Shogun

Rating:
Summary: Shogun miniseries on DVD
Review: At last this brilliant mini-series has been set to be released on DVD. It is a great drama where a the first 17th century Dutch ship is swept by storm to the shores of Japan. It is the story of how an English Pilot Blackthorne played by Richard Chamberlin becomes a samaurai. Told on the backdrop of two opposing japanese Lords Toronaga (Toshiro Mifune ) & Ishido in a nation heading towards a possible civil war. Also involved are enemy catholic Spanish traders, at war with England, & with a trade monopoly in the country which is threatened by Blackthorne's presense. Mixed in this is doomed love affair between Blacktorne (Chamberlin) and his japanese translater.
The story tells how Blackthorne adapts to 17th century feudal Japan and the events going on arround him, becoming eventually a samaurai & confident to Lord Toranaga. It is a great drama told over 9 hrs with terrific acting & lovely picturesque japanese settings
I have had this on VHS for years and look forward to buying this on DVD in September. I would recommmend it to anyone who hasnt seen it.

Colin Sinclaire ([e-mail])

Rating:
Summary: Konnichiwa! I just finished the video!
Review: I can't wait to see this on DVD with captioning! I just finished the book, and viewed the video set from my local library. In 1980, we didn't have closed-cptioning, and the sound quality on the original four-video set is very poor. I wished for captioning a hundred times during the 10 hours it took to watch it all. I have always enjoed this miniseries, and remember watching it the first time on TV. Of course, it differs from the book in a few details, and leaves out quite a lot. I didn't like the way it wrote more into the story, perhaps in an effort to make some of it more palatable. Watch it cross-legged on the floor with a bowl of cha, pay CLOSE attention, and don't forget to read the book! Sayonara.

Rating:
Summary: A little white lie never hurt anybody, did it?
Review: ...This movie/tv mini-series is JAW-SOME! (no that's not a typo, I got that word from the cartoon series "Street Sharks" about rollerblading half man-half sharks) Seriously though, this show is really really good, and how could it not be with actors like Richard Chamberlain and the incredible Toshiro Mifune(known for his spectacular work in many of director Akira Kurosawa's equally spectacular movies.) Shogun is based on the James Clavell, New York Times Bestselling novel by the same title. If you haven't seen this movie/tv mini-series, and you like Samurai films, or really good stories, then check this one out...

Rating:
Summary: 'Lord Toda and Mariko'
Review: Lord Toda was actually Hosokawa Tadaoki(Born 1564 - Died 1645),and Mariko was actually Hosokawa Otama,baptized under the name of Gracia. She was the daughter of a traitor named Akechi Mitsuhide(Born 1526 - Died 1582) who killed Oda Nobunaga(Born 1534 - Died 1582). To bad 'Clavelle' didn't use the real names,also Hosokawa Tadaoki is related to the former Prime Minster of Japan Hosokawa Morihiro(from 1992 till 1994),I heard he resigned because of taking contributions from the 'Yakuza',which is a complete lie and false hood! Brilliant man,and statesman.

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Summary: MIXED HISTORICAL FACT WITH FICTION(GOOD STORY)
Review: Yoshi Toranaga= Tokugawa Ieyasu (1st Tokugawa Shogun,1600-1615), Lord Ishido= Lord Ishida, Captain-pilot Blackthorn= Captain-pilot William Adams, Lord Toda= same (was not really a bad samuarai who's envy with jelousy), the Erasmus= same (Everything that happened to her was true).This is what legends are made of a couple of words added here and there along with a forbidden love.I watched the mini-series when it first came out and loved it then. Do not get 2 hour video too much was cut out; so disappointing. If any one likes historical fact mixed in with fiction like I do this is a must get item; so don't delay the money is worth it. The only thing that is fiction about the movie is the love affair between Mariko-san and Anjin-san. If anyone is deep into Japanese history must read about Tokugawa Ieyasu and other books on the Unification wars, Hideyoshi Toyotomi and Nobunaga. There is not much written about Captain-pilot William Adams not even in the Japanese language, but his Japanese name was really Anjin-san (Mr. Pilot). The village of Anjiro did and still does exit but under the modern name "Miura". Anjiro was renamed Miura sometime during the Edo period and the Meiji Restoration. Now it's a large city about 50 miles south of Yokohama and about 10 miles south-west of Yokosuka on the same peninsula.

Rating:
Summary: James Clavell's Best Work
Review: This is my all time favorite story. I think it is one of James Clavell's best pieces of work (in my opinion). I like the way James Clavell wrote the relationship between Lord Toranaga and Blackthorne, and the forbidden love between Blackthorne and Mariko, and the hatred the Jesuits have for Blackthoren. It is amazing how James Clavell is able to make you almost feel like you are Blackthorne himself, and have you asking "what would I do if I were him?". I would recomend this movie for anyone who has a love for Japan.

