| Future War 198X | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Tomoharu Katsumata Toshio Masuda |
| Written by | Kōji Takada |
| Produced by | Toru Yoshida |
| Starring | Kin'ya Kitaōji Masako Natsume |
| Narrated by | Ryo Ishihara |
| Cinematography | Hisao Shirai Michiyo Terao |
| Edited by | Yasuhiro Yoshikawa Yutaka Chikura |
| Music by | Seiji Yokoyama |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Toei Company |
Release date |
|
Running time | 125 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| Budget | ~600 million yen (US$6.5 million in 2023) |
Future War 198X (フューチャーウォー198X年, Fyūchā Wō Sen Kyū Hachi Ekkusu-nen) is a 1982 Japanese anime science fiction war original video animation directed by Toshio Masuda and Tomoharu Katsumata.[1] Set during the Cold War in an unspecified year of the 1980s, the film details the outbreak of World War III between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. It is partially inspired by the 1982 speculative war novel The Third World War: The Untold Story by Sir John Hackett.
Future War 198X was created by Toei Animation, but was animated by outsourced animators. Prior to its release, the film sparked controversy in Japan over reports, based on an early script, that the film had a strongly pro-war narrative, and its production and release were boycotted by over 30 organizations; this led to the script being greatly reworked, shifting to an anti-war film by release.
Future War 198X was released on October 30, 1982. Retrospective reviews criticized the film as being slow-paced and having a weak, unconvincing message.
A German dub was later released for home video as Null Zeit (Zero Hour) in West Germany and Das Ende aller Tage (The End of All Days) in East Germany. An English version, also for home video, was released by Wizard Video in Australia as Future War; however, this was not a dub and instead had the original Japanese audio with English voiceovers, as well as a shortened runtime and licensed music replacing the original film score. In March 2018, the Japanese version was distributed digitally for a single day through PlayStation Video. Due to the film's limited distribution, especially internationally, copies of Future War 198X are considered particularly rare.[2]