Latitude Zero
Encyclopedia
, is a 1969 tokusatsu
film
. It was directed by Ishirō Honda
with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya
(his last science-fiction film). The story was written by Ted Sherdeman, writer on the 1954
science-fiction film, Them!
(and based on a 1941 radio serial written by Sherdeman entitled Latitude Zero), and starred Joseph Cotten
, Cesar Romero
, Akira Takarada
, Masumi Okada
, Richard Jaeckel
, Patricia Medina
, and Akihiko Hirata
.
The film was shot in English
, with the Japanese actors, such as Akira Takarada
, having learned their lines phonetically.
Latitude Zero is a paradise hidden fifteen miles below the surface at the intersection of the Equator
and the International Date Line
. Gold
is plentiful there and is used for protective clothing by the island's newcomers, while those who arrived in the 19th century prefer to dress as they are accustomed, as no one ages or dies. Diamond
s are very common and used only in industrial use.
Dr. Malic (Romero), however, wishes to destroy the paradise of Latitude Zero, and used giant rats and anthropomorphic bats in addition to James Bond
-style devices against the undersea kingdom. Worst of all, after a cruel experiment grafting the wings of an eagle
to a lion
, he removes the brain of the unsuccessful Black Shark she-captain, Kuroi (Hikaru Kuroki), and places her brain in the creature, which proves to be his undoing.
Of all the visitors to Latitude Zero, only Perry Lawton (Jaeckel), a journalist
, wishes to return home. He is picked up by a US Navy vessel and meets a Commander Glenn Mackenzie (Cotten again), and is put in the care of Lt. Hastings (Romero again). Horrified at who he sees, Lawton discovers his film is ruined and when he opens the pouch where he placed his complimentary diamonds, he finds tobacco. Just as he is about to resign himself to the fact that his adventure never occurred, the ship is wired a message stating that a cache of diamonds has been deposited in his name in a safe deposit box
in New York City
.
Tokusatsu
is a Japanese term that applies to any live-action film or television drama that usually features superheroes and makes considerable use of special effects ....
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
. It was directed by Ishirō Honda
Ishiro Honda
Ishirō Honda , sometimes miscredited in foreign releases as "Inoshiro Honda", was a Japanese film director...
with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya
Eiji Tsuburaya
was the Japanese special effects director responsible for many Japanese science-fiction movies, including the Godzilla series...
(his last science-fiction film). The story was written by Ted Sherdeman, writer on the 1954
1954 in film
The year 1954 in film involved some significant events and memorable ones.-Events:*May 12 - The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx divorces wife Marion Benda...
science-fiction film, Them!
Them! (1954 film)
Them! is a 1954 American black and white science fiction film about man's encounter with a nest of gigantic irradiated ants. It is based on an original story treatment by George Worthing Yates. It was developed into a screenplay by Ted Sherdeman and Russell Hughes for Warner Bros. Pictures Inc.,...
(and based on a 1941 radio serial written by Sherdeman entitled Latitude Zero), and starred Joseph Cotten
Joseph Cotten
Joseph Cheshire Cotten was an American actor of stage and film. Cotten achieved prominence on Broadway, starring in the original productions of The Philadelphia Story and Sabrina Fair...
, Cesar Romero
Cesar Romero
Cesar Julio Romero, Jr. was an American film and television actor who was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years...
, Akira Takarada
Akira Takarada
is a Japanese film actor who is most known in the west for his roles in the Godzilla film series.-Overview:Takarada was born in Japan-occupied Korea, and lived for a time in Harbin, China. His father worked as an engineer on the South Manchuria Railway...
, Masumi Okada
Masumi Okada
was a professional actor, singer, stand-up comedian, and film producer. Also known by his nickname, "Fanfan", he was born in Nice, France, to a Japanese father, Minoru Okada, who was an artist, and a Danish mother, Ingeborg Sevaldsen, who was the sister of Eline Eriksen, the model for the "Mermaid...
, Richard Jaeckel
Richard Jaeckel
Richard Hanley Jaeckel was an American actor of film and television.-Life and career:Jaeckel was born in Long Beach, New York. A short, but tough guy, he played a variety of characters during his fifty years in movies & television and became one of Hollywood's best known character actors...
, Patricia Medina
Patricia Medina
Patricia Paz Maria Medina is an English actress from Liverpool, England. Her father was a Spaniard and her mother was English. Medina began acting as a teenager in the late 1930s...
, and Akihiko Hirata
Akihiko Hirata
was a Japanese film actor. While Hirata starred in many movies , he is most well known for his work in the kaiju genre, including such films as King Kong vs. Godzilla, The Mysterians, and his most famous role of Dr...
