The World Sinks Except Japan

If you're blessed with a twisted sense of humor, and enjoy really bad tongue-in-cheek disaster movies, then this is the flick for you. It's a parody of Japan Sinks (1975) and it's remake (2006) both made for TV. The premise is, "Every land mass, except for Japan, begins to sink below sea level. The rest of the world is clamoring for survival. How many survivors can, or will, Japan accept? Who manages to make it out alive? What is your threshold for terrible acting, awful CG, and suspension of disbelief? Well, I did warn you.

Silly loved it

I heard through the grapevine that this was a Japanese spoof of disaster movies and cross-cultural misconceptions. I think it's more of a spoof of a movie - something some guys with no movie-making experience put together. At first I wondered maybe if something was lost in translation, but it's just so ... uninteresting. There was a good premise here and plenty of opportunity for satire, but everything is so stiff and wooden - the acting is horrible, the dialogue is horrible, the plot is awkward and sort of series of absurd sketches (American actors out of work and performing in Japanese bars, foreign leaders kowtowing to the PM of Japan, the eccentric scientist trying to explain it all) loosely tied against the end of the world. The stereotypes aren't funny - not out of an aversion to all things politically incorrect - they're just not funny. Don't waste your time on this one.

Weird movies lol ...

This is a poorly acted campy film which I loved because it is a satire on many levels. After all the world sinks, except Japan, the island nation becomes the home to foreigners who over run the country. Japan still wants to maintain its identity and culture. The problem of the film is that every scene, every word, is a satire of something, making the viewer engage with the film. In one scene we see Japanese eat whales and bald eagles because they are not protected while bashing hungry foreigners going after their sacred carp. US stars must now prostitute themselves and a little guy from North Korea wants to run the world. In one scene our starlet talks about "a country with only yellow monkeys" which made it by the PC police. Even the size of Japanese manhood makes the satire list. The film laughs at Japanese films which "look so cheap." Global warming causes the sinking and the theme of the film is that life is short on this earth, we are global and need to get along. It is all about sharing the mitt. I loved this film. I can see where most people won't. Guide: No F-bombs, sex, or nudity. Adult themes. Mountain View Movies $3.99

I was 'intrigued' by the title of this film and the box-cover art made it look like it could be a rousing disaster flik with lotsa good Japanese style minature model work. However, the actual film took a different approach to the concept of world calamity - and I can see why some (re)viewers might feel 'let down' by it. This is actually more of a 'broad' satire on themes of climate/planet change, foreign immigration, & nationalism, and the 'not so special' effects are secondary to the human dramas that are played out. I found some of the concepts portrayed and the utilization of American and Japanese actors to be pretty entertaining and better realized than in similar attempts at blending eastern & western thespians I have viewed in other Japanese flix. The basic premise is admittedly absurd, but it is just a vehicle to stage the aforementioned themes. I've noted in watching a lot of Japanese films that their handling of 'parody' is sometimes rather 'heavy-handed' by western standards and this film may 'suffer' a bit from that syndrome. Still - if one can 'park their nationalism' at the door, there is some real cleverness at play here and, I thought, over-all a pretty enjoyable watch. I'm 'guessing' that this film may well be a 'response' to the, diametrically opposed, movie "The Sinking of Japan" ( AKA "Japan Sinks") - which has been released in 2 incarnations... the first version by TOHO studios in the mid 1970's, and, apparently, again more recently in 2006. I have seen the TOHO version in a Japanese language only print, so I cannot remark on the subtlties of the plot & dialog, but the 'disaster' effects are very impressive (in a pre-CGI sorta way). In that film the 'sinking' situation is reversed with only Japan going under the waves and needing to re-locate its' population elsewhere around the globe. Given this context, the ridiculous reversal of the situation in "The World Sinks...Except Japan" may be viewed as blantantly satirical of the source film. Unfortunately, the 1970's 'Sinking of Japan' is a scarce commodity. Technically, the film "The World Sinks - Except Japan" is in widescreen format with xlnt image quality. The sound-track utilizes a clever blend of Japanese with English sub-titles mixed with English w/ Japanese sub-titles - depending on 'who' is speaking. There is a generous selection of 'extras' iincluded on the disk.

Rarely do Japanese film comedies survive cultural translation. Here is an exception, since the satire is so broad brushed you can’t miss at least some of the humor. From ridiculous accents spouted by nonJapanese actors to whale meat dishes to (now superfluous) world leaders and international organizations, there is tongue-in (and out-of) cheek humor directed in all directions including Japanese black humor, stereotypes, and parodies. Cheesy “special effects” add to the fun. Directing, acting (especially Hitomi Takashima), cinematography, and film score are fine. The film seems stretched out though; its satirical impact could have benefited from more judicious pruning. Subtitles are a bit long and often tardy (what actors are saying is translated after [not while] the dialog is delivered). The more you know (or think you know) about modern Japanese culture, the greater should be your amusement! WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD.

I was 'intrigued' by the title of this film and the box-cover art made it look like it could be a rousing disaster flik with lotsa good Japanese style minature model work. However, the actual film took a different approach to the concept of world calamity - and I can see why some (re)viewers might feel 'let down' by it. This is actually more of a 'broad' satire on themes of climate/planet change, foreign immigration, & nationalism, and the 'not so special' effects are secondary to the human dramas that are played out. I found some of the concepts portrayed and the utilization of American and Japanese actors to be pretty entertaining and better realized than in similar attempts at blending eastern & western thespians I have viewed in other Japanese flix. The basic premise is admittedly absurd, but it is just a vehicle to stage the aforementioned themes. I've noted in watching a lot of Japanese films that their handling of 'parody' is sometimes rather 'heavy-handed' by western standards and this film may 'suffer' a bit from that syndrome. Still - if one can 'park their nationalism' at the door, there is some real cleverness at play here and, I thought, over-all a pretty enjoyable watch. I'm 'guessing' that this film may well be a 'response' to the, diametrically opposed, movie "The Sinking of Japan" ( AKA "Japan Sinks") - which has been released in 2 incarnations... the first version by TOHO studios in the mid 1970's, and, apparently, again more recently in 2006. I have seen the TOHO version in a Japanese language only print, so I cannot remark on the subtlties of the plot & dialog, but the 'disaster' effects are very impressive (in a pre-CGI sorta way). In that film the 'sinking' situation is reversed with only Japan going under the waves and needing to re-locate its' population elsewhere around the globe. Given this context, the ridiculous reversal of the situation in "The World Sinks...Except Japan" may be viewed as blantantly satirical of the source film. Unfortunately, the 1970's 'Sinking of Japan' is a scarce commodity. Technically, the film "The World Sinks - Except Japan" is in widescreen format with xlnt image quality. The sound-track utilizes a clever blend of Japanese with English sub-titles mixed with English w/ Japanese sub-titles - depending on 'who' is speaking. There is a generous selection of 'extras' iincluded on the disk.