Prophecies of Nostradamus: Difference between revisions
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==Plot== | ==Plot== | ||
In the spring of 1853, schoolmaster Genta Nishiyama begins preaching the prophecies of Michel de Nostredame using the book ''Centuries''. Nishiyama is executed by the Tokugawa Shogunate after discussing the arrival of black ships which will end Japan's long isolation. His wife and son escape with the book. At the onset of World War II, his descendant, Gengaku, is interrogated by an Imperial Army Officer for his continued preaching of the prophecies that | In the spring of 1853, schoolmaster Genta Nishiyama begins preaching the prophecies of Michel de Nostredame using the book ''Centuries''. Nishiyama is executed by the Tokugawa Shogunate after discussing the arrival of black ships which will end Japan's long isolation. His wife and son escape with the book. At the onset of World War II, his descendant, Gengaku, is interrogated by an Imperial Army Officer for his continued preaching of the prophecies that predict the rise of fascism and formation of the Axis. | ||
In 1999, Dr. Ryogen Nishiyama is discussing the use of chemicals which may assist crop yields across Japan. He is also arguing with local police about factory emissions. Later, in his home he receives threatening phone call about a similar matter. In a ministerial meeting he discusses problems with the cabinet which he says will affect the daily lives of the Japanese people. He participates in a Swiss conference about on how to deal with food shortages, overpopulation, and mysterious environmental events, such as large icebergs north of the [[Hawaii]]an islands. He discusses these matters in a meeting along with other mysterious happenings in Japan with the Minister of the Environment and other cabinet members. Meanwhile, the [[United Nations]] sends a scientific team to [[New Guinea]] to investigate and study radioactive dust clouds that have appeared there. When contact is lost with the team, Nishiyama joins a second mission to find and hopefully rescue the first team. They discover that the area where the first team was last seen is infested with mutated bats and radioactive leeches, which attack and knock one team member unconscious. A large group of cannibalistic natives attack the team, killing an unconscious member and scaring off the rest. While fleeing, they find the original team in a cave, barely alive. They are forced to mercy-kill the original team members, then bury all the dead. | In 1999, Dr. Ryogen Nishiyama is discussing the use of chemicals which may assist crop yields across Japan. He is also arguing with local police about factory emissions. Later, in his home he receives threatening phone call about a similar matter. In a ministerial meeting he discusses problems with the cabinet which he says will affect the daily lives of the Japanese people. He participates in a Swiss conference about on how to deal with food shortages, overpopulation, and mysterious environmental events, such as large icebergs north of the [[Hawaii]]an islands. He discusses these matters in a meeting along with other mysterious happenings in Japan with the Minister of the Environment and other cabinet members. Meanwhile, the [[United Nations]] sends a scientific team to [[New Guinea]] to investigate and study radioactive dust clouds that have appeared there. When contact is lost with the team, Nishiyama joins a second mission to find and hopefully rescue the first team. They discover that the area where the first team was last seen is infested with mutated bats and radioactive leeches, which attack and knock one team member unconscious. A large group of cannibalistic natives attack the team, killing an unconscious member and scaring off the rest. While fleeing, they find the original team in a cave, barely alive. They are forced to mercy-kill the original team members, then bury all the dead. |
Revision as of 16:37, 13 May 2019
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Prophecies of Nostradamus (ノストラダムスの大予言 is a Nosutoradamusu no Daiyogen, lit. Great Prophecies of Nostradamus)1974 tokusatsu film produced by Toho, and based on Tsutomu Goto's 1973 novel Great Prophecies of Nostradamus. It was released to Japanese theaters on August 3, 1974, and to American theaters on July 13, 1979.
Plot
In the spring of 1853, schoolmaster Genta Nishiyama begins preaching the prophecies of Michel de Nostredame using the book Centuries. Nishiyama is executed by the Tokugawa Shogunate after discussing the arrival of black ships which will end Japan's long isolation. His wife and son escape with the book. At the onset of World War II, his descendant, Gengaku, is interrogated by an Imperial Army Officer for his continued preaching of the prophecies that predict the rise of fascism and formation of the Axis.
