World Cup, Season 3, Match Final: Japan vs USA (Apr 14th)

[joachimt]

This is match Final of the third season of iCM Forum's Film World Cup.

Country	Original Title	English Title	Year	Manager	IMDB	ICM
Japan	Nobi	Fires on the Plain	1959	monty	link	link
USA	Attack		1956	filmbantha	link	link

Screenshots

Nobi


Attack

Voting Rules:
- You must watch both films before you vote.
- To vote, post which of the two movies is your favorite. (note: you're ranking the individual films, not the countries)

Voting deadline = Apr 14th
Countdown till deadline

The country that ends at 1st place proceeds to the next round. The ranking of the match will be decided using these rules:
- Movie with most votes wins.
- In case of a tie the match will have a 3 day extension.

Here's a quick summary of how the tournament works

We start with 48 films from 48 countries. Each country has a manager who determines which movie will be watched. In the first round the countries are divided into 12 groups of 4. From each group the countries that end up at #1 and #2 proceed to the next round. In the 2nd round the 24 remaining countries will be divided into 8 groups of 3. The managers pick a new movie. The winner of each group proceeds to the next round. The final 8 countries compete one-on-one in the quarter finals (with a new movie of course) and so on till the final.

iCM-list of all movies in this World Cup

List of all topics related to the World Cup including previous seasons

[joachimt]

So this is it! We got a 50's war movies final. Really curious to see how this turns out. I haven't seen Attack yet, but Nobi is a high favorite of mine. But according to monty Attack is "a great character-driven drama that deserves to be ranked among the best war movies" (from iCM-comments), so we might be in for a great match.

[monty]

Just a reminder, J, there's war movies and then there's anti-war movies - it's not quite the same.

[hurluberlu]

First round I have seen the two films...

1. Fires on the Plain 7+
2. Attack 7-

... and I am done with WC, juhu !

[Armoreska]

... and I am done with WC, juhu !

I havent lost all hope for a 3rd-place match yet

[monty]

... and I am done with WC, juhu !

I havent lost all hope for a 3rd-place match yet

If the managers are up for a sex comedy match, I'd be more than willing to host it...

[joachimt]

Just a reminder, J, there's war movies and then there's anti-war movies - it's not quite the same.

Since you've seen both movies already, why don't you vote right away? I'm sure filmbantha will vote as well.

[monty]

Just a reminder, J, there's war movies and then there's anti-war movies - it's not quite the same.

Since you've seen both movies already, why don't you vote right away? I'm sure filmbantha will vote as well.

I'll let Tom go first.

[frbrown]

Well, what do you know - it took until the very end, but finally a WC match where I've seen both films.


1. Attack
2. Fires on the Plain

[blocho]

Same here. In three seasons of WC, this is the first time I've seen both/all of the movies in a match.

1. Nobi
2. Attack

[PeacefulAnarchy]

Seen both before Attack is very good, but Fires on the Plain is great.

1. Nobi
2. Attack

[Cocoa]

Had already seen Nobi. Just got done watching Attack. This was an easy decision for me.

1. Nobi 8/10
2. Attack 4/10

[zuma]

01 - Fires on the Plain

02 - Attack

[beavis]

1. Nobi - 8,5
2. Attack - 7

the final film of this cup for me today, kinda sad that its over
Attack was an entertaining if somewhat theatrical and moralistic movie, doens't hold a candle to even the memory of Nobi… saw it summer 2011... had hoped this would finally be an Aldrich movie I could score higher that a 7, but sadly this wasn't such a big discovery as The Pawnbroker was last round for me

[tommy_leazaq]

Nobi is in my all time top 100, so it would be hard for Attack to top that. Lets see.

[joachimt]

Was hoping for a good match, but so far it looks like monty made the safest choice possible.

Nobi: 6
Attack: 1

[maxwelldeux]

1. Nobi
2. Attack

This was closer than I thought, but still easy. I watched Nobi five days ago and was shocked by it. That end has stuck with me more than most. Attack was a really good film, and a pleasurable way to end the War challenge, but couldn't beat Nobi. Attack would have beaten Chiyari Fuji (sp?), but not this. Nice picks both!

[filmbantha]

1. Attack - 8/10
2. Nobi - 7/10

I watched Nobi last year and it's a gripping film but I didn't rank it highly enough to be considered a favourite of mine. I can certainly see why people would regard it so highly and it's a very strong pick from Monty.

