The treasured actors of Yamashita

More than the huge budget (P80 million), the mind-boggling special effects and the awesome production design (World War II scenes are recreated), Yamashita: The Tiger’s Treasure is proud of its actors, treasured thespians all. The cast includes a matinee idol of the ‘50s, the revered Armando Goyena, and a contravida of that decade, the hated (only on the big screen) Vic Diaz. The ‘80s and the ‘90s are represented by multi-awardee Albert Martinez and the dashing Rustom Padilla. Danilo Barrios and Camille Prats lead the stars of new millennium, including Janus del Prado, Mico Palanca, Bearwin Meilly, Ethan Javier, and Carlo Muñoz.

Armando Goyena is a popular and versatile actor of LVN Pictures during the ‘50s. He is at home in drama, comedy, action and fantasy. He has been paired with such beauties as Tessie Quintana, Evelyn Villar, Mila del Sol, and Lilia Dizon. He quit the movies in the late ‘50s to concentrate on business to support his large family. Two of his beautiful daughters, Maritess and Tina, joined showbiz. His only son, Johnny Revilla, makes a cameo appearance in Yamashita in scenes shot in California along with former model-beauty queen Bambi Arambulo, a longtime San Francisco resident.

Director Chito Roño and scriptwriter Roy Iglesias agree that Armando Goyena is perfect for the role of the grandfather of Danilo who holds the key to the hidden treasure of Yamashita, the World War II Japanese general known as the Tiger of Malaya.

Playing the Japanese officer who tortures Armando and hounds him long after the war is over is Vic Diaz, Armando’s contemporary at LVN who even then did villain parts very convincingly.

The young Goyena is portrayed by Carlo Muñoz (of Hello Billy fame, deglamorized in the movie), while the young Diaz is Japanese actor Tetsuya Matsui.

Albert Martinez and Rustom Padilla play clashing characters in the movie as tireless treasure hunter and vicious hitman of a Japanese criminal syndicate, respectively. "Cariñoso pero tuso" is how Albert describes his role of capturing the young treasure hunters led by Danilo, who holds a coded diary leading to the fabled Yamashita gold worth billions of dollars. Albert has a handful of acting trophies, topped by a Best Actor award from the Brussels International Film Festival for Rizal sa Dapitan. Rustom says he looks like an anime character in the fantasy-adventure with his long hair and all-black outfit enhancing his handsome face and muscled physique.

In last year’s Metro Manila Film Festival blockbuster Spirit Warriors, Danilo Barrios led a bunch of gutsy kids in fighting the unknown. In Yamashita, an official entry to the 2001 Metro Filmfest, Danilo is the captain of sorts of young treasure hunters Camille Prats (his love interest); Bearwin Meilly; Mico Palanca; and Ethan Javier.

Janus del Prado plays the ill-fated younger brother of Armando/Carlo, providing the heartrending moments in the movie.

Direk Chito is all praises for his treasured stars, especially Armando Goyena who, despite his advanced age, worked as hard, if not harder, than his junior co-stars.

Yamashita boasts of world-class special effects like those of Pearl Harbor and Titanic. As in Spirit Warriors, Yamashita: The Tiger’s Treasure made use of the Cyberpunks of RoadRunenr Network headed by Allan Escaño and Dodge Ledesma. They worked hand on hand with the staff of Direk Chito, among them cinematographer Neil Daza and production designer Kay Abano, to come up with a truly spectacular movie meant for the whole family this Christmas season.

In the words of MAQ Productions’ Roselle Monteverde-Teo, "We want to give the public nothing but the best in terms of stars, story, and production values."