In 1999, Dr. Ryogen Nishiyama is discussing the use of chemicals which may assist crop yields across Japan. He is also arguing with local police about factory emissions. Later, in his home he receives threatening phone call about a similar matter. In a ministerial meeting he discusses problems with the cabinet which he says will affect the daily lives of the Japanese people. He participates in a Swiss conference about on how to deal with food shortages, overpopulation, and mysterious environmental events, such as large icebergs north of the Hawaiian islands. He discusses these matters in a meeting along with other mysterious happenings in Japan with the Minister of the Environment and other cabinet members. Meanwhile, the United Nations sends a scientific team to New Guinea to investigate and study radioactive dust clouds that have appeared there. When contact is lost with the team, Nishiyama joins a second mission to find and hopefully rescue the first team. They discover that the area where the first team was last seen is infested with mutated bats and radioactive leeches, which attack and knock one team member unconscious. A large group of cannibalistic natives attack the team, killing an unconscious member and scaring off the rest. While fleeing, they find the original team in a cave, barely alive. They are forced to mercy-kill the original team members, then bury all the dead.
After the events in New Guinea, an SST jet explodes in the atmosphere over Japan, puncturing the ozone layer and unleashing ultraviolet rays which cause massive floods throughout Japan and all over the world. These floods destroy the country's food production, leading the government to ration. Riots and looting begin spreading throughout Japan. Hundreds of youth commit suicide as society breaks down. The massive panic escalates into a local war and eventually a global nuclear conflict. Most of the survivors are rendered horribly disfigured and are left to fight over food among themselves.
Nishiyama then explains to the Japanese cabinet that these events may one day become a reality. The Prime Minister sends out a plea for assistance to set the country's troubled course on the right path so that future generations will be able to live and prosper. Afterwards Nishiyama, his daughter, and his photographer colleague Akira then leave the National Diet Building.
Staff
- Main article: Prophecies of Nostradamus/Credits.
Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.
- Directed by Toshio Masuda
- Written by Toshio Masuda, Yoshimitsu Banno
- Adapted from the screenplay for The Last War by Toshio Yasumi
- Based on the novel Great Prophecies of Nostradamus by Tsutomu Goto
- Inspired by the writings of Michel de Nostredame
- Produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka, Osamu Tanaka
- Music by Isao Tomita
- Cinematography by Rokuro Nishigaki, Kaoru Washio
- Edited by Nobuo Ogawa
- Production Design by Yoshiro Muraki
- Assistant Directing by Yoshimitsu Banno, Fumisuke Okada
- Special Effects by Motoyoshi Tomioka, Takeshi Yamamoto, Yasuyuki Inoue, Teruyoshi Nakano, Koichi Kawakita
Cast
Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.
- Tetsuro Tamba as Dr. Nishiyama
- Kaoru Yumi as Mariko Nishiyama
- Toshio Kurosawa as Akira Nakagawa
- Yoko Tsukasa as Nobuko Nishiyama
- Katsuhiko Sasaki as Yoshihama, assistant to Nishiyama
- Takashi Shimura as Pediatrician
- Akihiko Hirata as Environmental scientist #1
- Hiroshi Koizumi as Environmental scientist #2
- So Yamamura as Prime Minister Kuroki
- Tappei Shimokawa as Captain of Defense Forces
- Mizuho Suzuki as Director General of Environment Agency
- Masaru Ryuzaki
- Kazuo Kato as Scholar
- Taketoshi Naito as Chief Cabinet Secretary
- Jun Hamamura as Kida
- Kyoko Kishida as Narrator (Japanese version)
- Tetsu Nakamura as Katsuko Nakagawa, Akira's mother
- Franz Gruber as Doctor Wilson
- Osman Yusuf
- Kuniyasu Atsumi as Scholar
- Ralph Jesser as Party member 2
- Shunsuke Kariya as Leader in crowd
- Toshizo Kudo as Man who asks question
- Chico Lourant as Nigerian ambassador
- Masahiko Tanimura as Tayama
- Yasuko Agawa as Kida's daughter (as Tomoe Mari)
- Mikizo Hirata as Sanji Nakagawa, Akira's father
- Kazuko Inano as Hamako Tayama, Tayama's wife
- Sayoko Kato as Bus girl in Shikoku
- Shosei Muto as Ihara
- Goro Naya as TV newscaster
- Yuji Osugi as Akira's brother
- Kumeko Otowa as Kida's wife
- Kaori Taniguchi as Orin
- Toshiko Yabuki as Housewife who asks question
- Mayako Yoshida as Wife of Akira's brother
- Toshio Masuda as Voice
- Jack Ryland as Narrator (American version)
Appearances
Monsters |
Weapons, Vehicles, and Races
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Gallery
- Main article: Prophecies of Nostradamus/Gallery.