.
The film was shot in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, with the Japanese actors, such as Akira Takarada
Akira Takarada
is a Japanese film actor who is most known in the west for his roles in the Godzilla film series.-Overview:Takarada was born in Japan-occupied Korea, and lived for a time in Harbin, China. His father worked as an engineer on the South Manchuria Railway...
, having learned their lines phonetically.
Plot
Three men (Dr. Ken Tashiro, Dr. Jules Masson, and Perry Lawton) are trapped in a bathysphere due to seismic activity. They are rescued by the crew of the supersubmarine, Alpha, captained by Craig Mackenzie (Cotten), whom they learn is over 200 years old (and that the Alpha was launched in the early 19th century). Mackenzie takes them to Latitude Zero to deal with the serious injuries of Dr Masson. While returning to Latitude Zero, they are attacked by a rival supersubmarine, the Black Shark, captained by Kuroi, who works for a rival of Mackenzie, Malic, who is also over 200 years old and has a base at Blood Rock.Latitude Zero is a paradise hidden fifteen miles below the surface at the intersection of the Equator
Equator
An equator is the intersection of a sphere's surface with the plane perpendicular to the sphere's axis of rotation and containing the sphere's center of mass....
and the International Date Line
International Date Line
The International Date Line is a generally north-south imaginary line on the surface of the Earth, passing through the middle of the Pacific Ocean, that designates the place where each calendar day begins...
. Gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
is plentiful there and is used for protective clothing by the island's newcomers, while those who arrived in the 19th century prefer to dress as they are accustomed, as no one ages or dies. Diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
s are very common and used only in industrial use.
Dr. Malic (Romero), however, wishes to destroy the paradise of Latitude Zero, and used giant rats and anthropomorphic bats in addition to James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
-style devices against the undersea kingdom. Worst of all, after a cruel experiment grafting the wings of an eagle
Eagle
Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...
to a lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
, he removes the brain of the unsuccessful Black Shark she-captain, Kuroi (Hikaru Kuroki), and places her brain in the creature, which proves to be his undoing.
Of all the visitors to Latitude Zero, only Perry Lawton (Jaeckel), a journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, wishes to return home. He is picked up by a US Navy vessel and meets a Commander Glenn Mackenzie (Cotten again), and is put in the care of Lt. Hastings (Romero again). Horrified at who he sees, Lawton discovers his film is ruined and when he opens the pouch where he placed his complimentary diamonds, he finds tobacco. Just as he is about to resign himself to the fact that his adventure never occurred, the ship is wired a message stating that a cache of diamonds has been deposited in his name in a safe deposit box
Safe deposit box
A safe deposit box or wrongly referred to as a safety deposit box is an individually-secured container, usually held within a larger safe or bank vault. Safe deposit boxes are generally located in banks, post offices or other institutions...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Cast
- Joseph CottenJoseph CottenJoseph Cheshire Cotten was an American actor of stage and film. Cotten achieved prominence on Broadway, starring in the original productions of The Philadelphia Story and Sabrina Fair...
........ Craig McKenzie; Captain of "Alpha-Gou" （Voice actor：Gorō NayaGoro Nayais a Japanese actor, voice actor, narrator and theatre director from Hakodate, Hokkaidō. He is a drop-out of the legal education division of Ritsumeikan University. He is connected to Theatre Echo. He is the older brother of actor and seiyū Rokurō Naya. He is the husband of actress and seiyū...
） - Cesar RomeroCesar RomeroCesar Julio Romero, Jr. was an American film and television actor who was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years...
......... Dr. Malic; Scientist of Blood Rock （Voice actor：Kōsei TomitaKosei Tomitais a Japanese voice actor from Tokyo who is affiliated with Production Baobab. His real name is .- TV :* Matteo in Animation Kikou Marco Polo no Boken* Rumina's grandfather in Tokyo Underground* Bouleuse Gotho in Armored Trooper Votoms* Master in Black Jack...
） - Akira TakaradaAkira Takaradais a Japanese film actor who is most known in the west for his roles in the Godzilla film series.-Overview:Takarada was born in Japan-occupied Korea, and lived for a time in Harbin, China. His father worked as an engineer on the South Manchuria Railway...
....... Dr. Ken Tashiro; Oceanographer - Masumi OkadaMasumi Okadawas a professional actor, singer, stand-up comedian, and film producer. Also known by his nickname, "Fanfan", he was born in Nice, France, to a Japanese father, Minoru Okada, who was an artist, and a Danish mother, Ingeborg Sevaldsen, who was the sister of Eline Eriksen, the model for the "Mermaid...
