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You will often hear people say that Bruce Lee brought martial arts to America. The fact is, there isn't even really much room to argue the point. Sure, there were people who studied martial arts in America before Lee popularized it, but it wasn't everywhere, and looking back you have to seriously wonder if there would be a martial arts studio in every strip mall had his movies never existed. Just as Lee brought martial arts to America, "Shogun" brought Japan itself. ***

"Shogun" masterfully brings Clavell's novel to life, and is the story of John Blackthorne, who washes up on the shores of Japan, only to find himself thrust not only into a culture that is completely alien to him, but a feudal war as well. Blackthorne (Richard Chamberlain) slowly integrates himself into the culture, and is soon noticed by Lord Toranaga (the legendary Mifune), who will eventually make him a samurai. The story winds almost endlessly (without ever slowing detrimentally), detailing 16th century Japanese culture. A wide array of focuses mesh together wonderfully in the film, from the battle to be Shogun between Toranaga and rival Lord Ishido, to the developing bond between Blackthorne and Mariko who has been assigned to teach him the language and necessary customs, to Blackthorne's eventual acceptance into the realm he's stumbled upon. ***

Though Chamberlain starts the movie with his usual too strong performance, he quickly settles into a remarkable delivery. Surely, the best of his career. The performances are excellent all around. Mifune is, of course, nearly unbelievable, perfecting the persona of Toranaga. The also legendary Alan Badel, in nearly his last performance, is a treat to watch as one of the Spanish missionaries. The completely unknown at the time John Rhys-Davies makes it clear why he is now known. And, last minute fill in Yoko Shimada is a perfect Mariko, delivering just the right balance of the sensibilities and expression she must have in public, and the emotional force she relays in private. ***

Much of the credit to the near-perfection of the film, and its overall success must be given to the film's extraordinary attention to detail. The costume and set design alone are beyond compare, especially for the time, and they are simply stunning. Also, nothing was overlooked when it came to ensuring that dress, locations, mannerisms, attitudes, and ideals were just as they would have been at the time. Much of the credit there, perhaps, must go to the fact that it was virtually impossible for the studio to have any say in what was happening during production. Given the time, and the fact that shooting was done in Japan, by the time the studio got to see what was on film there was no way to reshoot anything. ***

"Shogun" is almost without question the best miniseries ever filmed, and in terms of pure production, is possibly one of the best films of all-time as well. The story is told splendidly, and with as much attention as possible given to being true to the setting as one can imagine is possible. The drama never becomes burdensome, and thus we are allowed to feel as though we have an honest character-study approach.

The picture quality on the "Shogun" DVD is better than one might expect, but it does betray its age. Overall, the quality is very good, but there are a lot of flaws. Generally, the color is very sharp, but it does fade here and there, and occasionally the palette itself seems off, with skin tones becoming decidedly odd. The source material is not in perfect shape, and that comes through as well. There are also no end of flaws to night scenes, both indoors and during a few scenes aboard ships. Night scenes are, certainly by today's standards, all but hopeless in the loss of detail. Still, for the most part colors come through surprisingly well, and for the age of the movie you'd certainly have to rate this transfer very high. ***

The sound has been given the 5.1 treatment, and it is hard to believe the sound could be made this good. Jarre's soundtrack comes through brilliantly, and if the effects and dialogue do not come through as perfectly, it is easily forgiven. There are rare occasions when softer dialogue slips to what you might expect from 1980 television, with levels dropping out and the occasional hiss, but given the overall quality, it's hardly noticeable. Surround is given its due, which is the most surprising thing of all. There are certainly flaws, but the sound is definitely impressive.

