Japan Sinks (aka Nihon Chinbotsu)

Objective Rating (How much merit I think it deserves):
7/10
Subjective Rating (How much I personally like it):
7/10

Year released: 2006
Runtime: 135 minutes
IMDB page: here

See, this movie was long too, but I didn't really feel it. It was a bit slow at times, but you don't think "when's this movie gonna end?!" every 5 minutes. But then, if a disaster movie ends too fast, it couldn't have gone well for the characters...

Plot: Japan sinks. Pretty self-explanatory. End of movie. No, just kidding. Due to the movements of tectonic plates, Japan will sink (the plate with Japan on it is getting dragged under). America predicts 50 years, but a Japanese geologist predicts less than a year based on new evidence he gathered. The government doesn't want to cause a panic, so they say it's gonna be 5 years and start to evacuate people to neighbouring countries. Meanwhile, earthquakes and seaquakes and volcanic eruptions and other natural disasters plague the nation. The story centers on Toshio, an experienced operator of deep-sea probes, and Reiko, a firewoman/rescue worker.

Cast: I'll try not to get bogged down with Japanese names, but... Kusanagi Tsuyoshi (Toshio) is a member of the famous Japanese boyband SMAP (who, despite being a group of 30-something-year-olds now, is still extremely popular). Shibasaki Kou is also a singer/actress who appears as the evil Mitsuko in Battle Royale (one of my favourite survivor horror movies). But really, very few people watch this kind of movie for the acting.

Script: Well, the plate tectonics theory was used pretty convincingly, at least to a non-professional like me. This started out as a novel of the same name, which was made into a movie in the 70s, and now is remade. Things make sense, some themes are explored lightly (like social inequality, international relationships, to stay and help or to flee), and there's some human interest in there.

Production: That's where the money is. Very spectacular visual effects for all the natural disasters. Rumoured to be the most costly film in Japanese cinematic history, this movie delivers realistic explosions, floods, eruptions, collapses, and a lot of other phenomena that are very expensive to make, either physically or by CG.

Again, watch for the spectacles, not the people. It can be a bit heart-breaking near the end. And also, this Japanese mentality of disaster is very curious; it must have something to do with the fact the country is, in real life, often troubled by natural disasters.