BATTLE OF THE SEA OF JAPAN (Nihonkai daikaisen) 1969
This 1969 Japanese film is about the war of 1904-05 between the Russian and Japanese Empires. It shows how the war came about, and the political infighting that led to the conflict. The war was over what Japan thought was Russian meddling in the area around Japan. The Japanese sent ground troops to attack the Russian fort at Port Arthur. There were also several large naval battles. The war ended with the Japanese victorious. The Russian loss was the largest defeat of a European country by a non-European nation, since the Italian's were roundly thumped at the Battle of Adowa on March 1, 1896 by the Ethiopians.
The film shows all these various events from the start of the conflict, to the large naval battle that more or less ended the fight. Toshiro Mifune plays the lead here as Admiral Togo. The Russians for the most part were played by U.S. servicemen stationed in Japan.
The action scenes are quite well handled with plenty of blood being spilt. Being a Toho Studio Production, there is plenty of superb model work on display. The pre cgi effects are quite something to see. The naval battles are excellent, and the ship models look quite accurate.
This was the first war where modern weapons were put to work with deadly effect. The tactics of 20 years earlier against machine guns etc caused large casualties on both side. The navies of the time still thought the ram was a viable weapon. State of the art naval guns wrought havoc on this dated idea. The Russian fleet lost so many ships in the conflict, that, they went from the third largest fleet in the world, to eighth. By the time World War One rolled around they still had not replaced their losses.
Well worth a look if you are a military history buff.
This 1969 Japanese film is about the war of 1904-05 between the Russian and Japanese Empires. It shows how the war came about, and the political infighting that led to the conflict. The war was over what Japan thought was Russian meddling in the area around Japan. The Japanese sent ground troops to attack the Russian fort at Port Arthur. There were also several large naval battles. The war ended with the Japanese victorious. The Russian loss was the largest defeat of a European country by a non-European nation, since the Italian's were roundly thumped at the Battle of Adowa on March 1, 1896 by the Ethiopians.
The film shows all these various events from the start of the conflict, to the large naval battle that more or less ended the fight. Toshiro Mifune plays the lead here as Admiral Togo. The Russians for the most part were played by U.S. servicemen stationed in Japan.
The action scenes are quite well handled with plenty of blood being spilt. Being a Toho Studio Production, there is plenty of superb model work on display. The pre cgi effects are quite something to see. The naval battles are excellent, and the ship models look quite accurate.
This was the first war where modern weapons were put to work with deadly effect. The tactics of 20 years earlier against machine guns etc caused large casualties on both side. The navies of the time still thought the ram was a viable weapon. State of the art naval guns wrought havoc on this dated idea. The Russian fleet lost so many ships in the conflict, that, they went from the third largest fleet in the world, to eighth. By the time World War One rolled around they still had not replaced their losses.
Well worth a look if you are a military history buff.