Prophecies of Nostradamus
Encyclopedia
also known as The Last Days of Planet Earth or Catastrophe: 1999 is an experimental 1974 feature film by Toshio Masuda
, inspired by the prophecies of Nostradamus
. The film credits Toshio Yasumi as principal screenwriter, though Yasumi did not actually work on the film. Instead, Yoshimitsu Banno
revised his script for The Last War
(1961) and Yasumi was credited out of respect.
The film is notorious for its rarity. After complaints from a "No Nukes" group in Tokyo, Toho pulled the film from circulation in 1980.
), who are essentially the same roles as those in the 1961 film. While the former film emphasized family melodrama, the new film reduced these scenes to a string, concentrating on hallucinogenic international imagery in a manner looking forward to such films as Koyaanisqatsi
and Baraka
.
In the film, scientific advances cause an outbreak of giant slugs, oversized bat
s, children with genetic mutations enhancing their physical or mental abilities, and bizarre changes in weather, such as snow falling on the pyramids. The film gets bleaker and bleaker, until Dr. Nishiyama hypothesizes a scenario that re-edits the climactic war footage from The Last War, augmenting them with a scene of the surviving humans, looking like sufferers of neurofibromatosis
, fighting over who gets to eat a snake.
Also notable in the film is the symphonic score composed
and conducted by Isao Tomita
, with Tomita overdubbing his performances on a synthesizer
as a solo instrument.
Although the film does utilize stock footage
, primarily drawn from the film's little-seen ur-film, the film has its own unique special effects. One shot in particular, featuring a chain reaction of exploding vehicles, can be seen in nearly every subsequent Toho science fiction film, up to and including The Return of Godzilla
, where the shot was printed in reverse and was finally retired. In this film, the shot is intercut with scenes of human tragedy, as a mad driver tries to force his way through a traffic jam.
Despite all the negative publicity, Toho created an international version of the film dubbed in Hong Kong, which was also 90 minutes long like the re-edited Japanese cut. This version was released on home video in Eastern Europe as well as theatrically in the United States (New York and Los Angeles only). This dubbed version deletes many scenes including ones connecting the Nishiyama family to the prophecies, and a subplot about Nishiyama's assistant's baby who turns deformed.
Henry Saperstein's UPA Productions picked up the film and released another edited version to American television in the early 1980s. Titled The Last Days of Planet Earth, UPA's version runs 88 minutes long and features scenes from both the international and Japanese versions. Much of the semi-graphic violence, including the cannibalism of one of the researchers during the New Guinea Expedition and the peeling of skin of the corpse in the cave which originally revealed the bone, is deleted from the cut version. The Last Days of Planet Earth was released by Paramount/Gateway Home Video in 1995 on VHS and Laserdisc.
Toshio Masuda
is a Japanese film director. He developed a reputation as a consistent box office hit-maker. Over the course of five decades, 16 of his films made the yearly top ten lists at the Japanese box office—a second place record in the industry. Between 1958 and 1968 he directed 52 films for the Nikkatsu...
, inspired by the prophecies of Nostradamus
Nostradamus
Michel de Nostredame , usually Latinised to Nostradamus, was a French apothecary and reputed seer who published collections of prophecies that have since become famous worldwide. He is best known for his book Les Propheties , the first edition of which appeared in 1555...
. The film credits Toshio Yasumi as principal screenwriter, though Yasumi did not actually work on the film. Instead, Yoshimitsu Banno
Yoshimitsu Banno
is a Japanese director, best known for the cult-classic Godzilla vs. Hedorah, which he directed and co-wrote. Banno was a special guest at G-Fest XII in 2005. He is currently co-producing a new Godzilla film with Legendary Pictures.-Directing Credits:...
revised his script for The Last War
The Last War (1961 film)
The Last War, known in Japan as , is a tokusatsu film produced and released by Toho Studios in 1961. Its special effects were created by Eiji Tsuburaya who is also known for working on Godzilla and Ultraman....
(1961) and Yasumi was credited out of respect.
The film is notorious for its rarity. After complaints from a "No Nukes" group in Tokyo, Toho pulled the film from circulation in 1980.
