is a 2007 action film directed by

Izuru Narushima is a Japanese scriptwriter and film director from Yamanashi Prefecture. In 2011, his film ''Rebirth'' was awarded the Japanese Academy Prize for best picture. Filmography As director * ''The Hunter and the Hunted'' (2004) * ''Fly, Daddy, Fly'' ( ...

and written by Yasuo Hasegawa and Kenzaburo Iida, based on the novel by

Tetsuo Takashima Tetsuo Takashima (高嶋哲夫 ''Takashima Tetsuo'', born July 7, 1949) is a contemporary Japanese people, Japanese author active in a number of genres that include science fiction, mystery fiction, historical novel, historical fiction, social co ...

. ''Midnight Eagle'' is the third film directed by Izuru Narushima. The film opened in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

on October 2, 2007 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. It was also shown October 20, 2007 at the

Tokyo International Film Festival The is a film festival established in 1985. The event was held biennially from 1985 to 1991 and annually thereafter. According to the FIAPF, it is one of Asia's competitive film festivals and the second largest film festival in Asia behind the ...

. The film opened in

limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

in the

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

on November 23, 2007, and opened in

on December 7, 2007.

Production

Executive producers were Keiji Kameyama, Kazutaka Akimoto, Yasuhide Uno, Riki Takano, and Kanjiro Sakura. Producers were Michihiko Umezawa, Masakazu Yoda, Teruo Noguchi, Tomiyasu Moriya, and Kei Fujiki.
The film was shot with the full cooperation of the

Japan Ground Self Defense Force The , , also referred to as the Japanese Army, is the land warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Created on July 1, 1954, it is the largest of the three service branches. New military guidelines, announced in December 2010, direct t ...

Japan Air Self-Defense Force The , , also referred to as the Japanese Air Force, is the Aerial warfare, air and space warfare, space branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, responsible for the defense of Japanese airspace, other air and space operations, cyberwarfare and ...

, and

Ministry of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

.
Mountaineer Hirofumi Konishi was the special advisor for the scenes set in the Northern Alps. Before shooting started, the crew of the film was given training in snow-covered mountains. ''Midnight Eagle'' was the first mountain film set in Japan since ''The Precipice'' in 1958.

Plot

A top secret American forces strategic bomber known as "Midnight Eagle" suddenly vanishes in the Japanese

Hida Mountains The , or , is a Japanese mountain range which stretches through Nagano, Toyama and Gifu prefectures. A small portion of the mountains also reach into Niigata Prefecture. William Gowland coined the phrase "Japanese Alps" during his time in Jap ...

Cast

Takao Osawa is a Japanese actor. Career Osawa starred in the 2002 film ''Filament'' and the 2007 film '' Midnight Eagle''. He has also appeared in films such as Masayuki Suo's '' A Terminal Trust'' and Takashi Miike's '' Shield of Straw''. The Newport Beac ...

as Yuji Nishizaki *

Yūko Takeuchi was a Japanese actress. She is known for her roles in television series ''Asuka'' (1999), ''Pride'' (2004), ''FlashForward'' (2009), and ''Miss Sherlock'' (2018) as well as films such as ''Ring'' (1998), ''Yomigaeri'' (2003), and ''Dog in a Sid ...

as Keiko Arisawa *

Hiroshi Tamaki is a Japanese actor and singer from Nagoya, Japan. When he was still in high school, he was discovered by a talent agent while out shopping with friends. He made his debut in the drama ''Am I Weird?'' (私ってへん？ ''Watashitte Hen?'') in ...

as Shinichiro Ochiai * A-Saku Yoshida as Major Akihiko Saeki *

Yoshihiko Hakamada is a Japanese actor. He graduated from Hamana High School. Hakamada was born in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture. He is represented by Platinum Production. Hakamada's wife is ''tarento'' Ai Kawanaka. Discography Singles Albums Filmography ...

as Toshimitsu Fuyuki *

Nao Ōmori , sometimes credited as Nao Ohmori or Nao Omori, is a Japanese actor. He was given the Best Supporting Actor award at the 2004 Yokohama Film Festival. Career Omori starred in Takashi Miike's '' Ichi the Killer''. He co-starred with Shinobu Teraji ...

as Major Kensuke Saito * Ken Ishiguro as Tadao Miyata *

Tatsuya Fuji is a Japanese actor. He was born in Beijing and raised in Yokohama. In 1962, Fuji joined Nikkatsu Company and began his acting career with small roles in Nikkatsu film. In 1968, Fuji married actress Izumi Ashikawa. He gained popularity throug ...

as Prime Minister Watarase

Critical reception

The film received mixed reviews by Western critics. As of November 24, 2007 on the review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, 20% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 5 reviews. On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film had an average score of 48 out of 100, based on 6 reviews.

References

External links

* * * * * {{Izuru Narushima 2007 action films 2007 films 2000s Japanese-language films Climbing and mountaineering films Japanese aviation films Shochiku films Films directed by Izuru Narushima Japanese action films 2000s Japanese films Films scored by Takeshi Kobayashi