Dangan ranna
Tags: psychedelic

Plot synopsis:
Alcoholic air marshal Bill Marks boards a Boeing 767 of British Aqualantic Airlines (cf. British Airways, Virgin Atlantic), from New York City to London Heathrow. He sits next to Jen Summers, who has switched seats so she can be by the window. After takeoff, Marks receives a text message on his secure phone stating that someone will die every 20 minutes unless $150 million is transferred to a specified bank account. Marks breaks protocol and consults Jack Hammond, the other air marshal, who dismisses the threat. Marks also checks his phone. Marks, however, has Summers and flight attendant Nancy monitor the security cameras while texting the mysterious person to try to identify him.
When Hammond uses his phone and goes suddenly to the rear toilet, Marks confronts him. Hammond first offers him some of the money. When Marks turns him down, he attacks. During the ensuing fight, when Hammond reaches for Marks' dropped gun, Marks has to break his neck, killing him. This happens exactly at the 20-minute mark. When Marks checks Hammond's phone, it reveals that someone texted that he knows what is in Hammond's briefcase. Marks finds cocaine in it.
Marks alerts the TSA, but the TSA agent informs him that the bank account is registered in his name and accuses Marks of being the author. At this point, the pilot dies, apparently poisoned, at the 40-minute mark. The co-pilot covinces Marks that he is innocent.
Marks searches the resentful passengers. One of them uploads a video in which Marks accuses and manhandles schoolteacher Tom Bowen, convincing the rest of the world that Marks is the perpetrator. Meanwhile, the co-pilot is instructed by the TSA to divert to Iceland. Marks persuades a programmer named Zack White to write a computer virus to make the hijacker's phone ring. The phone rings in a banker's suit pocket, but he denies it is his. As Marks roughly questions him, he suddenly dies, foaming at the mouth, at the 60-minute mark.
While smoking in the toilet (breaking the rules), Marks discovers a hole drilled into the wall which offers a clear shot to the pilot's seat. He then inspects the body of the banker and discovers a dart. He asks a passenger who used the toilet recently if anybody used it after her; she replies that Summers did. Marks accuses Summers of being the hijacker. Summers gets upset, as she had stood by him. She manages to convince Marks of her innocence.
In the meantime, two RAF Typhoon fighter aircraft meet the plane, to escort it to a military base in Iceland. The passengers watch a television news report claiming that Marks is hijacking their flight. The hijacker's phone then states that a bomb will explode in 30 minutes. Marks realizes that the bomb bypassed the security checks, and finds it in Hammond's cocaine briefcase. When some passengers attack Marks, Tom Bowen stops them, believing that the bomb is the first priority. Marks convinces the others of his innocence, and has them move the bomb beside a rear door and surround it with luggage to direct the blast outward, while everybody moves to the front of the airplane. Marks tells the co-pilot to descend to 8,000 feet, as the current pressure differential would rip the airplane apart if the bomb exploded. However, the pilot of one of the escorting jets refuses to let him deviate from his course.
Marks, watching the news video, notices Bowen making contact with the banker's pocket. Unmasked, Bowen runs to the rear. Marks chases after him, but loses his gun to Bowen in a fight. White reveals he is Bowen's accomplice. Their goal was to frame Marks, thus ruining the reputation of the Air Marshals Service. Bowen wants revenge for the service not preventing the death of his father on September 11 and, as a result, believes that "security is the country's biggest lie" and its exposure is inevitable. Marks persuades White, who is in it for the money, to try to disarm the bomb, saying that he could not survive parachuting out at this altitude. However, Bowen shoots White. Just then, the co-pilot suddenly descends steeply against orders. That distraction enables Marks, with Nancy's help, to kill Bowen. White recovers and attacks Marks, still wanting to jump out of the aircraft. Marks subdues him, then runs from the rear of the airplane just as the bomb goes off, killing White and blowing out the door. Despite the damage, the co-pilot manages to land safely. Marks is praised as a hero. He then goes over and chats with Summers and the others.

Review: When everything turns out wrong, you got to run..
This is one of the movies that get better every time you see them.
It's packed with so many original and unconventional ideas that you always find a new detail.
As in Sabu's subsequent movies (I didn't see "Unlucky monkey" yet, but the other ones are as great) failure, chance and humanism play great roles.
The cutting and Montage is inventive and artistic, without the movie being an "art" picture, but a highly entertaining one.