......... Dr. Jules Masson; Geologist - Richard JaeckelRichard JaeckelRichard Hanley Jaeckel was an American actor of film and television.-Life and career:Jaeckel was born in Long Beach, New York. A short, but tough guy, he played a variety of characters during his fifty years in movies & television and became one of Hollywood's best known character actors...
...... Perry Lawton; Journalist（Voice actor：Ichirō MurakoshiIchiro Murakoshiwas a male Japanese voice actor from Tokyo, Japan. He was a Waseda University graduate. His real name was .-Anime:*The Adventures of Tom Sawyer *Doraemon *GeGeGe no Kitaro 1985 *Gekisou Rubenkaiser...
） - Patricia MedinaPatricia MedinaPatricia Paz Maria Medina is an English actress from Liverpool, England. Her father was a Spaniard and her mother was English. Medina began acting as a teenager in the late 1930s...
...... Lucretia; Lover of Malic（Voice actor：Michiko Hirai） - Hitoshi Oomae ........ Koubo; Crew of "Alpha-Gou"
- Linda HaynesLinda HaynesLinda Haynes was a pretty and spunky blonde-haired American actress who appeared in several films in the 1970s and early 1980s before retiring from the business and becoming a legal secretary...
......... Dr. Anne Barton; Doctor of Latitude Zero;（Voice actor：Junko Midori） - Tetsu NakamuraTetsu Nakamurais a Japanese medical doctor. He was awarded the 2003 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Peace and International Understanding. He has devoted his work among refugees in the Afghanistan/Pakistan borderlands.-ex.link:***...
....... Dr. Okada; Japanese atomic physicist - Mari Nakayama ........ Tsuruko Okada; Daughter of Dr. Okada
- Akihiko HirataAkihiko Hiratawas a Japanese film actor. While Hirata starred in many movies , he is most well known for his work in the kaiju genre, including such films as King Kong vs. Godzilla, The Mysterians, and his most famous role of Dr...
....... Dr. Sugata; Doctor of Latitude Zero - Hikaru Kuroki ........ Captain "Kuroi Ga"（"Black moth"; Captain of "Kurosame-Gou" ("Black Shark")
- Susumu KurobeSusumu Kurobe, given the birth name of , was born on in Kurobe, Toyama, Japan.He is commonly known for having played the character role Shin Hayata in the Ultraman series, a role he reprised in episode 47 of the 2006 television series Ultraman Mebius and its theatrical film adaption, Ultraman Mebius & Ultraman...
........ Chin; Crewman of "Kurosame-Gou" - Yū Sekida ............ Koumori-ningen;（bat-human）
- Haruo NakajimaHaruo Nakajimais a famous Japanese actor. He is best known for playing Godzilla and is considered by many to be the best suit actor in the long history of the franchise...
....... Koumori-ningen（bat-human, Oo-Nezumi（Giant mouse, GriffinGriffinThe griffin, griffon, or gryphon is a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle...
DVD releases
Tokyo Shock- Released: December 11, 2007
- Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreenAnamorphic widescreenAnamorphic widescreen, when applied to DVD manufacture, is a video process that horizontally squeezes a widescreen image so that it can be stored in a standard 4:3 aspect ratio DVD image frame. Compatible playback equipment can then re-expand the horizontal dimension to show the original widescreen...
- Sound: English (5.1 Surround), English (1.0 Mono), Japanese (1.0 Mono)
- Supplements: Trailers: Latitude Zero (Teaser, Theatrical, International), AtragonAtragonAtragon, released in Japan as , is a 1963 Toho tokusatsu film based on a series of juvenile adventure novels under the banner Kaitei Gunkan by Shunrō Oshikawa and the illustrated story Kaitei Okoku by illustrator Shigeru Komatsuzaki, serialized in a monthly magazine for boys...
, Frankenstein Conquers the WorldFrankenstein Conquers the WorldFrankenstein Conquers the World, released in Japan as , with Toho's official English title being Frankenstein vs. Baragon, is a kaiju film produced in 1965 by Toho Company Ltd...
, ZebramanZebramanis a 2004 film directed by Takashi Miike. The film's name references the main character, a superhero named "Zebraman". A sequel, Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City, was released in 2010 featuring the addition of Masahiro Inoue of Kamen Rider Decade to the cast.-Plot:It is 2010...
, Nezulla. Crew Interviews, Deleted Scenes, Photo Gallery. - Region 1
External links
- Martinez, Mike A. "Latitude Zero" (extended film analysis) Millon Monkey Theater. April 14, 2008.