The Last War (1961 film)
Encyclopedia
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
.
Toshio Yasumi's script for the film was reused for Prophecies of Nostradamus
, which also included re-edits much of the film's special effects, in addition to its family melodrama center.
tensions between two nuclear-armed superpowers, the Federation and the Alliance (fictitious stand-ins for the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.) Addressing the everyday concerns and everyday existence of people who are about to be violently parted with their existence, this film is a sobering one to watch. It depicts major landmarks the world over meeting with nuclear devastation, with the conclusion consisting of a written warning to mankind never to let this happen. As the film ends on a cliffhanger as we do not know if the family has survived the carnage. The closing view is of Tokyo's Diet Building nearly destroyed, with the top half only remaining inside a giant crater left by an atomic bomb.
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...
produced and released by Toho Studios
Toho
is a Japanese film, theater production, and distribution company. It is headquartered in Yūrakuchō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group...
in 1961. Its special effects were created by Eiji Tsuburaya
Eiji Tsuburaya
was the Japanese special effects director responsible for many Japanese science-fiction movies, including the Godzilla series...
who is also known for working on Godzilla
Godzilla
is a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games,...
and Ultraman
Ultraman
is Japanese television series that first aired in 1966. Ultraman, the first and best-known of the "Ultra-Crusaders," made his debut in the tokusatsu SF/kaiju/superhero TV series, , a follow-up to the television series Ultra Q...
.
Toshio Yasumi's script for the film was reused for Prophecies of Nostradamus
Prophecies of Nostradamus
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...
, which also included re-edits much of the film's special effects, in addition to its family melodrama center.
Plot
This movie covers the day to day goings on of several people in a family that is helplessly caught up in the drama of heightening Cold WarCold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
tensions between two nuclear-armed superpowers, the Federation and the Alliance (fictitious stand-ins for the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.) Addressing the everyday concerns and everyday existence of people who are about to be violently parted with their existence, this film is a sobering one to watch. It depicts major landmarks the world over meeting with nuclear devastation, with the conclusion consisting of a written warning to mankind never to let this happen. As the film ends on a cliffhanger as we do not know if the family has survived the carnage. The closing view is of Tokyo's Diet Building nearly destroyed, with the top half only remaining inside a giant crater left by an atomic bomb.
External links
- Bogue, Michael. (2002). The Last War