I would like to add my voice to those pointing out the contrast between the original long Japanese version and the shortened American version. It is not just a question of length. They are two different movies. The Japanese version is balanced, thoughtful (believe it or not) and even has some subtle moments. It also leaves room for hope. There is something working in this that is very much lacking in the gargantuan excesses, overcharged adrenalin and endless CGraphics of recent Hollywood disaster indulgences. The American version teeters between silliness and extreme depression. The dated effects and miniatures might turn you away but if you accept those and watch it through, it hammers away with hopeless imagery. As stark and as semi-cartoonish as the images might be, they are clearly recognizable as being rooted in aspects of the real world or its possibilities. If one is looking for a film to motivate a suicide pact to finally be put into action, this is it.

I think the main reason a lot of folks look at Last Days of Planet Earth as a bad movie is that it really is a "message" picture...and a Japanese message picture at that. Message pictures really don't hold up well outside the era they were filmed in. The early seventies were filled with doom & gloom films like this...look at Toho's own Godzilla Vs. the Smog Monster. This movie is wreathed in the prophecies of Nostradamus as well, so you can fit a whole lot of "message" in.The film has a lot of good shots and some good SFX (the reflected city and the final apocalyptic scene are both well executed), but the US dialogue track makes the whole thing sound pretty lame. I'd love to see a subtitled version of it to see what the picture really was supposed to be about.

I know a lot of people don't like this movie, but I really enjoyed it. I'm not a big sci-fi fan, but there is something about this one I really enjoyed. The special effects are cheesy, and it gets silly, but I really got a kick out of it.

We can expect more IMDb user coverage on LAST DAYS OF PLANET EARTH, and tons more that fall into the "schlock" category. And for a good reason! This one is about as bad as, say PLAN 9, and may just be the worst science fiction production imported from Japan. Why science fiction? Is it because Earth is under peril from natural and man-made disasters that is described in the prophecies of Nostradamus? This is a classic example of a plot used heavily in these movies, minus the seer's words. In fact, you can always expect ANYTHING to happen, making EVERYTHING go wrong in the plot without a trace. It all ends up as an in-depth documentary that focuses on the stages of mankind's existence in the final days, spoken by an overpaid voice actor who needs his lips glued with Mucilage. Read the Weekly World News and you'll soon find out that feeding on fear is such a silly idea after all. Anybody else want to comment?