ESPY (film)

ESPY (エスパイ, Esupai) is a 1974 film based on a story by Sakyo Komatsu.^[2] The film was directed by Jun Fukuda from a screenplay by Ei Ogawa.^[1] It stars Hiroshi Fujioka, Masao Kusakari, Kaoru Yumi, Tomisaburo Wakayama and Eiji Okada.^[3]

ESPY
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jun Fukuda
Screenplay by	Ei Ogawa
Story by	Sakyo Komatsu
Produced by	Tomoyuki Tanaka Fumio Tanaka[1]
Starring	Hiroshi Fujioka Kaoru Yumi Masao Kusakari
Cinematography	Masaharu Ueda[1]
Edited by	Michiko Ikeda[1]
Music by	Masaaki Hirao Kensuke Kyo[1]
Production company	Toho-Eizo[1]
Distributed by	Toho
Release date	28 December 1974 (1974-12-28) (Japan)
Running time	94 minutes[1]
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

^[1]

Release

ESPY was released theatrically in Japan on 28 December 1974, where it was distributed by Toho.^[1] It was released in the United States by Toho International with English subtitles and a 94-minute running time in 1975.^[1] 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.^[1]