Make no mistake; this is an extremely violent film. At times, it is even ridiculously violent. There are no protagonists in this film, as all of the main actors and characters have severe limitations for being likeable. The Science teacher who builds a home-made atom bomb is psychotic and cruel. His love? Interest, a female DJ is self-centered and ridiculously irresponsible for her thirst for recognition, and the cop who doggedly tries to trap this fiend is immune to bullets, or so it would seem. Despite these drawbacks, the film is a perverse fantasy piece that easily entertains you for 90 minutes. There are some genuine moments of suspense and tension, but the excessiveness of the violence tends to lessen the impact of the entire film. Not a bad try.

Getting off the tracks from Bullet Train (1975),I checked other Japanese films I had waiting to be played with long run-times. Reading other comments of this being the Japanese version of Dr Strangelove,I got set to help the man steal the sun.

View on the film:

Going round the sun for 2 and a half hours, co-writer/(with Leonard "brother of Paul" Schrader ) director Kazuhiko Hasegawa & cinematographer Tatsuo Suzuki keep the rotation topsy-turvy with a thrilling ease to slide genres/styles around, from ultra-stylised multi-coloured, zany Comedy Pop-Art hopping to Kido stealing the nuke, transforming into a gritty close-ups smash-cut car chase and of a cop going nuclear on Kido. Holding the nuke over a long period, Hasegawa finely balances a bright off-beat Comedy atmosphere with vast-wide shots tracking the cops following Kido's demands,and their attempts to pick him from out of a crowd.

Taking the sun to bed with him, the screenplay by Hasegawa and Schrader develops the characterisation of Kido with a refreshing zest, bringing out in the sparkling Black Comedy dialogue Kido's friendly, but peculiar nature, whose stealing of a nuke takes him from being a loner up to his own devices, to Kido stretching out his hand for some level of friendship owing to the nuke.Powered by a wondrous genre bending taking in fears of nukes and promises of the Rolling Stones playing in Japan, the writers keep sending out curve balls,which act to switch gears,and at the same time increase Kido's fever from the simmering comedic,into a thunderous, fabulous boiling point ending. Holding the whole nuke in his hands,Kenji Sawada gives a excellent performance as Kido, who Sawada trims from lively and chirpy to shacking with sickness,and ringing radio shows for advice from listeners over what he should do,as the man who stole the sun.

Leonard Schrader wrote this story of a high school science teacher who builds his own atomic bomb that has become legendary in some circles as a "lost" classic.

The plot has a high school teacher kidnapped with his class. In the aftermath he presses forward with his desire to build an atomic bomb. Once he's done he uses the bomb to get what he wants, first he demands that baseball games are televised to their conclusion (Which never happened). Later, as the cops struggle to find the teacher, he demands that the Rolling Stones be allowed to play Japan (their drug problems prevented that).

As a lost classic, I think its time has passed, which is not to say that the film isn't worth seeing. This is a good little film. Actually as a terrifying look at something the world maybe staring in the face right now. Its a sobering little film. The idea that someone could build a bomb in their kitchen is frightening. Of course the result of doing it will probably turn deadly for the builder, something you see here (and which was left out of the similar and clearly inferior Manhattan Project).

There are two things that are wrong with the movie. The first thing is its over length. The film runs nearly two and a half hours and to be honest its too much. The second thing is that the film is very much of its time. This is best explained by the demands that teacher makes. The demands are the sort of thing that will cause people to look side ways at the plotting. While I understand the point is to make the demands trivial, they're too much in a time warp. The problems are best described as "movie conventions from the late 70's" which manage to date the film (I guessed the year of release just by looking at how the film was made) even though its unnerving when you really think about it.

Flaws aside this is a movie to try and find (good luck since its damn near impossible to get a hold of). Its a disturbing little movie that will leave you uneasy.