolen MM88. Escaping an attack by East German soldiers, the spies crash their plane and the virus is released, creating a world wide epidemic initially known as the "Italian Flu".
The governments of the world watch helplessly as their citizens fall ill and die by the thousands. Too late does American President Richardson (Glenn Ford) learn from Senator Barkley (Robert Vaughn) and Dr. Meyer (Stuart Gillard) that the Italian Flu is in fact MM88.
Within a few months the world's entire population has died off except for 863 scientists and support personnel wintering in Antarctica. The virus becomes active at -10 degrees Celsius, and the polar winter has spared the 855 men and eight women stationed on the southern continent. A British nuclear submarine, HMS Nereid, commanded by Captain McCloud (Chuck Connors), that was on patrol at the time the epidemic began, and joins the scientists after sinking a Soviet submarine whose infected crew attempt to make landfall near the American research station.
The survivors, led by, among others, Admiral Conway (George Kennedy), Dr. Borodinov (Chris Wiggins), Dr. Nakanishi (Isao Natsuyagi), Captain Lopez (Edward James Olmos), and Dr. Latour (Cec Linder), set up a government to deal with the realities of their situation, including the obvious problem of several hundred men living with only eight women. However, just as the group begins to repopulate their new home, it is revealed an earthquake will set off the United States nuclear arsenal, since Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Garland (Henry Silva), activated the Automated Response System before his death, believing the Soviets would use the confusion caused by the pandemic to launch an attack on North America.
The Soviets had their own version of the ARS and when the American missiles hit their targets, the Soviet missles will automatically deploy. Unfortunately for the survivors, a Soviet nuclear weapon is aimed at the Antarctica research base. Japanese seismologist Yoshizumi (Masao Kusakari), Major Carter (Bo Svenson), embark aboard the Nereid on a mission to disarm the weapons before the earthquake strikes, protected from MM88 by an experimental vaccine developed by Dr. Latour.
Nereid arrives at Washington, D.C. and Yoshizumi and Carter make a rush for the deep shelter underneath the White House where the ARS controls are located. They reach the room too late, and all but a few men and the women perish in the blast. Over the course of years Yoshizumi walks back towards Antarctica. Upon reaching Tierra del Fuego he encounters the remaining survivors, including Marit (Olivia Hussey), a Norwegian widow he fell in love with after his pregnant girlfriend in Tokyo died from the epidemic.
[edit] Background/production
Haruki Kadokawa the producer of the film was the heir to Kadokawa Shoten, major publishing empire in Japan. After his father died in 1975 he decided to create a cinema branch of the company and began producing many films in the late 1970s including Inugamike no ichizoku (1976) and Ningen no shômei (1977) a murder mystery with a worldwide release. In 1978 production on Fukkatsu no Hi started. Kadokawa wanted the film to be a big breakthrough in the international market so he tried to insure its success by casting some notable foreign stars and doing major international promotion (under the international title Virus). He also funded the largest budget of any Japanese film ever made at the time to solidify the movie as worthy of an international release. [1]
The Chilean Navy allowed the film crew to use their submarine CNS Simpson to film scenes aboard the two fictional submarines in the film. Judging by the acknowledgements in the English version, the Canadian submarine HMCS Okanagan was used as well; one of the officers serving in Okanagan, a Lieutenant-Commander David Griffiths, was given a speaking role as Nereid's First Officer. Other locations where filming took place included Antarctica, Alaska, Halifax, Tokyo, Toronto, and Machu Picchu.
A small amount of international publicity was given when a Swedish ship, the Lindblad Explorer, transporting a production unit to Antarctica for location shooting, struck a submerged reef and almost sank. The passengers were rescued by Chilean naval vessels.
[edit] Reception
The film became a major failure despite its enormous budget. Although it may have had some special showings in the United States and elsewhere, it did not receive a general release. It was sold directly to pay-tv and edited down to a 108 minute version. This version of the film was cut by more than 40 minutes leaving out the much of the love story and almost all of Yoshizumi's entire trek back towards Antarctica.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Jasper Sharp (4.09.2001). Virus. Midnight Eye.
- ^ Branislav L. Slantchev (2004). Virus (aka Day of Resurrection, Fukkatsu no hi, 1980). Gotterdammerung.
[edit] External links
- Virus at the Internet Movie Database
- (Japanese) Virus at the Japanese Movie Database
