"Prophecies of Nostradamus (Catastrophe 1999)"

Today, I got in the mail an obscure copy of a filmmost of us here know as "The Last Days of Planet Earth". However here, the title screen called itself "Prophecies of Nostradamus (Catastrophe 1999)". Though, the Danish subtitles that accompanied the film called it "Verdens Sidste Dag"-- whatever that
means.

It appears to be the international version of the movie (though I had always thought the international title was simply "Catastrophe 1999"). It has the international dubbing (also utilized for "The Last Days of Planet Earth"), far more extensive credits (Tetsuro Tanba alone has top billing. Kaoru Yumi and Akira Kurosawa share second billing. Yoko Tsukasa and So Yamamura share final billing [after an extensive cast listing-- and no, Keiji Kobayashi is not in the movie, despite what the IMDB and some G-Fans claim]).

The film runs about 88 minutes, missing the opening prologue from the 90-minute version that makes the rounds in Japan nowadays (the movie was 114 minutes when it debuted on August 3, 1974, but was cut down by Toho when Hiroshima nuts became angry with the film). The original Japanese version opened with a pre-credit sequence with Tetsuro Tanba playing people perecuted in Japanese history for teaching Nostradamus' prophecies (footage of this survives in LDOPE; that's Tanba as a Japanese general at the beginning of the picture and NOT Nostradamus).

The movie is letterboxed (sort of...). It's not in Tohoscope format, but we see more than the panned and scanned "The Last Days of Planet Earth" and is as close to uncut as we're gonna get. We find out that Mariko Nishiyama is actually a dance teacher (I didn't think she had a job in LDOPE). Akira and Mariko's sex scene is uncut (what little was actually cut). While in New Guinea, the natives there are cannibals (they take a bite out of the scientist attacked by the radioactive leech) and it turns out the cannibals are immune to the radioactivity in New Guinea, while the UN Team was not. Nobuo's death scene is much more touching. Nishiyama picks up her corpse and cradles it and soon afterwards Akira appears. Nishiyama looks up at him, a pathetic and broken figure, and simply says "She's dead..." The scene at the beach with Mariko and Akira is uncut-- and makes sense. While LDOPE ends the scene abuptly with Akira chasing Mariko, here, the scene goes on. Mariko runs to the top of a beach hill as the sun comes down and she dances to her heart's content while Akira watches. It's the most beautiful scene in the movie (great music and brilliantly shot)... and they cut it out of LDOPE... ugh, morons. The ending too is altered. Nishiyama begs the Prime Minister to keep the peace and then he, Akira, and Mariko wander away from the Diet Building alone down a deserted street. The end.

As I mentioned above, the real Japanese version was 114 minutes long. However, as Toho has disowned the picture, we'll never get to see that. Lousy Hiroshima nuts... "Prophecies of Nostradamus (Catastrophe 1999)" is great stuff and after seeing it, you'll never go back to "The Last Days of Planet Earth". Check it out at all costs.