Synopsis
The film centers around the family of a scientist, Dr. Nishiyama (Tetsuro TambaTetsuro Tamba
was a Japanese actor.-Biography:Tamba is perhaps best known by Western audiences for his role as Tiger Tanaka in the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice . By then, he had among other roles appeared in two films by director Masaki Kobayashi: Harakiri and Kwaidan...
), who are essentially the same roles as those in the 1961 film. While the former film emphasized family melodrama, the new film reduced these scenes to a string, concentrating on hallucinogenic international imagery in a manner looking forward to such films as Koyaanisqatsi
Koyaanisqatsi
Koyaanisqatsi also known as Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance, is a 1982 film directed by Godfrey Reggio with music composed by Philip Glass and cinematography by Ron Fricke....
and Baraka
Baraka (film)
Baraka is a 1992 non-narrative film directed by Ron Fricke. The title Baraka is a word that means blessing in a multitude of languages....
.
In the film, scientific advances cause an outbreak of giant slugs, oversized bat
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
s, children with genetic mutations enhancing their physical or mental abilities, and bizarre changes in weather, such as snow falling on the pyramids. The film gets bleaker and bleaker, until Dr. Nishiyama hypothesizes a scenario that re-edits the climactic war footage from The Last War, augmenting them with a scene of the surviving humans, looking like sufferers of neurofibromatosis
Neurofibromatosis
Neurofibromatosis is a genetically-inherited disorder in which the nerve tissue grows tumors that may be benign or may cause serious damage by compressing nerves and other tissues...
, fighting over who gets to eat a snake.
Also notable in the film is the symphonic score composed
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
and conducted by Isao Tomita
Isao Tomita
, often known simply as Tomita, is a Japanese music composer, regarded as one of the pioneers of electronic music and space music, and as one of the most famous producers of analog synthesizer arrangements...
, with Tomita overdubbing his performances on a synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
as a solo instrument.
Although the film does utilize stock footage
Stock footage
Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures and file footage are film or video footage that may or may not be custom shot for use in a specific film or television program. Stock footage is of beneficial use to filmmakers as it is sometimes less expensive than shooting new...
, primarily drawn from the film's little-seen ur-film, the film has its own unique special effects. One shot in particular, featuring a chain reaction of exploding vehicles, can be seen in nearly every subsequent Toho science fiction film, up to and including The Return of Godzilla
The Return of Godzilla
The Return of Godzilla The Return of Godzilla The Return of Godzilla (released as in Japan and as Godzilla 1985 in North America, is a 1984 Science Fiction Kaiju film. The sixteenth film in Toho's Godzilla series, it was produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka and directed by Koji Hashimoto with special...
, where the shot was printed in reverse and was finally retired. In this film, the shot is intercut with scenes of human tragedy, as a mad driver tries to force his way through a traffic jam.
Cast
- Gentetsu/Gengaku/Dr. Ryogen Nishiyama - Tetsuro TambaTetsuro Tambawas a Japanese actor.-Biography:Tamba is perhaps best known by Western audiences for his role as Tiger Tanaka in the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice . By then, he had among other roles appeared in two films by director Masaki Kobayashi: Harakiri and Kwaidan...
- Akira Nakagawa - Toshio Kurosawa
- Mariko Nishiyama - Kaoru YumiKaoru Yumiis a Japanese actress.-Biography:In junior high school, Kaoru joined the Nishino ballet group. She gained popularity with her appearance in the 1967 program Re Gaaruzu with Katsuko Kanai and Etsuko Nami in a mini-skirt number. In 1973, she did her first nude scene in the movie . In the same...
- Nobuo Nishiyama - Yoko Tsukasa
- Orin（Gentetsu's wife) - Kaoru Taniguchi
- Genbu（Gentetsu's son) - Minoru Dendou
- Errand of the Shogunate - Shirou Kuno
- Errand of the Shogunate - Kunji Harada
- Errand of the Shogunate - Gou Ogasawara
- Major Kashiwao, Imperial Japanese Army - Yoshirou Aoki
- Oone - Masaru Ryuuzaki
- Yoshihama - Katsuhiko Sasaki
- Ihara - Akio Mutou
- Kida - Jun Hamamura
- Kida’s Wife - Kumeko Otowa
- Daughter of Kida - Tomoe Mari（Yasuko Agawa）
- Daughter’s husband - Kousei Torii
- Captain of Self-Defense Force -Tappei Shimokawa
- Botanist - 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...
