Japan Release: 1965
Running Time: 170 minutes

Tokyo Olympiad

東京オリンピック
[Tokyo Orinpikku]

A documentary on the 18th Summery Olympics, held in Tokyo in 1964. Crafted in a chronological approach, the movie prefaces the games with Japan's post World War II rise. It then celebrates the journey of the torch to Japan and finally the arrival of the athletes. Much attention is paid to the opening events, but the documentary rarely focuses on the expected. The production covers everything from eating conditions of the athletes to the nuances of the games themselves. Rarely does the film dwell on medals, but rather on creatively capturing the proceedings of the competitions and their surroundings. The movie hosts its climax in an in-depth coverage of a marathon run. Both the trials and tribulations are focused on, from the spirit of the runners to their sometimes serious injuries.

Live Action

Titles

Tokyo Olympiad

Tokyo Olympiad
US Distributor: Toho (1966) / Time: 170 Minutes

Tokyo Olympics
[Literal translation]

Tokyo Olympiades
[French]

Tokyo Olympic 1964
[Thai]

Staff

Cast

Posters

Box Office

DVDs and Blu-rays

Pictures

Background and Trivia

• The Organizing Committee for the Games of the XVIII Olympiad submitted the film to the US copyright office on August 30th, 1988 with the registration number of PA0000399175. The movie was submitted under its international title, Tokyo Olympiad, with an alternate title of Tokyo Olympic and a full name of Olympiad Tokyo XVIII, 1964.
• The Tokyo Olympic Film Association, which produced the movie, was made up of seven of the news reel companies in Japan. They oversaw the production like a committee. Cited in an interview released in 2020 with the film's restoration producer Adrian Wood.
• By the end of its theatrical run, Tokyo Olympiad was the most seen movie in Japanese theaters with an attendance total of 19.5 million. It held this record for 46 years until Spirited Away (2001) surpassed it.
• At a special screening of the film, the Japanese emperor and senior officials felt the movie wasn't what the country wanted as the official record for those games. As a result, it was decided to take the negatives for the 1965 film and recut it. This recut was released as Sensation of the Century (1966). This process, though, caused irrversable damage to the source for Tokyo Olympiad, impacting later home video releases. Noted on an interview released in 2020 with the film's restoration producer Adrian Wood.
• The film was originally shot in stereo, using similar techniques seen for other movies like Yojimbo (1961) and King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) in years prior. Sadly, this aged stereo process was seen as obsolete in the years after release and Toho had reportedely destroyed the 13 versions of the print that contained the stereo soundtrack, causing it to be lost. Mentioned on an interview released in 2020 with the film's restoration producer Adrian Wood.
• Akira Kurosawa was originally attached to direct the movie, but turned down the project over budget concerns. Noted on the movie's introduction on the Criterion Tokyo Olympiad Blu-ray.

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