Soundtrack
- Main article: Prophecies of Nostradamus (Soundtrack).
Production
Prophecies of Nostradamus was based on the first of ten books about Nostradamus by Tsutomu Goto. He first became interested in the physicist following the Apollo 11 moon landing, which Quatrain 9-85 appeared to have predicted.[2] Published during the 1973 oil shock, Goto's novel Great Prophecies of Nostradamus became a bestseller. Yoshimitsu Banno and Toshio Masuda wrote the script for Prophecies of Nostradamus from a Shibuya hotel in about ten days, though Masuda was not present for the full duration.[3] Toshio Yasumi also received a story credit, though the credits do not clarify that it was for his work on the earlier 1961 movie The Last War, which also featured a nuclear war with a sick mother as an emotional anchor.[4] Prophecies of Nostradamus incorporates a significant amount of stock footage from The Last War as well.
As assistant director, Banno was responsible for most of the New Guinea sequence. A Toho soundstage was damaged in a fire caused by one of the special effects scenes, with the ruined props including the original Moguera suit.[5]
Alternate Titles
- Great Prophecies of Nostradamus (Literal Japanese Title)
- Catastrophe 1999 (Original English Title)
- The Last Days of Planet Earth (United States)
- Nostradamus' End of the World: 2000 (Fin Du Monde Nostradamus - An 2000; France)
- Catastrophe (Catastrofe; Italy)
- The Prophecy of Nostradamus World Disaster in 1999? (Die Prophezeiung des Nostradamus Weltkatastrophe 1999?; West Germany)
- The End of the World: The Prophecies of Nostradamus Fulfilled! (El Fin del Mundo ¡Las Profecías de Nostradamus se Cumplen!; Mexico)
Theatrical Releases
- Japan - August 3, 1974 [view poster]
- United States - July 13, 1979
- France - September 25, 1974 [view poster]
- West Germany - May 22, 1975 [view poster]
- Mexico [view poster]
U.S. Release
Prophecies of Nostradamus was released in the United States by Toho in 1979. The film's runtime had been cut from 114 to 87 minutes for international distribution. In the 1980's UPA acquired the rights to distribute the film on home video and television. UPA's version of the film, titled The Last Days of Planet Earth, is based on Toho's 87-minute international version but also removes many of the more controversial scenes retained in the international version and incorporates several scenes from the original Japanese release as well, with its runtime reduced to 88 minutes. It was released on VHS and Laserdisc in 1995 through Paramount.[5] This version remains the only legitimate release of the film to be available in the United States.
Unmade Sequel
Tomoyuki Tanaka proposed a sequel for the film in 1974, the year of the film's theatrical premiere, aimed for a 1975 release. The proposed sequel was tentatively titled Prophecies of Nostradamus II: The Great King of Terror (ノストラダムスの大予言II 恐怖の大魔王, and would follow the character Tsutomu Goto (named after the author of the novel upon which the first film was based) as he attempts to contact the spirit of Michel de Nostredame in order to avert the impending end of the world. Nosutoradamusu no Daiyogen Tsū Kyōfu no Dai Maō)[6]
Videos
Trailers
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Other
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Trivia
- Following the film's release, various anti-nuclear and atomic bomb survivor advocate groups filed a complaint to the Eirin Board, which was in charge of censoring films in Japan. They protested that the scenes depicting the mutant humans created by nuclear fallout were offensive towards survivors of the atomic bombs. In response, Toho removed several minutes of footage from the film and added dialogue to humanize the mutants. The international English version of the film, dubbed in Hong Kong, restores this footage, although it is significantly shorter overall. In 1980, Toho aired the uncut 114-minute version of the film on television, which was the last time the film was ever shown. In the United States in the 1980's, the film's runtime was cut down to 88 minutes and it was released as The Last Days of Planet Earth. Toho has yet to release any cut of the film for the home video market in Japan due to having placed it under a self-imposed studio ban, while only cut versions are available overseas.[5] Bootlegs of the uncut film do still circulate around the world.
- This film depicts the destruction of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, which was the site of a real-life nuclear disaster following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.
External Links
References
This is a list of references for Prophecies of Nostradamus. 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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Comments
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