Two young men are recruited into the Japanese air force just before outbreak of WW2 by the test pilot of Japans new super fighter - the Zero. The movie is told in reverse from the point of one of the young men who don't qualify for the pilot training and instead joins the ground crew. It chronicles the entire history of the famous fighter from the first prototype test flights all through the war.
Direction
Masuda's reverse chronology builds dread with every 'earlier' scene.
Practical Effects
Genuine Zero replicas—no CGI, just gravity and gasoline.
Director
Toshio Masuda
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Toshio Masuda co-directed Tora! Tora! Tora!—this is his personal apology for that film's bombast.
Released when Japan still debated wartime responsibility; the backwards structure let critics praise 'anti-war' message while conservatives saw 'honorable sacrifice.' Sneaky genius.
JP
