Special effects footage of the attack on Pearl Harbor from this film was so convincing that Gen. Douglas MacArthur's film unit confiscated the film and sold the footage to Frank Capra and Movietone News Corp. The footage was released as actual Japanese footage of the infamous attack.
Into the 21st century, Eiji Tsuburaya's special effects from this film continue to be used in documentaries of the Pacific War and especially the attack on Pearl Harbor. It became stock footage and it is not known how many producers were aware that this was not actual combat footage but special effect footage created for a Japanese feature film.
The use of special effects and miniatures, common in Hollywood, was apparently done for the first time here in a Japanese film.
According to Toho, this film sold 100 million tickets in Japan and its occupied territories, making it the most attended film in Japanese history.