When comparing it to "Run, Lola, Run" you have to keep in mind that "Dangan Ranna" was made some years before and was shown on German TV as early as 1997...so it's more probable that it served as inspiration for Tom Tykwer's movie, and not the other way around.
Complementary to the other reviews I have to add that I like the acting and the ending very much.
This movie is a lot of fun in many ways, and it manages to deliver a message without being annoying or pretentious..
For the rush of Sabu.
This director makes films which never cease to amuse, entertain, or make me think long after first viewing.
Dangan Runner (Non-Stop) is where it all started.The story is simple.
Sabu's characters are interesting in the fact that they are far from perfect and deal with everyday problems which lead to events of grand proportion.
Tomorowo Taguchi (Yasuda) is great as our main character (I wouldn't go so far as to call him a hero which is great in this case) who totally puts a spin on the term packing heat (I never caught this till watching this a 2nd time; an ode to Sabu's subtle humor).
Rather than relying on long dialogue, the story is a blast to watch as they reveal the characters' situations and how they get caught up in this dilemma.
Diamond Yukai is good as the rocking, hazed out Aizawa.
The music plays a great role in Dangan Runner as it establishes moods at a breakneck pace.
Shin'ichi Tsutsumi makes his Sabu debut and it's apparent why the director chose to work with him in later films.
Tsutsumi has this screen presence where he successfully conveys what his character is going through without saying much dialogue.
Right from the get go, you can tell Takeda means business even if he's going through yakuza troubles of his own.
Ren Osugi is great in his brief, yet vital role as he gives Takeda some helpful insight.
Look for Sabu himself (it's very tough not to miss him!).
Oh, the actress who plays Midori is a dead ringer for Maggie Cheung, isn't she??The cinematography in Dangan Runner is fantastic.
There are really great shots of modern city life ranging from busy streets, narrow alleyways, construction zones, and pachinko parlors.
One awesome shot is on the bridge just right after sunset resulting literally in a purple hazed sky.
I noticed one theme in the film is looking into one's self and reaching that point of self realization, coming to realize where you are now, how you got there, and deciding what to do next.
The characters here are furiously looking for the answer for each of them and it's through the journey that they find it.
Being an avid runner, I can relate with the benefits of running, how it helps with forgetting everyday problems, reflecting on what's on your mind, and at the end, I come out with a great clear headed feeling.
Like I mentioned, Sabu makes very thought provoking films..
Run Yasuda Run. An entertaining and substantive film, Non-Stop has drawn deserving comparisons with "Run Lola Run".
The film quickly develops into a chase sequence, during which the viewers learn about the three main characters through flashbacks and daydream sequences.
The chase serves not as as a fast-paced climax, but as a journey that makes up the majority of the film.
During the "run" we see the characters grow and momentarily forget about their dreary lives, about the "macho" roles they've bought into, and eventually forgetting about why they started running in the first place.
Much like fighting provided a "clarity" for the characters in "Fight Club," running provides this film's characters with a means to step away from the false values that we all allow society to create for us.
Their running serves as way to truly taste life from an unclouded perspective, and all three find some level of clarity and joy in the process.My appreciation and enjoyment only wavered slightly in the ending of the film, where instead of learning from their experience, the characters seem to revert to acting out those false macho roles I thought they had escaped from through their journey.Still, the only true problem with this film is that it wasn't distributed outside Japan sooner..
This is really an entertaining film!.
I finally saw this film tonight after renting it at Blockbuster (VHS).
Yes, maybe the characters were not fully realized but it isn't one of those movies.
Rather, we are treated to the director's eye, his vision of what the story is about.
I do believe that Sabu had to have influenced the director's of 'Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels' and 'Run, Lola, Run'.
But I absolutely loved the way the three leads SEE the beautiful woman on the street to distract them momentarily.
I really need to see this director's other work because this film really intrigued me.
If you want a laugh, camera movement and criminal hilarity, look here..
failure, dignity and erotic day dreams.
A lot has already been said on this movie and I' d like to join those who praised it.
It's a highly unique film which uses elements of different genres: drama, comedy, gangster film without making a mess of it.
At points you just laugh out loud, at other points you feel for the characters whose mistakes and failures you watch.
Sabu's genius can be shown with regard to some sequences of the movie.
One is that where all three men chasing one another have an erotic day dream about a young woman that they just passed by on the street.
This sequence is beautifully done and illustrates the characters of all three runners very well.
It is erotic and funny at the same time.
Another example of Sabu's genius is the part of the film where the runners get tired.
