Steinesongo
Too many fans seem to be blown away
Mjeteconer
Just perfect...
ScoobyWell
Great visuals, story delivers no surprises
Contentar
Best movie of this year hands down!
lost-in-limbo
Director John Frankenheimer has made some great features; some not quite so and there are those which have fallen down the cracks. "The Challenge" happens to be one those forgotten oddities, but grippingly awesome pulpy martial arts entertainment. Establishing the violently vigorous action with the dramatically thoughtful material (a westerner coming to respect the traditional ways of eastern culture) --- as Glenn's washed-up American boxer Rick finds himself caught up in a family feud when smuggling a sacred samurai sword back to Japan. There he encounters trouble, so he wants out and gets the owed money for doing the job. However there's a change of heart as he wants to learn from Toru Yoshida at his school, but secretly his paid to steal the sword for Toru's brother, Hideo. Who's a businessman more concerned with modern methods, than anything traditional.It's an outrageously sharp, but meditatively-laced screenplay by Richard Maxwell and John Sayles, which packs plenty of punches (also humour), plot surprises and sets up some memorable set-pieces (bug-munching anyone?) within its Tokyo backdrop. Composer Jerry Goldsmith contributes a flavorers, flighty musical piece. Frankenheimer's lean and mean directorial style, goes down well with the superbly staged action (helping out as a material arts supervisor was Steven Seagal) and his leering camera covers numerous creative angles that don't shy away. What we have to sit through is well worth the wait for an outstandingly honourable climatic samurai battle (swift, blood-gushing and intense confrontations -- even a stapler can be dangerous!) within a futuristic-like building between the likes of Scott Glenn, Toshiro Mifune and Atsuo Nakamura. The characters are well-defined with tremendous performances to make that possible. Glenn's rough, dogged persona simply works, but there's also a compassionate side with the relationship he shares with a young boy. Mifune brings a respectable temperament and Nakamura perfectly pitches a callous edge.Possibly overlong, but "The Challenge" is cracking entertainment.
el-fast
This film is a Martial-Arts classic!It has all the ingredients of a good martial arts movie in it... yet they turn them into something else. I cannot fathom the reason why it only received 5.5/10. It's outrageous!--==## SPOILERS ##==-- Let's have a look at the film. A low life boxing sparring partner of a champion is frustrated. His technique is a lot better than the skill of the champ, yet he needs to be the mere sparring partner, reasons enough to cut the crap at one time and to beat the champ up and resign.Het gets sucked into the quarrel of two Japanese brothers, one modern, the other traditional Japanese. Here he learns traditional aiki-style martial arts.Yeah... you think you see it coming! The American learns Japanese MA in a three weeks intensive course and beats every Japanese up without effort! And... NOPE he doesn't! He gets beaten up until the very end of the movie! He needs to get himself a gun in order to survive and win... and even then he gets beaten up.Furthermore the movie is especially about the culture shock between Americans and Japanese. You can see clearly how the Japanese know the American ways a LOT better than vice versa. --==## SPOILER END##==--In short: this is one of my all time favorite MA movies and it will always be, no matter what flashy MA movies are released nowadays. I prefer The Challenge above Crouching Pussycat, Hidden Lizard ANYTIME!
garyb513
Not the greatest film ever, but certainly entertaining. I liked Scott Glenn in the role. This is one of those films that the hero has far less than perfect character. Glenn's character is so cynical that he cannot see the dignity and character of Mifune's character right away. His character is not the only one who did not get the Japanese warrior code Bushido. A large part of the movie is about cultural differences.Probably the battle scene at the end made a lot of people lower the score. It was very over the top, and Glenn's character survives by using unconventional tactics. To me, the scene is the the big payoff in the movie.
Terence Allen
The Challenge is one of those genre movies that is so good that it not only breaks the genre mold but gets lost in the shuffle, hidden by lots of other movies not nearly as good.Scott Glenn and Toshiro Mifune give excellent and their usual intense performances as a budding samurai cum boxer and his instructor, bonding as the instructor is caught up in a clan feud with his brother.This movie is good for three reasons. One reason is the normal steadfast performances of its stars. The second is the keen, insightful direction of John Frankenheimer, a grossly underrated director who helmed such classics as The Train, Ronin, and The Manchurian Candidate. And the third is the able kenjutsu (swordfighting)and aikido of a then unknown American martial arts instructor based in Japan who at the time was going by Steve Seagal. I guess I don't have to tell you who he grew up to be.
