Back in March 2011 I wrote a review about the DVD of a film that I wanted to see ... entitled THE ADMIRAL. This was a film about Admiral Koltchak, one of the leaders of the White forces during the period after the Russian Revolution.
Somewhat confusingly another film with the same title – THE ADMIRAL – has recently become available on DVD, but the subject of this film is Admiral Isoroku Yamamato.
The film’s dialogue is in Japanese, but the DVD has English subtitles … although they were obviously written by someone whose knowledge of naval terminology was not their strong point. The film tells the story of Admiral Yamamoto’s life from the period when he was Undersecretary for the Navy until his death, and it is seen from the perspective of a young reporter on a national newspaper who records the progress of the war in a special scrapbook.
The CGI used is reasonably convincing (it has the look of a good computer game), and I particularly liked the battle scenes that showed the attack on Pearl Harbour and the Battle of Midway. The film is very uncritical of the Japanese, and portrays Admiral Yamamoto as wishing to not to go to war with America in the first place and then wishing to defeat them in a decisive battle at sea so that the Japanese government can then sue for peace.
The films stars Koji Yakusho as Admiral Yamamoto, and it was produced by Kotaki Shohei and directed by Izuru Narushima. The screenplay was written by Yasuo Hasegawa and Kenzaburo Iida, and the film was released on DVD by Cine Asia.
I certainly think that the DVD was worth what I paid for it, and I envisage watching it again in the future. I would therefore recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the Imperial Japanese Navy during the first two years of the Pacific War.
Somewhat confusingly another film with the same title – THE ADMIRAL – has recently become available on DVD, but the subject of this film is Admiral Isoroku Yamamato.
The film’s dialogue is in Japanese, but the DVD has English subtitles … although they were obviously written by someone whose knowledge of naval terminology was not their strong point. The film tells the story of Admiral Yamamoto’s life from the period when he was Undersecretary for the Navy until his death, and it is seen from the perspective of a young reporter on a national newspaper who records the progress of the war in a special scrapbook.
The CGI used is reasonably convincing (it has the look of a good computer game), and I particularly liked the battle scenes that showed the attack on Pearl Harbour and the Battle of Midway. The film is very uncritical of the Japanese, and portrays Admiral Yamamoto as wishing to not to go to war with America in the first place and then wishing to defeat them in a decisive battle at sea so that the Japanese government can then sue for peace.
The films stars Koji Yakusho as Admiral Yamamoto, and it was produced by Kotaki Shohei and directed by Izuru Narushima. The screenplay was written by Yasuo Hasegawa and Kenzaburo Iida, and the film was released on DVD by Cine Asia.
I certainly think that the DVD was worth what I paid for it, and I envisage watching it again in the future. I would therefore recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the Imperial Japanese Navy during the first two years of the Pacific War.
Another item for my 'wish list'.
ReplyDeleteSlow down Bob, it's hard to keep up with you!
Jim
Jim Duncan,
ReplyDeleteSorry about that ... but I would certainly buy or watch a copy of this DVD if you can.
All the best,
Bob