The film begins with a narration over shots of a modern-day Tokyo, noting that 16 years have passed since the end of World War II, and Japan has achieved rapid recovery. Mokichi Tamura works as a driver for a press center, hoping for happiness for his family. His daughter, Saeko, is in love with a merchant, Takano, who has been at sea for a long time. When he returns, the young couple agrees to get married with the consent of Saeko's father.
Meanwhile, tensions between the Federation and the Alliance (fictional stand-ins for the United States/NATO and the USSR/Warsaw Pact, respectively) build, especially after an intelligence-gathering vessel is captured. A new Korean War breaks out across the 38th parallel, with the Federation and Alliance drawn into the war. Tensions reach a critical level; dogfights between Federation and Alliance fighters over the Arctic Ocean (with both sides using nuclear-tipped air-to-air missiles) are just the beginning of a renewed conflict. Two Federation and Alliance ICBMs are nearly launched, though both are halted. Although Japan calls on both sides to seek peace, government officials think that the country could be ripe for Alliance retaliation in light of its open support for the Federation. Soon after an armistice agreement is concluded between North Korea and South Korea, tensions erupt again because of the fighting between the two nations. The efforts of the military to overcome the new war are fruitless.
Five ICBMs are eventually launched from both sides, with targets being major cities around the world; Tokyo, London, Paris, New York and Moscow. The Tamura family stays behind amid the city's panic and holds a final dinner. That night, Tokyo is struck by the first of the five ICBMs and blown to pieces, producing a mushroom cloud visible from as far away as Mount Fuji. The ground itself is torn open by the blast and magma erupts out of the resultant fissure, incinerating much of what little wreckage is left. Tamura and his family are killed by the detonation over Tokyo as their house is blown away by the detonation's fireball and shockwave. Shortly after Tokyo is destroyed, the remaining four missiles impact their targets, obliterating each of them. The following morning, Takano and his crew change the course of their ship to travel towards Tokyo's ruins, prepared to die from exposure to the intense radioactive fallout. The ship's chaperone and Takano break down as the enduring events of what has happened become realized. The last shot shows Tokyo, now an immense crater, with the remains of the Diet Building situated near the centre, surrounded by cooled lava flows. Just before the credits, a warning is overlayed on-screen, asking that the events shown never occur in reality.
Cast
Frankie Sakai as Mokichi Tamura, Tokyo Press Club limousine driver
Harold Conway as Federal Army Missile Base Commander
Howard Larson as Federal Army Staff Officer
Leonard Stanford as Federal Army Staff Officer
Ed Keene as Allied Army Commander
Bernard Barre as Allied Army Maintenance Officer
Hank Brown as Federal Army First Lieutenant Mark
Hans Horneff as Allied Army Missile Base Commander
Osman Yusuf as Allied Army Correspondent
Enver Altenbay as Allied Army reconnaissance crew (uncredited)
Rolf Jayser as Allied Army officer (uncredited)
Cump Cubens as Allied Army engineer (uncredited)
Haruo Nakajima as Policeman guiding evacuation (uncredited)
Production
The film had been a goal of Toho producer Tomoyuki Tanaka's for some time, using a script by screenwriter Shinobu Hashimoto, featuring the Cold War escalating to World War III from the perspective of an every-man and his family. As work progressed, it was discovered that Toei had produced a similar film, World War III Breaks Out: 41 Hours of Fear (1960) (第三次世界大戦 四十一時間の恐怖, Dai-sanji sekai taisen: Yonju-ichi jikan no kyofu), dealing with identical subject matter. The two companies created their films as a form of competition, with Toho selecting Shue Matsubayashi as director of their film.[3]
City destruction scenes were created using a variety of techniques. Nuclear attacks on Tokyo, New York, Paris, Moscow and London were done by blowing compressed air upwards at an upside-down miniature. These scenes were reused in films such as Prophecies of Nostradamus. Miniature structures such as the Kremlin and Tower Bridge were made of wafers. Tokyo's destruction sequence used molten iron and flammable charcoal to represent the lava flows and burning wreckage.[3]
Release
The Last War was released in Japan on October 8, 1961, where it was distributed by Toho.[1]
The film was Toho's second highest-grossing film of 1961 and the ninth highest grossing Japanese film in 1961.[1] The film earned ¥284.9 million domestically.[4]
The English version/dubbing of The Last War has only been released on VHS and is currently the only home video release of the film in the United States. Germany has seen a DVD release in 2008, under the title of Todesstrahlen aus dem Weltraum (translation: Death Rays from Outer Space).[5]
