Virus (1980)

Awards
- 2 wins & 5 nominations

Top cast82

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Masao Kusakari

Dr. Shûzô Yoshizumi

Tsunehiko Watase

Yasuo Tatsuno

Isao Natsuyagi

Cmdr. Nakanishi
(as Isao Natsuki)

Shin'ichi Chiba

Dr. Yamauchi
(as Sonny Chiba)

Kensaku Morita

Ryûji Sanazawa

Toshiyuki Nagashima

Akimasa Matsuo

Haruki Kadokawa

Team Member - Showa Station

Tadashi Takatsuki

Team Member - Showa Station
(as Chû Takatsuki)

Takeshige Hatanaka

Team Member - Showa Station

Chikara Gonoue

Team Member - Showa Station
(as Riki Gonoue)

Eiji Yuki

Team Member - Showa Station

George Kennedy

Adm. Conway

Bo Svenson

Maj. Carter

Stephanie Faulkner

Sarah Baker

Julie Khaner

Secretary - Palmer Station

Danielle Schneider

Secretary - Palmer Station

Laura Pennington

Secretary - Palmer Station

Diane Lasko

Secretary - Palmer Station

Did you know

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Trivia
It was the most expensive Japanese film made up to that point.

Goofs
It is highly improbable that any systems (even nuclear launch systems) could be still powered after a full year with out someone alive to maintain them. If all human operators would vanish from a nuclear power plant it is safe to assume that something bad would happen very soon.

Quotes
Dr. Krause: You have a cold?
Big Man: Oh it is nothing.
Dr. Krause: If I were to open this ampoule to the air, you would be dead within three days.

Crazy credits
The Japanese version mixes English and Japanese writing during the opening credit sequence. The English-speaking actors' names are in English and the Japanese cast and crew members' names are in Japanese.

Alternate versions
As of 2006, the full 155-minute version of this film is officially available on DVD in the United States. BCI Eclipse released the full Japanese version in anamorphic widescreen as part of their Sonny Chiba Action Pack, which also includes the films Golgo 13 and Bullet Train (which are also featured in anamorphic widescreen transfers). This release keeps an original Japanese title card and the Kadokawa logo before the film begins, which is something that the deluxe Japanese DVD set deletes (albeit, it is an inconsequential deletion). The BCI Eclipse release is not the butchered 108-minute cut. It is labeled on the box as the "Uncut International Version".

Connections
Featured in WatchMojo: The Best Apocalypse Movies of All Time from A to Z (2021)

Soundtracks
You Are Love (Toujours Gai Mon Cher)
Music by Teo Macero
Lyrics by Janis Ian
Performed by Janis Ian

I have always loved this movie since I first saw it in the eighties but have been stuck with the shorter (105 or 115 minute)American versions. I finally found a full, 156 minute, version last year and it really makes a difference. As is the case with most Japanese movies edited for America, from Gojira to the present, they have a tendency to take out the poignant parts and edit so that some of the original plot points are completely lost. Here you gain more scenes at the Japanese base camp with them dealing with the loss of their families back home and a really powerful scene when they contact a young American boy by short-wave that has lost his parents. There are also more scenery-chewing scenes with some of the leads, especially with Henry Silva going way over the top. If you like the movie, this version is definitely worth looking for.