Whiteout (2000 film)

Whiteout
Whiteout
Directed by	Setsurou Wakamatsu
Screenplay by	Yuichi Shimpo; Kenzaburo Iida; Yasuo Hasegawa;
Story by	Yuichi Shimpo
Produced by	Shohei Kotaki; Noboyuki Toya; Takashi Ishihara; Hirotsugu Usui;
Starring	Yūji Oda; Nanako Matsushima; Koichi Sato; Katsuo Nakamura;
Cinematography	Hideo Yamamoto; Satoshi Murakawa;
Edited by	Yoshifumi Fukazawa
Music by	Ken Ishii; Norihito Sumitomo;
Production; companies	Nippon Herald Eiga; Fuji-TV; Toho; Nippon Victor; Dentsu; Destiny Production;
Distributed by	Toho
Release date	19 August 2000 (Japan);
Running time	129 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Box office	¥4,200,000,000 ($52,876,740)

Whiteout (ホワイトアウト, Howaitoauto) is a 2000 Japanese film about a one-man fight against a terrorist attack at a dam in Japan, starring Yūji Oda (織田裕二) and Nanako Matsushima (松嶋菜々子). It is a Die Hard-style movie made in Japan.

Plot

It was an ordinary rescue mission for dam controller Togashi Teruo (Yūji Oda) and his colleague Yoshioka Kazushi as they set out to assist a few climbers who met an unexpected blizzard near the Okutowa Dam. Unfortunately, Yoshioka was injured while helping the others and Togashi had no choice but to seek help alone. Things got worse when WHITEOUT - a meteorological phenomenon – appeared and Togashi lost his best friend forever.

Meanwhile, with the most advanced technology, Utsuki Hirotaka (Koichi Sato) and his group of terrorists blow up the only main road to Okutowa Dam, the largest dam in Japan. They take over the dam along with the workers as hostages. They demanded JPY 5 billion from the government with a 24-hour deadline. To let the government know that they mean business, they decide to kill the hostages one by one unless they hear a definite answer from the highest government official. Among the hostages is Hirakawa Chiaki (Nanako Matsushima), Yoshioka’s fiancée whom Togashi promised his best friend to take good care of if anything bad should happen to Togashi.

To make things more complicated, there was a snowstorm and no one can get in or out from the dam. Either the government pays the ransom or the dam will be blown up, spelling doom for the 200,000 residents living close to it. Fortunately, Togashi was not captured by the terrorists and he is now on his own to fight the well-equipped terrorists and to rescue both Hirakawa and the Okutowa Dam alone.