Shogun

Rating:
Summary: A CLASSIC
Review: all i can say is this a great movie. these is one of those movies that you watch and never forget. a classic.

Rating:
Summary: The Shogun Of All Television Miniseries'
Review: When I heard this mini-series was comming out on DVD I was ecstatic. I wondered when it would be released and surely here it is. I just want to say that I love this series so much and am still moved to tears by the ending. My love of military history has fueled my passion for these types of films but when it comes to a mini-series you won't find any much better than SHOGUN.The storyline takes place in Imperial Japan 1600 A.D. and I really don't want to give anything away. I must admit the ending is very tragic but Clavell wrote a masterpiece when he penned this story. If you are looking for great cinematography,solid acting, colorful characters and best of all a moving,tragic storyline look no further...SHOGUN is here!!!

Rating:
Summary: A New Life For The Classic Tale From The Sengoku Era!
Review: Shogun has been one of the most requested and long awaited titles to be released on DVD, and I'm happy to report that the end product was well worth the wait.
Author James Clavell's story of the "Englishman who went to Japan and became a samurai" remains one of the benchmarks of network TV fare over 20 years after its release. The detailed sets, gorgeous costuming, and sumptuous details have never looked or sounded better. This boxed DVD set has very crisp video and sharp sound. The packaging is quite attractive with new artwork and a nice gated 5 fold DVD holder. It would have been nice, though, if somewhere on here or on a separate card the contents of the discs would have been listed. A much better value than the expensive 4 VHS set as well!
Disc 5 holds the new extras. The 13 segment "Making Of Shogun" feature is the jewel on this disc. Many of the surviving actors such as Yoko Shimada, John Rhys-Davies, and Richard Chamberlain were interviewed along with production personnel such as director Jerry London, producer Eric Bercovici and others. Every aspect of the production, filming, and release of the movie is covered with all sorts of great information and ancedotes. Less impressive are the "3 historical featurettes" (samurai, tea ceremony, and geisha). These are short with very general information. The disc would have been better served with a 15 minute featurette presenting the historical situation and personalities Shogun was based on (who would't want to see Hosokawa Gracia, the woman Mariko was patterned after?). As a plethora of easily accessible source material is available on the subject, I don't know why this wasn't done. The "audio commentary by director Jerry London on select scenes" was a disappointment-rather than running with the soundtrack (after all, 9 hours of commentary would be a bit much for anyone to fill), these few scenes are presented separately and are short and rather non-informative, as most of the information is included in the "Making Of" segment (where London does a great job). All in all, though, I was happy to see any sort of extras with the program at all, and an entire disc was more than could be asked for!
The miniseries has aged incredibly well. The performances, particularly by the Japanese cast, still hold up. While there are many historical anachronisms and sometimes inaccurate use of the Japanese language, these really do not detract from the splendor of Shogun. After all, as Clavell stressed time after time in interviews, he was writing historical fiction, not fact. It is sad that many aspects of the characters could not be fleshed out to what they were in the novel (you never get a sense of just how intelligent and cunning Mariko is in the miniseries, or just how devious Omi, Yabu, Toranaga, and the Jesuit fathers are), but even a 9 hour miniseries didn't have time for all of this. The Mariko/Blackthorne romance, only a sidestory in the novel, here becomes the focus. In addition, this allowed the characters to reflect the strengths of the actors. Shimada was (and is!) the picture of Oriental womanhood. Chamberlain is good at portraying the romantic and intellectual side of Blackthorne, but was unconvincing when it came to the physical aspects of the role such as fight scenes or intimidating his crew (Blackthorne was written as a hot tempered, physically threatening sea captain/pirate-Clavell had wanted Sean Connery for the role for this reason. Chamberlain did a nice job on the "mad dance", though! Disc 5 has a great outtake of Chamberlain stumbling and collapsing in a heap while performing it). Focusing on the romance aspect therefore plays to Chamberlain's strengths and allows him to turn in a good performance, where his real enthusiasm for the role came through. Toshiro Mifune excels as the Daimyo Toranaga, and Frankie Sakai is a delight to watch as the treacherous Yabu-one minute friend, the other foe, right until the end. Rhys-Davies is at his bombastic best as Spanish pilot Rodrigues. In fact, the entire cast does an impressive job filling their niches.
One of the great things about Shogun is that it was filmed at actual locations you can still visit in Japan. The castles Himeji-jo and Hikone-jo stand in for Lord Ishido's Osaka Castle (which can also be visited in its rebuilt form). The rebuilt Fushimi-jo near Kyoto serves as Toranaga's Edo Castle (Edo Castle is now the Emperor's Palace in Tokyo, but the main keep no longer exists-the grounds and outbuildings are still huge and impressive!), and Matsumoto-jo as one of Toranaga's satellite castles. And for a taste of samurai life, you can visit Toei Studios Movieland (where part of Shogun was filmed, I believe) in Kyoto-it is just like stepping into one of the scenes from Shogun.
Overall, you can't go wrong with this package. A classic, milestone miniseries with great acting and production values with a well done transfer and nice new extras. Paramount made it worth the wait!

Rating:
Summary: Welcome to DVD, Anjin-san
Review: The longest miniseries of the 1980s finally on DVD (the longest of all time is Centennial FYI). Richard Chamberlain, a few names from the British actors guild and an entire Japanese cast and crew, put together an outstanding performance of the about and English pilot and his dutch crew get shipwrecked on the shores of Japan, and after a while the pilot forms an alliance with a warlord destined to be Shogun: military ruler of the country, falls in love with a high ranking lady and the rest is history. The DVD is a major improvement on the old 4 VHS tape set in terms of color and sound. Plus while tape 1 of the VHS set had only the credits from the first part and tape 4 had specially re-edited ending credits, the discs have a specially revamped set of opening credits which sandwich the opening credits of the whole miniseries just like the ending credits do so on disc 4. Plus you get a 5th disc with some neat behind the scenes stuff. Hey Warner, Paramount has a winner with the DVD of Shogun, time for you to re release Thorn Birds, Ditto: Universal re Centennial.

