DVD Review: 'Sinking of Japan' R3 Hong Kong Edition

Toshio is a submarine pilot and connected to the scientist who makes the grave discovery of Japan’s fate. Reiko is part of Tokyo’s Hyper Rescue Squad. They meet in a northern Japanese town in dramatic fashion. She saves Toshio and a little girl from a fiery inferno. As events unfold, though the two are falling in love with each other, they both have different attitudes toward the events. Toshio is all about self preservation, taking a job with an English research team that will get him off of Japan. He does wish to take Reiko and the girl with him. However, Reiko, true to her heart, wants to stay in Japan and help with the evacuating and rescue efforts. Who will stay? Who will go? What will happen to our ill-fated lovers?

Based on the novel by Sakyo Komatsu, Masato Kato’s screenplay was directed by Higuchi Shinji. Sinking of Japan’s greatest strength is the character story. The pitfall of any disaster film is that you forget about the characters and are distracted by cool effects sequences and big explosions. Those are either intentional because the filmmakers know they’re characters are dull as dirt or the desire to entertain outweighs the desire to connect the audience with the core characters. And good disaster film has excellent explosions. A great disaster film makes you care for the people in the story.

That isn’t to say that they go cheap on the special effects. Not in the slightest. The effects are tip top. If I dare, like Attenborough says in a monster film from years past, “No expense has been spared”. I especially liked the aerial effects showing the nation of Japan from the stratosphere because they offer a different perspective of the disasters as they tear the nation apart. But I don’t want to put too much emphasis on the effects because as much as they are not the focus of the film neither should they be the focus of my review. They’re good. That’s all we need to know.

This is a shame of course because director Higuchi Shinji and his team do such a good job of capturing Japan and all her glory in the early shots that you almost suffer for her knowing you’re going to watch her turn to rubble. You almost want to reach out to the television and tell her to run! Sinking of Japan is nothing if not pretty.

You can say that Sinking of Japan is not unlike other disaster films. That’s not to say that there isn’t some uniqueness compared to its peers. Certainly never seen before by this reviewer is the moral and ethical debates played out by the politicians as they decide how to handle the impending crisis, who to save, how much to reveal to the public that they know. Issues also arise as the nation of Japan wishes to flee her doomed shores and find refuge in her neighbors, which proves impossible as her neighbors refuse entry into their borders. The frustration is clear in the Prime Minister as he tries to save his people, “We’re human before anything else. We all have the right to live and to hope”. So there is a side to this film that you rarely see in other disaster films.

And what else do you not see in this film? A dog rescue scene. Oh thank the heavens, the spirit of the film was not ruined by a silly dog rescue scene. That isn’t to say that Sinking of Japan is not a touch melodramatic. Oh hell, it is Asian after all and they love their melodrama over there. There is the obligatory love song final embrace scene but you come to expect these things from a film of this ilk. Yes, Sinking of Japan intentionally tugs at your heart strings. But that is what a disaster film does. It offers chills and thrills but it also stands as a testament of the human spirit’s ability to overcome tragedy. But you have to connect with your characters before you can believe that. And thankfully – no dog saving scene. Though I will note that what is funny is calling your rescue team the Tokyo Hyper Rescue Squad and using a beagle as a mascot on your logo. Now that’s hyper!

Higuchi Shinji does start his movie with the obligatory dramatic rescue sequence in which our key characters meet. It is of a caliber that would make a Hollow-wood popcorn director blush. It is sensational in every sense on the word. But it is almost as if Higuchi says, ‘Alright, here you are. Here is your big rescue scene. Happy? Good. Let’s get on with the story now’. He feeds the action buffs while stroking the film watcher intent on watching the relationship between Toshio and Reiko develop.

Sinking of Japan is not a masterpiece but it is a good film. Understandable why it was the blockbuster that it was in Japan when it screened. Sadly, this DVD is a barebones edition. Only a trailer is offered as an extra on this Region 3 disc. Shame.

Product Title: Sinking Of Japan (Hong Kong Version)
Region Code: 3
Release Date: February 1, 2007
Language: Japanese
Subtitle: English, Traditional Chinese
Buy it here at YesAsia