First one of them, the typical loser among the three guys, hallucinates that the woman that left him for someone else is back again and you see them dancing with one another and in the next shot him dancing with himself which is deeply moving.
All of the runners get to this point where they think that have something back they lost or are on track again.
And at one part of the movie they stop chasing each other, running in line, just laughing.So here is it all the beauty and the ludicrousness of what we call life which Sabu manages to show throughout the film.
His characters fail (do they at the end?) but he doesn't rob them of their dignity.
"Monday" and "Postman Blues" that do justice to Sabu's claim that he is a genius.
A film about how profound running can be..
Japanese indie film with humor and philosophy where the three main characters run literally almost through the entire film, chasing each other due to strange circumstances and comical coincidence.
As they are running, we see what is going on in their minds and how they got where they are at the moment.
The act of running is a metaphor for these down-on-their luck people's lives.
In some way, what they're really chasing for is not what they were originally chasing, but for meaning in their lives and an escape from their personal problems and broken dreams.
Running makes them all feel truly alive.
The big life-altering running adventure comes to an end when they accidentally get in the middle of something big, violent, and so absurd that it's funny in a clever way.
One of my favorite films of all time by genius director Sabu..
worth a watch and in particular for those quickly disappearing little streets,.
Well, one thing doesn't happen, two things do and a chase ensues.
One guy chases another and another chases him around the backstreets of Tokyo.
A salaryman, a rock star drug addict and a yakuza member spend virtually the entire film chasing.
There is some backstory provided and the whole makes a little more sense by the end.
One difficulty for non Japanese is that this is clearly intended as a comedy but doesn't quite make.
There is a scene, for instance where the three pass a pretty girl bending down in the street and they are distracted.
In a Benny Hill sense with the appropriate cartoon music and only a hint of sexy visuals, there is probably a joke, whereas here the content is too prurient for us sensitive souls to find it amusing.
The whole is worth a watch and in particular for those quickly disappearing little streets, here I understand mainly those behind Nakano Broadway..
Why are we running?.
This movie has a very simple yet clever premise - an unemployed man trying to steal from a convenience store, and the store clerk catches him in the act...
the thief runs away with the store-clerk right after him.
All the while, the store clerk is in trouble with a low-rank Yakuza chinpira (gangster).
Along the chase for the thief, they catch the eye of the Yakuza who's been looking for the convenience store clerk.
The story then moves into high gear in the form of a Tom & Jerry (cat & mouse), but is added with the dog chasing after the cat.
The entire 2nd act of D.A.N.G.A.N. Runner (can be translate to English as "PINBALL RUNNERS") is about the chase, and the chase goes on & on to the point that by the end of the 2nd act, the bum forgets why he is running away, and the Yakuza don't remember which of the 2 guys he is chasing, nor does he remember why they're running away from him.Similar to SABU's later film POSTMAN BLUES, the bulk of the film is simply all chase and action, with plenty of physical comedy and dark humor injected to keep the audience engaged.
What falls short is the ending, to which the chase stops when the three men run out of steam, and into one of the most chaotic Mexican stand-offs you'll see on film that looks almost as if Sabu was paying homage to Tony Scott's TRUE ROMANCE (written by Quentin Tarantino)..
The Japanese "Run Lola Run," his is one offbeat movie which will put a smile on just about anyone's face.
Fans of Run Lola Run, Tampopo, Go!, and Slacker will probably like this one.
It does tend to follow a formula that is increasingly popular these days of separate, seemingly unrelated vignettes, all contributing the the overall story in unexpected ways.
Why are these men running?.
This film is listed as a comedy, but it's not the "laugh out loud" type.
In fact, there is some pretty serious subject matter involving a bank robbery, heroin addiction and the Japanese mafia.
It's comparable to "Run Lola Run" in that yes, there is a lot of running!
But it also shares "Lola's" non-linear story line.
It's also similar in some respects to "Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" as you learn (eventually) that all the characters introduced are connected in some way.It helps to have some knowledge of the Asian culture (even if you learned it through Jackie Chan movies).
The Asian's emphasis on honor and saving face is a key driving force for these characters.
The relationship between the yakuza/mafia guys and their boss/master is laughable to an American sensibility.
The motivations these guys have to run all over town in a marathon chase would never work in this country.If you can be patient and wait it out, the plot will fall into place.
If you don't like movies you have to figure out, or if you get lost during flashbacks, you probably won't enjoy this one.