- Zoologist - Hiroshi KoizumiHiroshi Koizumiis a Japanese actor. He was born in Japan. In a 1999 interview with Steve Ryfle, Koizumi laments that while he stated he has easy parts to play, he felt he could have done more in his performances...
- Bus guide of Shikoku - Sayoko Katou
- Sanji，Nakagawa's Father - Mikizou Hirata
- Katsuko，Sanji's Wife - Tatsu Nakamura
- Hospital Director - Takashi ShimuraTakashi Shimurawas a Japanese actor.He was born in Ikuno, Hyogo, Japan.His debut as actor was the film Akanishi Kakita and cast in the Kenji Mizoguchi's film Osaka Elegy ....
- Tayama - Masahiko Tanimura
- Hamako - Kazuko Inano
- Scholar - Kazuo Katou
- Scholar - Kuniyasu Atsumi
- Scholar - Akira Kitazawa
- Scholar - Keisuke Yukioka
- Western country representative - George・A・Grim（Voice actor：Ichirou Murakoshi）
- African representative - Willie Dorsey（Voice actor：Tetsuya Kaji）
- New Guinea investigating group members - Tony Cetera, Rolf Jeter, Franz GruberFranz Gruber (actor)Franz Gruber was an actor who played in the Japanese Tokusatsu movie/TV productions .See also:*Peggy Neal - actress*Terror Beneath the Sea - 1966 film....
, Riner Geshman, Ousmane Yusef - Policeman - Haruo Suzuki
- Policeman - Toshio Aoki
- Nantai-Ningen - Isamu Sugii
- Nantai-Ningen - Nobuyuki Nakano
- Prime Minister - So Yamamura
- Development Minister - Syoutarou Sera
- Secretary of Environmental Agency - Mizuho SuzukiMizuho Suzuki' is a Japanese actor and seiyū from Manchuria. He is a drop-out of Kyoto University.-Film:*Dun-Huang *Kaabee *Makai Tensho...
- Chief Cabinet Secretary - Taketoshi Naitou
- Voice of the Prophecy - Kyoko KishidaKyoko Kishidawas a Japanese actress, voice actress, and writer of children's books.Her father was Kunio Kishida, a playwright and the founder of the Bungaku-za. She became an actress in 1950, and starred in a Yukio Mishima production of the 1960 film Salome. Her film and television drama credits number in the...
- Narrator - Shinji NakaeShinji Nakae, known by the stage name , was a male Japanese voice actor and narrator from Kōtō, Tokyo. He graduated from Kamakuragakuenchūgakkō Senior High School, and was affiliated with Aoni Production at the time of his death....
- Kazuo Oota（TV Anchorman） - 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...
- Announcer - Osamu Ichikawa
- Narrator (US version) - Jack Ryland
Release history
Prophecies of Nostradamus is infamous for its depiction of mutated human beings. After the film was released, a protest group lodged a complaint with the Eirin (the Japanese film ratings board), citing the New Guinea sequence and the post-climactic scene featuring two mutated children. Toho publicly apologized and cut the movie down to 90 minutes before putting the movie back into circulation for the rest of its theatrical run. After its theatrical release and a 1980 television broadcast, the uncut version of the film was officially pulled from circulation by Toho. The 90-minute re-cut does occasionally make appearances in re-releases and it is this version which is on file at the Library of Congress.Despite all the negative publicity, Toho created an international version of the film dubbed in Hong Kong, which was also 90 minutes long like the re-edited Japanese cut. This version was released on home video in Eastern Europe as well as theatrically in the United States (New York and Los Angeles only). This dubbed version deletes many scenes including ones connecting the Nishiyama family to the prophecies, and a subplot about Nishiyama's assistant's baby who turns deformed.
Henry Saperstein's UPA Productions picked up the film and released another edited version to American television in the early 1980s. Titled The Last Days of Planet Earth, UPA's version runs 88 minutes long and features scenes from both the international and Japanese versions. Much of the semi-graphic violence, including the cannibalism of one of the researchers during the New Guinea Expedition and the peeling of skin of the corpse in the cave which originally revealed the bone, is deleted from the cut version. The Last Days of Planet Earth was released by Paramount/Gateway Home Video in 1995 on VHS and Laserdisc.