Flight From Ashiya

Flashbacks and romantic interludes bog down the epic set pieces of Director Michael Anderson's 'FLIGHT FROM ASHIYA'. A co-production between Harold Hecht and Japan's Daiei Studios, its focused on the U.S. Air Force Rescue Team and three men who work together carrying out the missions. The three played by Yul Brynner, Richard Widmark, and George Chakiris are sent to save Japanese survivors bobbing on flimsy ship debris in the middle of a storm ravaged sea and we, the viewers, must partake of flashback sequences explaining our heroes quirky qualities. Chakiris must cope with his guilt at leaving survivors behind to face death, Widmark must overcome his hatred for the Japanese in causing the demise of his true love played by Shirley Knight, and Yul Brynner has to cope with his guilt of accidentally killing his love played by the hauntingly beautiful French actress Daniele Gaubert. Actress/model Suzy Parker is wasted in the role of Yul's new inamorata and is required to just stand around ,get kissed or get coffee. All this as they strive to rescue the survivors at sea. The production design is credited to Eugene Lourie, a film director in his own right and responsible for one of the best monster movies of the fifties 'THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS'-1953 and its relatives 'THE GIANT BEHEMOTH'-1958 and 'GORGO'- 1961 but you can see the beautiful miniatures are from the Daiei studios who gave Toho Productions a run for their money in their own giant monster forays. You will also spot actor Tetsu Nakamura who played the crazy mad scientist in 'THE MANSTER'-1962 as a cold blooded Japanese commander who refuses medication to Knight. You'll also hear the immortal voice of actor Paul Frees over the end credits. Unfortunately, the soap opera interludes written by Elliot Arnold and Waldo Salt slow down the film causing the viewer to head scratch at what type of film their watching. Anderson would go on to direct the excellent actioner 'OPERATION CROSSBOW' a few years later. But the one key element of the film that stands out is the ethereal beauty and haunting presence of Daniele Gaubert who would perform five years later in Director Radley Metzger's 'CAMILLE 2000' and steal that film as well. Her performance shatters the screen and makes you forget everything about 'FLIGHT FROM ASHIYA'. MGM Limited releases it in a 2.35 transfer which is a little on the soft side but crystal clear none the less and available at a nice price from Amazon as a made to order DVD-R.

Great Saturday movie. Read the book, totally different than the movie but both were enjoyable in their own way. This is an air-sea rescue movie about 3 military men in Japan after the war and their efforts to overcome their own recent tragedies & get on with their careers & lives. Drama but not heavy . The 3 men lead very different lives both in their work & off work . They are united in their desire to save lives even at risk of their own Light on romance, 2 touching sad stories of lost loves due to the war & the scars hey left. . The movie is short so you can watch it again immediately . Yul Brynner is great, Richard Widmark is his consistently great self, always believable. Geroge Chakiris is gorgeous, his acting does improve after this movie but here he is still a little weak. .The movie has a positive, feel good ending.

Years ago I saw this movie, which was actually 4 movies in one. There is the central story about Americans in post-war Japan now rescuing the people they were fighting only a few years earlier; then there are 3 stories about the central characters on the rescue mission and the personal tragedies they previously endured and how they were still dealing with them. Captain Gregg, played by George Chakiris, seemed to have the weakest role in the movie. The book demonstrated better how a perfectionistic chopper pilot could be so devastated by a failed rescue mission and then just exist from day to day, numbly "going through the motions." Chakiris' "sensitive man" would surely have been quickly drummed out of the service. When I first saw this movie, I loved the segment with Yul Brynner the best. He has a great line concerning religion in it -- which I won't reveal -- that doesn't appear in the book. Again, the book did not portray his character as an American with a Japanese father and American mother, just a former band drummer in a jazz band -- really a 1950s beatnik originally from middle American who hadn't fit in anywhere -- until he became a medic in the Air Force. How the medic "lost" his love was more believable in the book than in the movie. Finally, Richard Widmark portrayed a colonel who was "along for the ride" on the mission. His story was truest to the book, yet incomplete. He had lost his wife in an internment camp in the Phillipines and was working through his hatred for the Japanese. I hate to keep harping on how much better the book was, yet the movie did not -- perhaps could not -- show that he had a love interest, a young Japanese woman who was adapting quite well to post-war Japan, still retaining the traditions yet in touch with the modern western currents. Evidently, the movie intended to show this rescue mission as a kind of catalyst for ultimately making the men what they became, which really isn't great psychology. I appreciate that a 2-hour (or 100 minute) movie cannot be as in-depth as a novel can be, so I will refrain from further criticism concerning development of the three main characters. Just one more comparison/contrast of a more minor character: Suzy Parker portrayed Yul Brynner's "current" (for the late 1950s/ early 1960s) love interest. She was shown more or less as a "secretary" type. In the book, her character was actually an Air Force captain. I really don't see why she couldn't have been shown as an officer. In any event, I really will cease and desist now.

思い出の映画を観られて本当に良かったです。

Great movie Richard Widmark one of the greats

確か、小学生のころにテレビ放送で見た映画で、アルバトロス飛行艇が活躍する飛行艇好きにはたまらない作品です。

１９６４年当時の日本映画界における最高の特撮技術を投入した作品と言われてきた、あの『あしやからの飛行』が、海外ではDVD化されているのか！と、喜んで購入してみたが・・・実際に送られてきたのは、リージョン１表記のDVD-Rだった。日本語字幕が無いことは覚悟していたが、メニュー画面も何も無い（当然、英語字幕も出ないし他の音声も無い）のには閉口させられた。日本が舞台の映画なので、登場する日本人は日本語を話しているが、その日本語への英語字幕も無いのだ。これは海賊版なのでは？画面・音声は鮮明で、冒頭から「なるほど金のかかった特撮だ」と思わせる展開だが・・・リージョン１表記のDVD-Rをスムーズに再生できる環境があり、かつ英語のヒヤリング能力の高い人にしか、おすすめできない。

Very average adventure movie with subtitles.