Rating: 
Summary: A Classic but not so Great !
Review: I remember reading the book a couple of years back but can't seem to recall the actual ending ...was there a great battle
between TORANAGA and ISHIDO's forces leading to the climactic finale of TORANAGA being SHOGUN ?
If you are to see this film for the first time , then surely you'd be at the edge of your seat ( in anticipation of a huge and climactic battle) . The first 3 discs , yes ! But as soon as you see the fourth disc winding down to the last few minutes of the last chapter , I would not be surprised if you end up asking yourself ..."Is that it ?" , "What happened ?" "Where's the rest of the stuff , damn , I think I got ripped off by 'em DVD store". Probably , I got used to watching all those big WAR films , I kinda expected too much from this one.The makers of the film intended to tell the story from Blackthorne's view (thus the lack of english subtitle for those japanese dialogues). This I find confusing really , the fact that they focused to much on Blackthorne's character rather than the actual story of the book which really is about the imminent war between the ruling warlords of Japan during that time ,and an eventual winnner ,thus the title SHOGUN. Blackthorne's character ( I believe) ,was more of a coincidental witness to that eventful era in Ancient Japan. His character should have been more of a storyteller , rather than his character ,being the
beginning and the ending story. This should have allowed the film makers to come up with a complete film. You get this feeling
that there really was no ending . Nevertheless, the historical value of the film cannot be discounted .The film was successfull in conveying Japan's
regard for honor and dignity. This film was a window to an ancient past , and we are a lucky generation to have been a witness to such a classic film. Overall, I would give it a 3 star rating . This is one film that deserves a remake , one that should be shown in the
big screen. This should give the (overrated) Lord of the Rings a run for it's money.
Rating: 
Summary: Thank you, Paramount!
Review: Paramount was generous enough to transfer the classic TV mini-series to DVD. It could be seen as a risk since something this broad and expansive will not hold the attention of all audiences. Even with compression technology of the DVD format the movie still runs through four discs with a supplementary fifth disc. It is certainly a whole lot better than...what, ten VHS cassettes? That is a little trite.
First, the story. James Clavell's book Shogun is an all-time classic with many plots with multiple characters, not just the seemingly "main character" Major Pilot John Blackthorne. The book covers a lot of ground that the movie epic amazingly does not have the time to reveal. If that does not say something about the complexity of the story, nothing will. The movie basically tries to mostly cover Blackthorne's adventure through the Japans, with additional focus on the machinations of the Jesuit 'enemy'.
The transfer to DVD wasn't perfect but the source film is a little dated and grainy but the picture quality definitely passable. No major complaints and I appreciate the effort by Paramount to improve the image. The dialog sound is also not perfect but it does not degrade the experience. I only have one complaint, however tedious. The music is mixed slightly too high as compared to the dialog. The effort to keep turning the volume up and down between music and speaking does compromise the DVD production, but it shouldn't count against the movie.
The casting for the movie is spot on for the most part. Chamberlain is believable as Blackthorne, and no one else cast at that time would've come close. The legendary Toshiro Minfune reveled in his role as the calculating Yoshi Toranaga. Damien Thomas is exactly how I imagined Father Alvito looked and acted while reading the novel. Yoko Shimada spoke with class and elegance as Mariko Buntaro. And John Rhys-Davies (yes, Gimli of the Lord of the Rings) gave a rolicking performance as the Spanish Pilot Rodrigues caught up in choice of friendship and duty.
So, once again, a giant "arigato gozaimash'te" to Paramount for the DVD version to the movie production of one of the most intriguing novels ever. It is a commercial gamble to reach the 'big audience' of today, but I'm glad the true fans of this epic were not forgotten.
Rating:
Summary: Funny extras
Review: I won't add to the already abundant crticism. I want to point out that in the very beginning of the first episode, when the camera zooms in on the Erasmus at sea, and just as the narrator says the word "Erasmus", you can see the shadow of the helicoptor shooting the film in the water, off to the right of the boat, and then traversing over the sails of the boat. It's pretty funny how they let that slip through.
Rating:
Summary: Worth the wait!
Review: I've been looking and hoping they would put the entire Shogun mini-series on DVD and finally....after much anticipation, they did it. Included are all kinds of special features, interviews, etc. If you are a fan of "old world Japan", like I am, this is a must have for your collection. It was well worth the price and I highly recommend!
Rating: 
Summary: No attention to detail.
Review: The actual movie is great, however the reproduction to DVD was done very poorly. The "set-up" menu has a subtitle selection for English. Sounds great, but it only subtitles the English dialogue, not the Japanese dialogue. Brilliant!!! While many think this is to put you in Blackthorne shoes, it isn't. It's a major flaw in the reproduction that ruins the movie. Unless, of course, you speak Japanese.
