ESPY (film)

ESPY (エスパイ, Esupai) is a 1974 film based on a story by Sakyo Komatsu. The film was directed by Jun Fukuda from a screenplay by Ei Ogawa. It stars Hiroshi Fujioka, Masao Kusakari, Kaoru Yumi, Tomisaburo Wakayama and Eiji Okada.

ESPY
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jun Fukuda
Screenplay by	Ei Ogawa
Story by	Sakyo Komatsu
Produced by	Tomoyuki Tanaka Fumio Tanaka
Starring	Hiroshi Fujioka Kaoru Yumi Masao Kusakari
Cinematography	Masaharu Ueda
Edited by	Michiko Ikeda
Music by	Masaaki Hirao Kensuke Kyo
Production company	Toho-Eizo
Distributed by	Toho
Release date	28 December 1974 (1974-12-28) (Japan)
Running time	94 minutes
Country	Japan

Plot

The International Psychic Power Group is a covert organization financed by the United Nations. Made up of clairvoyant supermen under the guise of the International Pollution Research Center, they wage a private war against enemies that threaten world peace and the total annihilation of the human race. With hostility between the East and West reaching a boiling point, four Eastern European delegates are assassinated aboard the Milan-Geneva International Express on their way to the United Nations for the Mediation Committee of International Dispute. The Baltonian Prime Minister is the next to be targeted for termination. A ruthless psychic assassin named Goro hunts down the psychokinetic saviors, themselves marked for death by an anti-ESPY group led by the insidious and superhuman Ulrov, who plans to destroy mankind by initiating World War III.

Cast

• Hiroshi Fujioka as Yoshio Tamura
• Kaoru Yumi as Maria Harada
• Masao Kusakari as Jiro Miki
• Yuzo Kayama as Hojo
• Tomisaburo Wakayama as Ulrov
• Luna Takamura as Julietta
• Hatsuo Yamaya as Ball
• Jimmy Shaw as Godonov
• Willie Dorsey as Abdullah
• Katsumasa Uchida as Gorou Tatsumi
• Steve Green as the Prime Minister of Baltonia
• Andrew Hughes as P.B.
• Eiji Okada as Salabad
• Gorō Mutsumi as Teraoka
• Ralph Jesser as Anti-ESPY A
• Germal Liner as Anti-ESPY B
• Franz Gruber as Anti-ESPY C
• Bart Johanson as Anti-ESPY D
• Robert Dunham as Airline captain

Release

ESPY was released theatrically in Japan on 28 December 1974, where it was distributed by Toho. It was released in the United States by Toho International with English subtitles and a 94-minute running time in 1975. It was released to home video with the on-screen title E.S.P./SPY with a 1984 English-language dub for television syndication by UPA of America and with an 86-minute running time by Paramount/Gateway in 1994.

References

Sources

• Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-1461673743.

External links

• ESPY at IMDb