NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!

Tyreece Hulme One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Kayden This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Montserrat Casanova Making a mini-series out of James Clavell's historic and highly intricate novel Shogun was an ambitious and groundbreaking undertaking that hasn't stopped fascinating audiences all over the world since it was first broadcast in 1980 . The fictionalized story, entirely filmed on location, takes place in Japan and tells us through the eyes of English sailor John Blackthorne, shipwrecked on the shores of the Japans, the power struggle between several feudal lords and between these and the Jesuits. Together with Blackthorne we discover early 17th century Japan, with him we progressively gain an understanding of the Japanese people and their culture, like him we are torn between the loyalty towards lord Toronaga and the wish to return to open seas and capture the Portuguese Black Ship, we also fall in love with Mariko, his beautiful married interpreter, we share his despair to be stripped from his ship the Erasmus and we are proud when he is granted the status of samurai and hatamoto . No one could have personified Blackthorne better than Richard Chamberlain. He IS Blackthorne, true to his huge talent and his magic capacity to fade into the character he is interpreting. Richard Chamberlain carries the whole complex production on his shoulders, he is practically in every scene, not only in dialog with other characters but also without uttering a word, he drives the story thus making the audience understand what is going on and what are his nuanced feelings. A tour de force charismatic Richard Chamberlain carries out brilliantly. Moreover he is intensely dramatic in the seppuku scene, funny and touching in the sailor's dance, wonderfully romantic as Mariko's lover and wears the silk kimonos with unmatched class and elegance. The whole cast is splendid. The actors who play the Jesuits and the crew of the Erasmus, are beautifully cast, all out of English theater. To quote but a few : Damien Thomas, Alan Badel, Michael Hordern, John Rhys-Davies. John Rhys-Davies plays the part of the pilot of the Black Ship with such tremendous energy and gusto that some consider exaggerated. Not in my opinion, his acting is very useful in the sense that it helps to underline Blackthorne's composed and reflexive nature. The same has to be said of the Japanese actors, the mythical Toshira Mifune, Yoko Shimada, Frankie Sakai, Yuki Meguro, Hideo Takamatsu, all sensational, with incredible presence.The fact that Shogun was entirely shot in Japan grants the mini-series the stamp of authenticity, further stressed by the resort to Japanese without dubbing. The sets, made by Japanese craftsmen following century old traditions, are magnificent not to speak of the quality of the light and photography as well as of the music by Maurice Jarre. Jerry London, the director, and Eric Bercovici, both script writer and executive producer, supported by the cast and crew, succeeded in making a master piece. The filming of Shogun was a "wonderful nightmare" recalls Richard Chamberlain . To enjoy this excellent and spectacular mini-series and to know more about its making watch the five DVDs including a documentary on the making of Shogun .

Dean S (deansawas) This miniseries does a credible job in presenting the cultural landscape during the Shogunate years. Not only is it a historical (somewhat modified) adventure, it demonstrated the advances the Japanese had made in medicine, iron-working and in other areas. It shows the differences between the Western and Eastern attitudes towards cleanliness and religion- which had not been presented before. It also shows the stratified class society of those times. A shock to our delicate sensibilities - but, at least an attempt to show it in a positive manner. The costumes and background was very accurate for the time and it was the first honest attempt to portray the Japanese in a kindly manner since before Pearl Harbor. Could it have been better - yes, could it have been more historically accurate - again yes, BUT it sure was light years better than the horrible attempts that had littered the movie landscape in prior years. It also encouraged people to see Toshiro Mifune and Kurosawas' other classics such as Rashomon, etc. Definitely worth watching.

miken-3 Richard Chamberlain gives an excellent performance as well as all the Japanese actors in this well-made adaptation of Clavell's novel. It sticks fairly well to the plot of the book.Super-rich in history with one of the most interesting characters, Anjin-san (Japanese for Mr. Pilot). Anjin-san is marooned in feudal Japan and makes a decision to change his Western thinking and fit in to the totally foreign but alluring Japanese society.He is drawn into a forbidden love with a Japanese noblewoman, while battling jealous Japanese nobles and fanatical Jesuits. He earns the trust of Lord Torenaga who is a wise tactician in the art of waging war and diplomacy. Can Anjin-san survive the constant perils he is put into and win the hand of the woman he loves? Many scenes are in Japanese, but if you had no problem with The Last Samauri, it should pose no problem here.

konjyo I saw this movie when I was a kid and it became the catalyst for my study of Japanese and martial arts. I have now been here in Japan 10 years, have my black belt and can say that this series still rocks. The only difference now is I understand all the Japanese spoken and the historical references, which makes it rock even further. The producers have done a wonderful job and the historical, linguistic, cultural points are spot on. There are few works like this where Japanese and Americans get together to produce a realistic piece (Blackrain is another good example)I recommend to other users if you ever have a chance, come to the places in this film here in Japan, and the series shall rock further for you indeed.