Rating:
Summary: Shogun
Review: The original mini-series version is awesume. (5 stars)
BUT the 2 hour "movie" version is TOO edited to the point that it jumps around is disjointed and just losses toomuch in the translation. (I would not recomend it to anyone.)(0 stars)

Rating:
Summary: The Complete Shogun: A Mini-series worth it's salt!
Review: The setting is medieval Japan in the late 1500s/1600s. Protestant England and the Netherlands are at war with Roman Catholic Spain and Portugal.

The story is basically set in the Age of Discovery, in the mid to late 1500s/early 1600s. There is a Dutch ship, the Erasmus, that is piloted by an English navigator, Blackthorn, played extremely well by Richard Chamberlain. The ship seems to get thrown off course, and encounters many severe storms, while unwittingly finding and traversing the secret Straits of Magellan. Despite a tragic loss of most of those on board, the ship is piloted safely away, and continues westward by northwest. Eventually, due in part to the storms, they reach land, and reach "the Japans", as Blackthorn comments, almost lifeless.

Blackthorn awakes in a completely foreign culture, with customs so different from his that he is at a complete loss as what to do. To his shock and dismay, and utter incomprehension, he has landed in Japan during the time of the samurai, an elite military class based on the concepts of bushido, a strict code of honor, and loyalty. There is one westerner there to greet him, Father Alveta, a Jesuit priest from Spain. He and Blackthorn are total and utter enemies from the start, and the priest is his nemesis throughout the film. The local samurai leader puts him in his place, but Blackthorn is noticed by his superiors, and eventually, by the Lord Torunaga, played by Torisho Mifune(who also starred in the famous "Seven Samurai" film of 1954). Blackthorn is recognized as a potentially valuable ally by Torunaga, who, in the course of the film, makes himself supreme military ruler, or Shogun, of Japan, subordinate only to the emperor. Blackthorn is commanded to learn Japanese, and the Lady Toda, played by Yoko Shimada, is his tutor. Of course, he falls madly in love with her, but there love is forbidden, as she is already married to an able samurai. Their love succeeds, despite all of the odds, but ends in tragedy, as she is killed in an assassination attempt on the Shogun. Blackthorn has another pilot as his friend and enemy, the indomitable Vasco Rodriguez, played by John Rhys-Davies.

This movie has everything, romance, adventure, intrigue, politics, religion, war, and even earthquakes. All in all, it is an excellent film

Rating:
Summary: FASCINATING
Review: I watched SHOGUN as a child when it was first released, around 1980, and I enjoyed every episode. Since then, I have seen this movie over 12 times.

Toshire Mifune plays his character (Lord Toranaga) very well. His posture, etiquette, and indomitable "Bushido" spirit really stands out. Throughout the film, the dialogue between Blackthorne (Richard Chamberlain) and Toranaga are classic as well as Blackthorne's antagonistic view of jesuit priests. The simplicity and mannerisms of Mariko, Blackthorne's love interest in the film, gives the viewer an interesting yet true to life representation of the role of females in japanese society during fuedal times.

The only thing I find irritating is the lack of english subtitles when the japanese speak. It is narrated quite well and the film itself gives an insightful view of the nuances of its language and how respect and honor play in the hierarchial ladder between the samurai and their lords.

To the average viewer who has no knowledge of Japan and its people, SHOGUN gives a glimpse into a society that some consider a mystery. Though the film showcases a bit of flamboyancy in its narrations and character costumes, I highly recommend this book to be a permanent part of high school education in the US. It should inspire readers to go beyond the film and explore the beauty of Japan, its geography, history and culture; which I have found that the american youth of today fail to grasp an understanding of.

Rating:
Summary: fun to watch
Review: I bought Shogun after reading the book. I approached it with a little trepidation, worrying that it would not live up to the standard of the novel. I needn't have worried. I spread it out over four nights and enjoyed it thoroughly. The only complaint I have is the portrayal of the Japanese characters. With the exception of the translator Mariko, none of the Japanese characters ever speak for themselves. The film has instances of untranslated Japanese (irritating) and whenever something vital happens, the English narrator tells us what has taken place. This, I think, cheapens the Japanese players, reducing to them to secondary characters. In the book, they are as vital to the story as Blackthorne and the other "barbarians" and this doesn't come out as much in the film. It would have been better to allow the Japanese characters to speak with their own voices, providing us with subtitles. That being said, it is a fantastic series and well worth the price.