yossarian100 Similar to UNDER SIEGE, where a handful of good guys attempts to retake a naval vessel from terrorists, only no Erika Eleniak topless in this one. Our hero succeeds, not because of his tremendous skills in martial arts and Ranger training, but because he clings stubbornly to his own sense of duty as a Chief Petty Officer in the Japanese Navy, refreshingly uncomplicated. He just won't give up.The film takes the time to not only tell a story but also to trot out some rather nationalistic political philosophy about Japan becoming more aggressive on the international scene by moving its military away from its defensive only posture and not being so chummy with America.Actually, the movie is both entertaining, intriguing, and somewhat silly...almost like a good Godzilla movie...but it works. I gave it a "7" primarily because it was enjoyable to watch and the characters were interesting enough to care about.

Syd Mori Aegis (2005) - Wrong Way to Make a Movie Note: This "comment" may contain "spoilers", but only in the sense that it's not worth watching. "Aegis" (meaning "shield") was a little disappointing. Following "Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Ocean" and "Sengoku jieitai 1549", I probably placed too much expectations on the third film based on novels written by Harutoshi Fukui. The film uses real SDF (Self-Defense Force) vessels, and I don't know how much the producers had to pay for this, but there were obvious budgetary problems. The CG is low-grade, or is omitted entirely. The ship, Isokaze, sinks another SDF vessel, but this scene is depicted only in the form of a distant flare of explosion seen from Isokaze. If not for budgetary reasons, this scene should have been a highlight of the film, depicted in full CG.Another major problem about this film is that non-Japanese who don't know anything about SDF or Japanese Constitutional issues or history will probably understand nothing about what is going on in the film. For instance, the SDF is a military organization, but many of the operations that its naval division should be carrying out are in reality carried out by another government agency "Japan Coast Guard" (JCG). In contrast to the naval SDF which is even prohibited from operating outside Japanese waters with a few exceptions, the JCG vessels, though not equipped with long-range weapons, are authorized to engage in counter-terrorist and -piracy operations anywhere in the world. A few years ago, several JCG vessels chased what it said was a North Korean spy vessel to outside Japanese waters and into Chinese waters where they sank the vessel killing all its crew. The JCG is also authorized to sign international agreements that concern maritime affairs, with the Foreign Office only needing to acknowledge such agreements after the fact. Additionally, some of you Japanophiles might remember how the novelist Yukio Mishima died. He visited an SDF headquarters in Tokyo and called upon the soldiers there to realize what they were there for. No one responded, so Mishima committed hara-kiri suicide in front of the Japanese public. The original title translates as "Aegis of a Nation in Demise". The majority of the Japanese feel that something is wrong about their nation, but don't know the answer or are simply not interested. Like the other two films based on Fukui's novels, "Aegis" treats the same kind of theme, namely What is war? What is nation? What does it mean to kill your enemy? Can you really kill another human being because he happened to be your enemy? These questions are utterly irrelevant to the people of the majority of the nations of the world which are fighting for survival or national interest. Some of you might remember U.S. President Bush's slip of tongue when he said the war against Saddam Hussein was a "crusade". This means that Japan joined the Iraqi war when it was not even a Christian country. No one here even noticed this issue. The fundamental question and theme of "Aegis" is that Japan has full- fledged land, naval and air forces, but its people don't know what these are for, what it means to fight, what it means to defend their nation, or even what a "nation" is. This is the meaning of the title "Nation in Demise", implies Fukui. "Aegis" probably takes lines right from the novel. For this reason, statements are often interesting. "Peace is a kind of void between wars". Or, "Japanese didn't earn peace; they were just given it" (by the United States) says the terrorist leader played by Kiichi Nakai who usually appears in films and dramas as a typical Japanese soldier (interesting casting). But the film was disappointing, because it seemed like it just took the main plot and words from the novel and did nothing else than to let the SDF advertise its state-of-the-art Aegis vessel. And, partly for the mentioned omission of the scene of another SDF vessel being Harpoon-sunk by Isokaze, the entire film lacks the tension that the novel probably had, and also lacks the detailed character development that the novel probably spent a lot of pages for. We are just presented with this cold-hearted terrorist leader. But there is a girl who seems like his relative. We are supplied nothing about the relationship between these people, or the real feelings of this terrorist leader. The only watchable plot evolves around Sengoku, who is a junior officer of this SDF vessel, fighting the terrorists to "protect my men and vessel". Having watched the film, I think the novel might be interesting. But I don't recommend either the film or the novel to anybody without good knowledge of the things that I mentioned. You might hear interesting lines. But you never get to know who these people really are. Sengoku has a daughter but his wife is dead. That's all we know about him. Summarizing the novel and taking lines from it is not the way to make a movie. If the lines are more distracting for being so interesting, they should have been dumped, the story should be changed, subplots should be trashed and necessary ones should be created. By making a film that is faithful to the novel, the film probably undermined the whole point of the novel. (9/11/05, Sunday)

Furuya Shiro Before going to the cinema, I checked a Japanese movie web site, and was surprised by that fact the average rating was very low while the number of postings were many. After seeing the movie, I understood the reason. It is a part of fun to ponder about the scenes you could not understand well in a movie. But in this movie it is meaningless. The original novel, a bestseller, is a complicated long one of 650 pages, which I have not read. It seems this movie have shrunk the whole story into 2 hours proportionally. This is why there are scenes that are too ambiguous or not linked to any other scenes. Unless you have read the original novel, I believe it is waste of time to ponder about them. If you see this movie as an entertaining action film, well it is enjoyable. But perhaps the director Sakamoto intended to convey more, which is failed.

fasero rinrin I think that "EAGIS" is a wonderful movie. Certainly, I think that there is a person who feels that the action scene is not a little satisfactory compared with a general American movie. The adult with high age is appreciating deliberately in Japan. For the spectator who is accustomed to the animated cartoon and the SF action, it might be thought that power is a little. However, I think that this movie is not a movie from which only the action is requested. I think that I should deliberately see a wonderful acting of the four actors of whom Japan boasts. Four actors are Hiroyuki Sanada it, Satoshi Terao it, Koichi Sato, and Nakai Kiichi. Each actor also is winning Best Actor in a Leading Role by Japanese Academy Award. Especially, Hiroyuki Sanada of starring is performing a universal Japanese image as self-defense force official's middle-ranking managerial post. He does the excellent acting for which it appeals in feelings as man of the life-size in "EAGIS" though he is a very excellent as for "Corogen" of the period play of the action and Japan actor. I paid attention to Hiroyuki Sanada's acting, and was impressed by his individual dialog. I hope for a person who who is Japanese and all over the world for the dialog that he speaks to only have to be understood more. It expresses important feelings that seem to forget by the Japanese and become it very symbolically. Music is also beautiful. The person in charge of music is Mr. Trevor Jones. The world of "AEGIS" is threefold doubly expressed deep. I hope "AEGIS" makes it open to the public in a country all over the world.