Japan's Longest Day

It starts out as a rather boring but interesting drama and then the attempted coup happens with a level of violence I didn't expect

The first part throws an awful lot of information and names at you, but by the midway point the focus settles on an attempted coup by a group of fanatical soldiers who want to continue the war. It's riveting stuff, expertly composed by Okamoto and full of exciting, tense moments. The one really sour note was Toshio Kurosawa's over-the-top bug-eyed portrayal of Major Hanataka. It was far more crazy than the role required, although I guess you see a lot of that in Japanese movies.