There's no doubt about it--"Tokyo File 212" is a terrible movie. The acting is often terrible (by a cast of mostly unknowns), the writing and dialog silly and the plot is also rather silly. Yet, it's still worth seeing because the film is an interesting look into the Cold War.
The film is set in Japan during the Korean War and was made with the cooperation of the Japanese and American governments. What it appears to be is a film that is trying to cement positive relations between the two countries since they were partnered against communism and it was made during the Korean War (and Japan was a staging point for the UN's forces aiding South Korea).
The film concerns an American reporter who works as an undercover agent. His job is to locate an old college friend---one who is Japanese and is working for the commies. Through much of the film, the American is assisted by a woman who looks a lot like Natasha from "The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle"! Eventually, they are able to get the old friend to see the goodness of democracy and the find ends on a very explosive note.
The bottom line is that although the film has a few exciting scenes, many of the actors had great difficulty reciting their lines and the film came off as super-duper cheap. You'd think with the US and Japanese government behind it, the film would have been a lot better! Instead, it looks a lot like a film created by some government hacks with little input from film professionals. Laughably bad at times--but an interesting look into the Cold War and the sort of films that were produced during the height of this tense period.
The film is set in Japan during the Korean War and was made with the cooperation of the Japanese and American governments. What it appears to be is a film that is trying to cement positive relations between the two countries since they were partnered against communism and it was made during the Korean War (and Japan was a staging point for the UN's forces aiding South Korea).
The film concerns an American reporter who works as an undercover agent. His job is to locate an old college friend---one who is Japanese and is working for the commies. Through much of the film, the American is assisted by a woman who looks a lot like Natasha from "The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle"! Eventually, they are able to get the old friend to see the goodness of democracy and the find ends on a very explosive note.
The bottom line is that although the film has a few exciting scenes, many of the actors had great difficulty reciting their lines and the film came off as super-duper cheap. You'd think with the US and Japanese government behind it, the film would have been a lot better! Instead, it looks a lot like a film created by some government hacks with little input from film professionals. Laughably bad at times--but an interesting look into the Cold War and the sort of films that were produced during the height of this tense period.