Don't expect a knee-slapper, but there are a few good chuckles (some probably unintended) and interesting plot twists.P.S.
If shaky hand-held camera work a la "Blair Witch" makes you queasy, beware!.
Non-Stop?
Try Non-Sense!.
This movie was a weak, weak attempt to implement a possibly clever idea.
The story is pointless, the characters are two dimensional stereotypes  with unbelievable motivations and the jokes are just plain lame.
Although I did actually laugh once, it was at the main character's horrible acting.
For a story, some guys run around and then some other guys shoot each other and there's some gratuitous nudity, exploited in a pitiful attempt to retain the male viewer's attention (Any female viewer would surely not even be watching at this point as the average female iq is about 3 points higher than the male iq, giving the female just enough intelligence to not rent this waste of celluloid in the first place).
The director lists himself simply as "Sabu" which is perfectly understandable: If I had made this movie, I wouldn't want my last name on it either..
By far the dumbest Japanese movie ever made.
That's the ratings this garbage movie gets before I wrote my review.
Well for me it won an award, the award for dumbest movie ever made.
And that's not even for the mediocre acting but for the story alone.
I've seen my quota of really bad movies and I thought it could never get worse than those I saw before but I was wrong, as we have a new winner for dumbest movie ever.
I just can't understand why anybody would like this movie.
Three guys running after eachother, with a ten meter gap for the entire movie, the first one with no weapon pursued by a guy with a gun (I have no clue why he just not shoots him as his on his tail for the whole time) and that guy pursued by a third guy with a knife.
To tell you how ridiculous this movie is, at one point they just run next to eachother and just start laughing while the whole thing was killing eachother in the beginning.
Three running guys for an entire movie, filled with other really bad actors from Japan.
The best part (if I can say best part as this is the most ridiculous scene ever written) is when about 25 guys just stand in front of eachother with guns loaded and have a little stare off.
What follows next I just can't spoil but it's amazingly bad.
You have to see it to believe it, the dumbest movie ever..
Running out of steam.
SABU's debut feature 'Dangan Ranna', or 'Non-Stop' depending on your preference, is a bit of a mixed bag.
A film about running, this is both slow and fast, violent yet humorous, some parts good, some parts bad.
Ironman Tomorowo Taguchi plays Yasuda, an inept man in work, romance and society in general.
Annoyed at the world, he gets himself a gun and plans to rob a bank.
Forgetting to get himself a mask to cover his face for the job, he jumps into a convenience store to get one.
But with thievery on his mind, he decides to try and steal one, and the alert clerk picks up on the would-be thief.
A stand-off ensues, with Yasuda firing his weapon and escaping the resulting melee.
Yasuda then runs, pursued by the clerk, whom is then introduced to us as failed musician and drug addict, Aizawa in the form of flashbacks.
Troubled by a yakuza hassling him for money and high on smack, he runs after Yasuda.
Neither looking to stop anytime soon, we follow their running through the streets, passing Aizawa's yakuza agitator, Takeda.
Also troubled by the recent murders of his boss and 'aniki', Takeda follows the chase in pursuit of Aizawa.
What then follows is three men running, with seemingly no stopping likely.
SABU chooses to break up the running with flashbacks of the trio's lives, showing this is not a film about what the three are running after, but running from.
All are troubled, and the endless running is their escape from their daily lives, acting as therapy as they mull over their problems.
Seriousness though is mixed with humour, with the three all having sexual fantasies about a random woman they run passed, a free promotion acting as a marathon-style drinks break and running over Tokyo's Rainbow Bridge, only to run back over it in the opposite direction.
As the film develops, however, more characters are brought in.
A yakuza war develops as a subplot and a group of four bored policeman exchange dialogue about their favourite guns.
It's the introduction of a wider story where the film gets a little lost and confused in trying to build toward the conclusion.
And that's maybe the film's problem: While a nice set-up with the reasoning for the three men running from life, how to bring it to an end is difficult, with the film's alternate title 'Non-Stop' maybe wishful thinking for SABU.
This could have been kept as a short, ending with the characters simply running and running.
This may be where some naivety for a debut director comes in, but the film's end is not a total disaster.
A strong idea, with a good balance of humour thrown in where necessary, this is filmmaking for the fun of it.
Released two years before Germany's 'Run Lola Run' - a film also short and undecided on its conclusion - it shows SABU is a filmmaker with lots of interesting and playful ideas to work with, though as a then novice, maybe this idea just ran out of a little steam.