Admiral Yamamoto

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Audience Member Japanese language - subtitled. This is an unsentimental, serious, historical film of the Japanese Navy's involvement in World War 2 viewed from their military logic (unlike that mawkish film 'Pearl Harbour'). It has very high production values so the naval battles and air dogfights are convincing, but they remain almost like a modern news cast video with no people on the ground being seen harmed. The story is mainly with the military high command, so very little is seen from a soldier's point of view. The central character is Admiral Yamamoto, who was a revered veteran of previous wars with Russia and China. From the beginning, he saw the strategic folly of going to war against America - a country with vastly more military resources as well as being Japan's source of steel and commodities. But Tokyo's newspapers pushed a jingoisitic message that goaded the political class towards war. The military command was also very tribal, with some parts plotting against the other for dominance, as if there were still warlord Shoguns ruling Japan. When Hitler signed a non-aggression pact with Russia, they thought that their northern borders were safe from Europe and Russia, so they pushed for control of Asia. Yamamoto, who was very reluctant, was tasked with destroying the American Pacific Fleet moored in Pearl Harbour, Hawaii. Although the plan resulted in battleships being destroyed he saw that this was a military failure as all the US carriers were still at sea. Propaganda in Tokyo pushed it as a success. Then six months later, in 1942, the Japanese carriers fought against the American carriers as well as fighter planes from Midway islands. They were annihilated with 4 carriers destroyed, 3000 men killed compared to 300 allied killed and 1 US carrier. Part of the reason for this is they did not know their secret military codes had been cracked, so the allies knew where they were. Later, the same codes told the allies that Yamamoto was going to fly to view his soldiers. Fighter planes were waiting for him and his plane was shot down. The film ends with a Japanese journalist looking at the devastation of Nagasaki or Hiroshima as Japan surrenders. If you are War history buff, then read the books and enjoy this film. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Audience Member Best naval battle movie! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Audience Member Don't mistake this movie for an action flick. It is really a historical drama focused on one character during the second world war. It is a rather romanticized interpretation of Yamamoto, but still fairly accurate and thought provoking. For a student of history familiar with the Pacific war during WWII, this movie will be fascinating. For the casual movie historian, the CGI recreation of Midway and Pearl Harbor are brief though well done. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Audience Member Politically interesting but such a boring movie. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Audience Member ???????????????????? Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member Need to think about the movie is creating the heroism, but criticizing the war at the same time. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Admiral Yamamoto

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