Gojûman-nin no isan

This film essentially begins with a Japanese Army officer by the name of "Takeshi Matsuo" (Toshiro Mifune) being tasked to hide a large chest of gold coins from the advancing enemy in the Philippines during the last weeks of World War 2. Being a loyal and conscientious officer, he obeys these orders and is eventually allowed to return to Japan once the war is over. The scene then shifts to 18 years later with a man by the name of "Mitsura Gunji" (Tatsuya Nakadai) threatening Takeshi that, unless he helps him find the hidden gold, he will have his men kill Matsuo's young daughter, "Masaka Matsuo" (Yuriko Hoshi). Realizing that Mitsura means what he says, he is taken at gunpoint by some of Mitsura's thugs to a small boat which then sets off from Japan to the Philippines. The problem, however, is that Takeshi knows only too well that once the gold is eventually found and recovered, he has absolutely no chance of remaining alive. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this turned out to be a pretty good film, all things considered, which managed to keep my attention pretty much from start to finish. Admittedly, I didn't especially care for the ending, but even so, I enjoyed this movie for the most part and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.