Rating:
Summary: ???
Review: If this was entirely a work of fiction i might have given it a 5 star rating, because i really did enjoy it...but since it tries to recreate an ancient japan setting, i have to take into account some flaws that disturb a hardcore historian like me...
who in the world is toranaga? do they mean Ieyasu TOKUGAWA? ishido? ISHIDA Mitsunari? i would have expected them to at least get some of the names right...how in the world do you get toranaga out of TOKUGAWA? Another thing that bothered me was a part in the end....where they said the main armies clashed in the "HILLS" of sekigahara....the battle of sekigahara took place on wide open plains......
these might seem like ticky tak complaints, but if you're going to write a book or make a movie about the most important period of a nation, maybe you should get some of the most important parts of it right?
another problem i had was with the lack of subtitles. as another reviewer had pointed out, why do these dvds have no subtitles? sure, the english speaking characters have subtitles, but every time a japanese character starts to talk you either have to guess at his/her meaning or wait for mariko or someone else to translate it to the main character.
another complaint, i absolutely hate the dub overs given to Toshiro Mifune's character tokugawa...every now and then, his character is dubbed over by some horribly bad voice actor.
and finally the last jab at this series....throughout the series, the dead taiko is called gorodo or gorodu....how do you get that name?????? who was the horribly incompetent person that decided Toyotomi Hideyoshi's name should be changed to Gorodo???!!*mock* did Jameson clavellianesque write the book without consulting a historian, or did he just consult a really bad one?
Rating:
Summary: sound tracks
Review: This movie has got to be the greatest, most romantic story ever made! Gone with the wind can't hold a candle to it or any other movie can't ether! Now why don't they sale the sound track for it. I would buy it in a hart beat! All movies should have a sound track for sale, regardless of how bad or good it is because some bad movies have good sound tracks too.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice Job
Review: Finally, the DVD is here. I wasted $100 on some bootleg low quality VHS tapes that I bought on Ebay, just as I learned that these DVD's were coming out. My loss, I guess, but they never should have priced those VHS tapes as high as they did (although the little booklet that came in the black box was kind of nice). The DVD transfer was done well. Far superior to the tapes, and much improved sound. It really enhances the experience of watching this miniseries; the film really fills up the screen nicely and is definitely "high end" viewing that is better than many motion pictures. The DVD extras are also nice. In addition to a "making of" documentary (with interviews of much of the surviving cast), the DVD's include scholarly analyses of feudal and contemporary Japanese society. There's definitely a Hawaii flavor to these DVD's, which is, of course, understandable. "Shogun" was really my first introduction to Japanese culture. I've learned much since, but looking back, I'm pleasantly surprised that this miniseries works as well as it did and does. Which is why the castmembers, craftspeople, producers, and everybody else affiliated with this project, despite the troubles, should be proud of what they did here.
Rating:
Summary: Great series -- but a DVD without subtitles?
Review: I was glad to finally find the entire TV series of Shogun on DVD, but I have one major complaint against the DVD as produced -- the Eglish subtitles are present only when English is being spoken! As the series progresses, more and more of the dilaogue becomes Japanese, but there are still no English subtitles. This is understandable at the beginning. We are confused as was Blackthorne. However, as he learns Japanese, he begins speaking it. Subtitles would have been more than appropriate at this point, they are essential. We should understand as did Blackthorne. Do we have to wait for the Japanese Region 2 release of this DVD to come out before we have full subtitles? Even then, there would perhaps be no more English subtitles available. Too bad.
Rating:
Summary: BONZAI!!!
Review: This DVD is a tour-de-force of production quality and has a nifty 5th disc with extras to delight even the most war-hardened bushido. The colors are crisp, the music vibrant and full of that percussive quality Maurice Jarre made famous in the first TV broadcast. The sad part is that most of the actors that made this mini-series a gem are now gone. The remaining cast comes together on the fifth disc to discuss their roles and the production crew explains the trials and tribulations of working in Japan. There are plenty of tid-bits to fill a bento box, so grab some yakatori, make some cha and sit back in your pappasan chair and re-live the experience as though it was just coming to television. I was dismayed that the production was re-issued in the original full-screen format, I had hoped it was shot wide screen for potential theatrical release, and then trimmed for television broadcast, but alas, there is only one version. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I could have sworn that a version I had seen earlier contained subtitles for the japanese to japanese scenes, but the Orson Wells over-the-top narrative is all that remains for action clarification. All in all, I give this fabulous period piece 5 throwing stars..so watch out for the amida tong and happy viewing.
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