“Snake Eyes” / 「スネーク・アイズ」, Original Japanese Movie Poster 1998, B2 Size (51 × 73 cm) ZA486

This is an original Japanese B2 theatrical poster printed for the Japanese release of Snake Eyes / 「スネーク・アイズ」, Brian De Palma’s stylish 1998 conspiracy thriller starring Nicolas Cage and Gary Sinise.

Set almost entirely within a crowded Atlantic City casino and sports arena, the film combines political assassination, surveillance footage, conflicting eyewitness accounts, and De Palma’s characteristically elaborate visual storytelling.

The Japanese campaign design transforms the film into a wall of fragmented security monitors, inviting the viewer to reconstruct the crime while warning that appearances cannot be trusted.

Film background

The film follows Rick Santoro, a flamboyant and morally compromised Atlantic City police detective attending a heavyweight boxing match at a vast casino resort.

Santoro is accompanied by his childhood friend Commander Kevin Dunne, a decorated naval officer responsible for protecting the United States Secretary of Defense, who is seated ringside.

During the fight, the Secretary is assassinated in front of approximately 14,000 spectators. The arena is immediately sealed, leaving every person inside as both a potential witness and a possible suspect.

Santoro begins reconstructing the events surrounding the shooting. By reviewing surveillance footage, retracing movements through the building, and comparing the conflicting accounts of those present, he gradually uncovers a complex conspiracy involving military interests, political corruption, and a mysterious woman dressed in white.

As the same incident is repeatedly revisited from different viewpoints, apparently insignificant gestures and background details take on new meaning. The film becomes an elaborate visual puzzle in which the truth is concealed within the very images intended to reveal it.

The central relationship between Santoro and Dunne gives the conspiracy its emotional weight. Santoro must decide whether loyalty to an old friend is more important than confronting the reality of what occurred.

The film was directed by Brian De Palma, from a screenplay by David Koepp, with an original score composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto.

Snake Eyes is particularly celebrated for its ambitious opening sequence, presented as an extended tracking shot that follows Santoro through the casino, backstage corridors, and crowded arena before the assassination takes place.

The film’s elaborate camera movements, split perspectives, surveillance imagery, and repeated reconstruction of events reflect De Palma’s enduring fascination with voyeurism, deception, and the unreliability of visual evidence.

Poster design

This striking Japanese poster is structured as a dark wall of surveillance monitors, each containing a different fragment of the film’s mystery.

The composition is dominated by black, deep red, and burnt orange tones, creating the visual atmosphere of security footage viewed within a darkened control room.

Across the right side, several rectangular screens combine to form an enormous fragmented portrait of Nicolas Cage as Rick Santoro. His eyes occupy the central monitors, while isolated sections of his face appear across the surrounding panels.

The divided portrait suggests that Santoro must piece together both the assassination and his own compromised identity from incomplete information.

These scenes are not arranged chronologically. Instead, they function like pieces of evidence scattered across a surveillance system, reinforcing the film’s central question: whether recorded images reveal the truth or merely create another layer of deception.

The large red vertical headline at left reads:

「巨大スタジアムに仕掛けられた戦慄の陰謀！」

Translated:

“A terrifying conspiracy set inside a massive stadium!”

The white vertical tagline at right reads:

「見るもののすべてを信じるな。」

Translated:

“Do not believe everything you see.”

This line perfectly expresses the film’s use of restricted viewpoints, manipulated evidence, and misleading appearances.

The red text beneath the title reads:

「目撃者：1万4,000人、容疑者：1万4,000人」

Translated:

“Witnesses: 14,000. Suspects: 14,000.”

The names of the two principal stars appear prominently across the upper edge:

「ニコラス・ケイジ」
「ゲイリー・シニーズ」

At the lower centre, the poster highlights the director’s earlier international success:

「『ミッション：インポッシブル』の監督
サスペンス・スリラー by ブライアン・デ・パルマ」

Translated:

“From the director of Mission: Impossible—a suspense thriller by Brian De Palma.”

The large Japanese title:

「スネーク・アイズ」

is rendered in distressed white lettering, divided by a small red diamond. Horizontal red lines extend behind the title, visually connecting it to the surveillance-screen structure above.

Directly beneath appears the prominent credit:

「音楽：坂本龍一」

Translated:

“Music: Ryuichi Sakamoto.”

Sakamoto’s involvement was given particular prominence in the Japanese campaign, reflecting his stature as one of Japan’s most internationally recognised composers.

The lower edge contains the principal cast and production credits, together with the studio and distribution marks for Paramount Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, and Buena Vista International Japan.

The result is an exceptionally effective late-1990s Japanese thriller design: visually complex, highly cinematic, and closely aligned with the film’s themes of surveillance, fragmented perception, and concealed truth.

Condition

Near Mint condition. An exceptionally well-preserved example, retaining deep black tones, vivid red and amber colour, sharp photographic detail, clean typography, and superb overall display impact.

There are only extremely minor signs of age or handling consistent with an original Japanese theatrical poster from this period. It would be very difficult to improve upon this example.

Reference: ZA486.

Please review the photograph carefully, as it shows the exact poster for sale.

This is an original Japanese theatrical poster from the film’s first-release campaign.
It is not a reproduction or a reprint.

It is now over 25 years old.

Certificate of Authenticity included.