Rating:
Summary: Great Story for the whole family
Review: I think this is one of the best mini-seies I have ever seen and I never believed it would ever be available on dvd, or for sale so I am going to put my money where my mouth is and as soon as I can afford it I will buy the dvd version and will treasure it for the rest of my life. I very much liked our friend ilpantsman's list of movies but I felt that he was missing a very special one and so I wanted to add this epic Shogun to his list but that was not possible, so I will with his permission of course borrow his list as most of the movies on it I have seen and enjoyed very much, and I have had the pleasure to add them to my private collection most of them but I still have yet to attain all of them which I will one day be able to say I have them all to treasure. All the movies that were in some way conected to Takeshi Kitano weather he was the star of the film or had a director credits to the film he always in a way unexplainable now made the flick a lot more enjoyable as he has great range to be able to in one film be a hardened gangster and kill everyone around him (Brother) with out thinking twice about killing or backing down and them in another film picked randomly (kikijiru) play a person who really cares for a small boy and plays with him and genuinly cares about what happens to the kid as he see's himself in the small boy that he used to be and had no one to care for him. I fully intend to Checkout ilpantman's other films because if they are even half as good as the ones Takeshi are involved in they will in my opinion be GREAT film making that you would love to watch over and over through the years as that is what great cinematography is all about! Keep up the great work Takeshi Sensei!

Rating:
Summary: ART REFLECTS HISTORY--BUT WHO'S COUNTING
Review: I traveled twice to Tokyo and while there asked everyone I saw about the accuracy of Shogun. Interestingly to a person I was told that, while there were some historical inaccuracies, this story was one of their favorites.

Yes, the history has been heavily novelized and no, I won't go into the details. Other reviewers have done a great job of setting things straight and my efforts would be repetitious. But in the final go round it's really not necessary. If you're after a cut-and-dried history of feudal Japan there are numerous books and videos that you can check out.

History aside, Shogun should be and can be watched and enjoyed purely for its entertainment value. Richard Chamberlain is marvelous.

Rating:
Summary: Finally!
Review: I rented the VHS version a few years ago and was sadly disappointed...but now I'm looking forward to falling in love with this saga all over again!

In 1980, I was only 7 years old, but I loved this series--probably one of the first 'adult' programs I was allowed to stay up and watch! When I was older, I read the novel (it's big and it's got small print, be warned)...and reread and reread it! Granted, there's only so much you can show on TV and only so many hours you can tie up programming, but I think the series does a darn fine job of following the book. For an American TV population probably not very familiar with Japanese customs, this was a fascinating look into a very different world.

Even at 7, I felt the finely tuned tensions between the characters. I knew they had to deny what was in their hearts in order to hold to the dictates of society. Don't expect a Hollywood happy ending! This is much more like traditional Japanese stories and legends that end in heartbreaking separation of the hero and heroine for the sake of destiny or duty. If you're an anime or manga fan (like me!), you'll find familiar elements...

I absolutely loved the costumes and the settings in this series. There's enough in here to keep the romantics, the swashbucklers, and the military and history buffs occupied for a good long time.

This series is a favorite memory of mine, and I'm looking foward to getting the DVD version--at last!

Rating:
Summary: If you have A.D.D. you'll hate it.
Review: Reading some of these reviews, I wonder if anyone watches a movie or mini-series to be entertained by it. When you go down the line of people who gave this great title three or lower stars, you'll find it mostly comes from people who try to express their "true" historical knowledge, or simply didn't have the attention span for a drama of this caliber. Who cares?

I was 8 years old when Shogun came to television for the first time and my mother, a single-parent who never had much time for TV, sat enthralled and entranced by it. It was probably the way I looked watching Battlestar Galactica, or Saturday morning cartoons, and during whole time Shogun was airing my mother could not be bothered to pull herself away from this wonderful drama.

When I was a teen it aired again and I couldn't pull myself away, and it inspired my own interest in Japan and its culture. I submit to whoever is reading this the so-called history buffs, or historians who are giving this mini-series, or the book it was based on, low marks, it's only to flex their own scholastic muscle. It's pathetic posturing, really and has nothing to do with the true quality of the story.

Shogun continues to be one of the greatest stories ever told, and among the best adaptations of a novel ever done, right up there with "Lonesome Dove", and "Gone with the Wind". The charm of Richard Chamberlain's portrayal of Blackthorne (I don't need to know who the character was based on), the beauty and grace of Yôko Shimada's portrayal of Mariko and the rest of the wonderful cast, combine to bring us a tale for the ages of Feaudal politics and forbidden romance.

I loved it.

Rating:
Summary: At Last the Dvd Cometh
Review: I was only seven when this movie hit tv, but I was still allowed to watch it entirely. Although it is not an accurate depiction of the true events of the time, it is in my opinion however the most wonderful Bushido-Samurai movie ever produced. The characters seem to have been lifted right out of the pages of the novel. I highly doubt that a better cast could have been picked.

If you want an amazing saga filled with intrigue, romance, bloodthirsty villans, lavish sets and costumes, then this is the movie for you.

No true movie buff can let this DVD pass them by. a must have!

Rating:
Summary: movie fan
Review: this movie is terrible. i had to use restraint from keeping myself from turning it off. the only reason i finished it was because i kept thinking to myself that at some point it must get better. i think people like it because it is one of the first of a kind but don't confuse it for a good movie. it is a horrible movie. skip it and watch something else.