The Burning Sky (1940) [N/A]
Release Date:
May 10, 1940
Original Title:
燃ゆる大空
Alternate Titles:
Kôki nisenroppyaku nen kinen eiga: Moyuru Ôzora
Moyuru ôzora
Nippons wilde Adler
The Flaming Sky
皇紀二千六百年記念映画 燃ゆる大空
Genres:
War
Production Companies:
Toho Eiga Co., Ltd.
Production Countries:
Japan
Ratings / Certifications:
N/A
Runtime: 101
The film was produced during Second Sino-Japanese War, before the Pearl Harbor Attack in 1941. The film mainly concerns the training of newly-recruited pilots and their daily life, then their subsequent fighting experiences in China. Army supported the production, providing all the authentic airplanes, training and actual actions. They even provided the older biplanes disguised as Chinese fighter planes. Obinata plays the trainer-turned-combat-leader, who is passionate and cool at the same time. All his boys love him, of course. The film is not as intense, full of sugar-coated camaraderie, until young pilots are killed in action one by one. Last twenty minutes are fairly grim, as the message of self-sacrifice is heard loud and clear.