[2006]Sinking of japan - Disaster

berun · Post time 28-10-2014 03:29 PM

Nihon Chinbotsu (日本沈没?, lit. "Japan Sinks") is a 2006 Tokusatsu film directed by Shinji Higuchi, and a remake of the 1973 screenplay based on the Komatsu novel. It stars Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Kou Shibasaki, Etsushi Toyokawa, and Mao Daichi, and was released on July 15, 2006.
The film is also known under the titles "Sinking of Japan" and "Doomsday: The Sinking of Japan".
It was parodied in Nihon Igai Zenbu Chinbotsu ("Everyone but Japan Sinks").

Synopsis

Submersible pilot Toshio Onodera wakes up pinned inside his car in Numazu after an earthquake wreaks havoc in the city and nearby Suruga Bay. As aftershock triggers an explosion, a rescue helicopter led by Reiko Abe saves him and a young girl named Misaki.
In Tokyo, geologists around the world become concerned about Japan; one predicts that the country will sink within 40 years. Japanese geoscientist Yusuke Tadokoro doubts the prediction and analyzes rocks in Kyushu, Hokkaido, and Mangaia in the Cook Islands, where he hypothesizes that the rock came from the ancient continent of Japan after it split from Pangaea thousands of years ago. Tadokoro realizes Japan will sink in 338.54 days instead of the original 40-year estimate. Tadokoro reports his theory to the Cabinet, recommending immediate action, but none of the ministers are convinced. He is ejected from the chamber, but not before he angrily explains to everyone how Japan will sink, with the destruction of the Fossa Magna and the eruption of Mount Fuji as the climax.
The next day, Prime Minister Yamamoto goes to China to try arranging a resettlement for Japanese refugees and appoints a close colleague, Saori Takamori, as disaster management minister. Tadokoro's predictions come to light: in Hokkaido, the Daisetsuzan volcano range bursts along with Mount Aso. The eruption destroys Yamamoto's plane while Kumamoto City's residents flee in terror as lava bombs rain down and a pyroclastic flow bears down on the city.
Takamori panics when she finds out about the prime minister's death. Earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions rock southwest Japan, affecting a large-scale evacuation now underway. As the economy collapses, the government declares a state of emergency but de facto Prime Minister Kyosuke Nozaki announces that Japan will take five years to sink. Because of Nozaki's indifference to the situation, Takamori runs to Tadokoro's laboratory, where he proposes using experimental N2 explosives drilled into the crust to separate the land from the megalith pulling it down. The minister, who is actually Tadokoro's ex-wife, calls for help from drillships around the world.

Misaki, Reiko's family and the rest of Tokyo's populace is evacuated. Onodera confesses his true feelings for Reiko and wants her to go to England with him. An aftershock finally destroys the Kinki region and many Tokyo evacuees are killed by a massive landslide, with people falling into the valley below as Misaki is rescued by Reiko's family and they witness a crowded bridge collapse.

Yuki Tatsuya, Onodera's fellow submersible pilot, dies in an attempt to activate the warheads from a central module. Onodera takes his place using an old submersible brought out of museum storage and spends a night with Reiko before the operation. Although he locates the detonation module, a sudden landslide damages his submersible to the point that it is running on emergency power. Onodera uses all the remaining power to move into position and install the detonator. Mount Fuji begins to erupt. Toshio succeeds in his task and calmly awaits his doom. The warheads explode, creating a chain of explosions along the seafloor, saving Japan.

The success of the mission reaches Takamori aboard the amphibious carrier Shimokita, which has been converted as the Japanese government's temporary headquarters. Although she recommends that Nozaki address the refugees, her colleagues want her to do it instead, given her leadership during the crisis. She announces that people can finally return and holds a moment of silence in honor of Tatsuya and Onodera's sacrifice.

In Fukushima Prefecture, Toshio's mother, who wanted to remain at her house until the end, is overjoyed when she sees birds return- a sign of his success. Reiko rescues her family as they look towards a bright sunrise, before the credits start rolling, showing a drastically altered Japan.