Latitude Zero

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The Japanese poster for Latitude Zero
Directed by Ishiro Honda
Producer Don Sharpe,
Tomoyuki Tanaka
Written by Warren Lewis,
Shinichi Sekizawa,
Ted Sherdeman
Music by Akira Ifukube
Distributor Toho JP
National General Pictures US
Rating G
Budget ¥360,000,000
Box office $?,???,???
Running time 89 minutesJP
(1 hour, 29 minutes)
98 minutesUS
(1 hour, 38 minutes)
105 minutesIntl
(1 hour, 45 minutes)

Latitude Zero (緯度0大作戦,   Ido Zero Daisakusen, lit. Latitude 0 Great Operation) is a 1969 tokusatsu science fiction film produced by Toho and based on the radio serial Latitude Zero created by Ted Sherdeman.

Plot

After Dr. Ken Tashiro, Dr. Jules Masson, and Perry Lawton get trapped in a bathysphere due to seismic activity, they are rescued by the crew of the Alpha, a supersubmarine that was launched in the early 19th century. They are greeted by the ship's captain, Craig McKenzie whom they learn is over 200 years old. McKenzie takes the men to Latitude Zero, an underground paradise located at the intersection of the Equator and the International Date Line.

In Latitude Zero, gold and diamonds are plentiful, the inhabitants are peaceful, nobody ages or dies, and everyone lives in peace and harmony. But, McKenzie's rival Malik (who is also over 200 years old) doesn't feel the same way as Latitude Zero's inhabitants. Malik wishes to destroy it using everything he can conjure.

Of all the visitors to Latitude Zero, only Perry Lawton, a journalist, wished to return home. He was picked up by a US Navy vessel and is left with Graig McKenzie and Malik who insist their names are Commander Glenn McKenzie and Lieutenant Hastings. Confused at why the people he had previously seen had different names and why the two mortal enemies were acting so friendly toward each other, Lawton discovers his film is ruined and when he opens the pouch where he placed his complimentary diamonds, he finds tobacco. Just as he is about to resign himself to the fact that his adventure never occurred, the ship is wired a message stating that a cache of diamonds has been deposited in his name in a safe deposit box in New York City.

Staff

Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.

Cast

Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.

  • Joseph Cotten   as   Captain Craig McKenzie/Commander Glenn McKenzie
  • Cesar Romero   as   Dr. Malik/Lieutenant Hastings
  • Akira Takarada   as   Dr. Ken Tashiro
  • Masumi Okada   as   Dr. Jules Masson
  • Richard Jaeckal   as   Perry Lawton
  • Patricia Medina   as   Lucretia
  • Tetsu Nakamura   as   Dr. Okada
  • Mari Nakayama   as   Tsuruko Okada
  • Akihiko Hirata   as   Dr. Sugata
  • Wataru Ômae   as   Advisor
  • Hikaru Kuroki   as   Captain Kroiga
  • Linda Haynes   as   Dr. Anne Barton
  • Susumu Kurobe   as   Chin
  • Burr Middleton   as   Additional Voices
  • Haruo Nakajima   as   Bat Person, Giant Rat, Griffon

Appearances

Weapons, Vehicles, Races

Monsters

Gallery

Main article: Latitude Zero/Gallery.

Soundtrack

Main article: Latitude Zero (Soundtrack).

Alternate Titles

  • Latitude Zero Military Tactics (Zero gunji senjutsu o ido)
  • Latitude Zero: Big Military Operation (Ido zero: Ōkina gunji sakusen)
  • Atragon II (Kaitei Gunkan II, lit. Undersea Battleship II)
  • U 4000: Panic in the Deep Sea (U 4000: Panik in der Tiefsee, Germany)
  • Where the World Ends (Donde el mundo termina, Spain)

DVD and Blu-ray Releases

Tokyo Shock DVD (2007)

  • Region: 1
  • Discs: 2
  • Audio: English (5.1 Surround, 2.0 Mono), Japanese (1.0 Mono)
  • Special Features: Photo gallery; three trailers; interview with Seiji Tani, Teruyoshi Nakano, Koichi Kawakita, and Motoyoshi Tomioka ; unused special effects footage from Latitude Zero, Atragon, Submersion of Japan, and The Imperial Navy (28 minutes)
  • Notes: Out of print.

Though Latitude Zero is not available on Blu-ray, an HD version can be rented or purchased on the Japanese versions of Amazon Video and iTunes.

Videos

Japanese Latitude Zero trailer
American Latitude Zero trailers

Trivia

  • Little is known about the radio show Latitude Zero was based on, but a 1941 TIME article states that the protagonist and antagonist were always Captain Craig McKenzie and Malik, the Alpha was called the Omega, and a griffon appeared in at least one episode.[1]
  • Unlike other 1960's Toho productions starring American actors, Latitude Zero was filmed entirely in English. Even the Japanese actors, including Akira Takarada and Akihiko Hirata, deliver all of their lines in English.

External Links

References

This is a list of references for Latitude Zero. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]

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