Any fan of "Shogun" is in for a definite treat with the sets special features. The "Making of" alone will be highly valued by those who enjoy the film. This section is broken up into 13 individually selectable segments. ***

"A Novel Adventure" is a five-minute overview of how the director and writers came to project, and some of the ideas behind the screenplay concepts. ***

"The Cast" is 18 minutes of interviews with the director and virtually all of the main players in the cast. All of whom discuss how they came to the project, and their experiences during the filming. A very nice piece this, with several of the cast members delivering wonderful insights that fans will truly appreciate. ***

"Nagashima" is a three-minute feature on the place where a good portion of the filming was done, chiefly the bay in Nagashima. ***

"TOHO studios" is roughly six minutes on the studios were many of the set pieces were shot, including the opening sequence of the shipwreck and storms. Director of Photography Andrew Laszlo spends a good deal of the time here discussing how behind the times the studio was, and of course how odd that was to them considering all the 'modern' equipment they were used to back home was made in Japan. An interesting anecdote comes out during this feature as well. TOHO studios was situated in the middle of a residential neighborhood, and filming was causing problems, with many of the residents complaining. This was eventually 'resolved' when President Carter's visit to Japan took all the local police away for protection. Thus, when residents called the police to complain, if they did, there was no one there to respond. ***

"Cultures Collide" is a wonderful ten-minute feature wherein director London and others discuss the problems of filming with an American and Japanese crews. A wonderful addition to the disc, considering the movie. Though there were problems, and interpreters, apparently things became fairly smooth after a month or so of shooting as those involved discovered that it only takes about 50 words to get a movie made, and once everyone learned those 50 words in each other's language, there wasn't much trouble. London gives us a wonderful note, again, especially given the film in question, because it seems that he had some trouble with his interpreter. His interpreter was a woman, and he would tell her what to tell the Japanese production crew to do, and they wouldn't do it, because they weren't going to take orders from a woman. ***

"The Art of Shogun" is a three-minute feature mainly on the costume design. This is a wonderful feature in its own right, but one which we might have hoped for more from, given the attention of the other features. ***

"The Erasmus & The Galley" is an eight-minute feature which tells the story of the real ship was brought to Japan to serve as The Erasmus and a Portugese Galley. An interesting feature, which also includes a hefty bit of the cast and production crew reminiscing about the difficulties of filming aboard the ship. ***

"Controversy" is a four-minute feature which is mainly just footage of London and Chamberlain discussing the controversy that resulted from the 'Urination' and 'Beheading' scenes, which were rather beyond the times for television in 1980, and come so early in the film. ***

"The Earthquake" is a six-minute feature on the creation of the effects for the film's earthquake scene. This is really a wonderful piece to include, and gives a great view of the efforts that went into effects during the time. It also gives us an account of how one member of the effects crew became trapped under quite a bit of earth during the first failed attempt at getting the scene to work. After the accident, the Japanese crew would not go back to work on that scene until a Buddhist monk was brought in to remove the bad spirits from the area. ***

"Escape from Osaka Castle" is a brief two minutes on the creation of Chamerlain's 'mad' scene. There isn't really much to this feature, and it simply details the tremendous strain involved due to how many times Chamberlain was asked to do it. ***

"The Blockade" is another wonderful four-minute feature that goes over the scene. A particularly tricky scene to shoot, and once all the bugs were finally worked out, Chamberlain accidentally spoiled the whole thing, and it had to be done again. This is a very nice feature, and it includes footage of the spoiled attempt. ***

"Post Production" is four minutes that details the enormous and unique problems that came up in post production, mainly having to do with trying to get the film back to America. Not entirely interesting, but a nice addition all the same. ***

"Shogun Makes History" is a six-minute feature of footage mainly of London recounting the incredible impact "Shogun" made during its airing. From the astonishing ratings, to the unprecedented impact on society. ***

The "Shogun" DVD also includes three historical perspective featurettes. "The Samurai" is a six-minute introduction to the concepts and historical import of samurai and Shoguns, by Paul Varley PHD, professor of Japanese Culture at the University of Hawaii. This is a short spot, but it is well-planned and well put together. "The Tea Ceremony" is a five-minute feature that briefly goes over the history and cultural significance of the tea ceremony over time. "The Geisha" is a five-minute feature which similarly gives an overview of the role and importance of Geishas throughout Japan's history, even to the present day.

"Shogun" is not only a great film, but it is an undeniable cultural event which had no small impact on America. It has been given a great treatment here, and is an absolute must own for any fan. The special features are astonishing, and far more than we might have expected for a movie twenty plus years old, cultural event or not.

Marc Eastman

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