I stumbled upon Attack a couple of weeks ago and found the acting from the leads incredibly engaging and the themes of heroism and cowardice handled very well. A new favourite of mine that I hope others will enjoy as much as I did.

Regardless of the outcome of this match I've really enjoyed participating in the cup and I'm looking forward to seeing the final results, even if it does look a little one sided so far.

[monty]

I may as well post my vote then. I do like the Aldrich effort but nowhere does it top my experience of Ichikawa's film.
Anyhow, I wonder how this match would have played if I'd gone with my other candidate...

Spoiler

https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/shinboru/

1. Nobi
2. Attack

[Mate_cosido]

1. Attack
2. Nobi

I'll probably would rank Nobi first if i rewatch it, but at this moment Attack has the edge, i already have seen all of Monty's choices for this world cup, i was hoping to discover some hidden gem but alas, i'm curious Monty what would you have chosen for a sex comedy third place match?

[monty]

I already have seen all of Monty's choices for this world cup, i was hoping to discover some hidden gem but alas, i'm curious Monty what would you have chosen for a sex comedy third place match?

Did you watch the other film I considered for this match? If not, I suggest you put it in your viewing queue.
As for a sex comedy match, this one does strike a chord with me nowadays - an old man's dream come true :

[filmbantha]

I second Monty's recommendation of Shinboru, I've never seen anything quite like it before or since.

It would have been interesting to see how it might have fared against attack.

[Cocoa]

I would have voted for Attack if Shinboru was its opponent.

[Mate_cosido]

I haven't watched Shinboru, but i have heard of it, but never felt like watching it, i'll try to watch it soon, since monty's picks have been great so far, as for the sex comedy, i regret i asked

[burneyfan]

I haven't seen Attack yet, but I definitely love Nobi more than Shinboru (though I enjoyed Shinboru).

[joachimt]

1. Nobi 10/10
2. Shinboru 9/10

[Armoreska]

1. Nobi 10/10
2. Shinboru 9/10

I'm sorry but you have to watch Attack to vote

[zhangalan]

1. Nobi
2. Attack

[joachimt]

1. Nobi 10/10
2. Shinboru 9/10

I'm sorry but you have to watch Attack to vote

Oh sorry, I'm new to this WC thing. I'll try to read the rules first the next time.

[Mario Gaborović]

1. Nobi
2. Attack

[joachimt]

1. Nobi 10/10
2. Attack 8/10

Attack starts a bit slow, but gets more on steam when they go on the mission. It gets very good from then on, but it got never close to the devastating impact Nobi had on me.
I was annoyed by one scene in Attack, btw:

Spoiler

Towards the end of the movie the squad leader is attacking a tank with a bazooka. He hits it, but the tank is running on right towards him. He has every chance of running away in another direction. However, instead he tries to open the door. Okay, that could be the safer choice if it opens. But when it doesn't open, he doesn't run another direction. Instead he just stands there looking scared at the tank, although there were still several seconds left for him to get out. It's like the director stretched the moment to get the biggest impact out of the situation, but instead it gets unrealistic.
Not running away when having lots of chances is one of my biggest pet hates.

[Mario Gaborović]

Nobi: 11
Attack: 3

12.5 days left.

[wasabi]

1. Nobi
2. Attack

[joachimt]

Nobi: 12
Attack: 3

[Armoreska]

usa needs to turn this pearl harbor into an iwo jima and drop a few bombs

[PeacefulAnarchy]

usa needs to turn this pearl harbor into an iwo jima and drop a few bombs

So you're suggesting the USA should attack?

[maxwelldeux]

usa needs to turn this pearl harbor into an iwo jima and drop a few bombs

So you're suggesting the USA should attack?

No, B - I just think they should set some fires on a plain.

[sebby]

Or better yet, put them out.

[blocho]

Does anyone keep a breakdown of stats from all three seasons of world cup? I'm talking about records for each country, decade, runtime, directors, or any other categories. If not, I might try to put something together.

[joachimt]

Does anyone keep a breakdown of stats from all three seasons of world cup? I'm talking about records for each country, decade, runtime, directors, or any other categories. If not, I might try to put something together.

I have spreadsheets for all three seasons. The info is there, but you have to collect stats yourself. The spreadsheet of the first season is not really complete, because I didn't host that season from the start.