Sengoku jieitai (1979)

Director:

Kôsei Saitô

Writers:

Ryo Hanmura (novel)
Toshio Kamata (writer)

Release Date:

January 1981 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

Plot:

A squadron of Japanese Self-Defense Force soldiers find themselves transported through time to their country's warring states era...

Plot Keywords:

Samurai | Soldier | Japan | Manga | Time Travel

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Sonny Chiba	...	Lt. Yoshiaki Iba
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jun Etô	...	Nobuhiko Ken
Moeko Ezawa	...	Widow Yui
Ryô Hayami	...	Kazumichi Morishita
Ayako Honma	...	Old Woman
Koji Iizuka	...	Shokichi
Masashi Ishibashi	...	Hosokawa Fujitaka
Toshitaka Ito	...	Seaman Harumi Takashima
Haruki Kadokawa	...	Sanada Masayuki
Takuzo Kadono	...	Seaman Toshishige Suga
Hiroshi Kamayatsu	...	Mokichi Nemoto
Goro Kataoka	...	Tategawa Katsuzo
Tadashi Kato	...	Sgt. Hideo Shimizu
Hiroshi Katsuno	...	Track Coach
Kenzô Kawarasaki	...	Koji Kano
Shin Kishida	...	Naoe Bungo
Asao Koike	...	Koizumi Yukinaga
Shinkoma Kokontei	...	Kenji Hori
Kentaro Kudo	...	Ishiba Takehide
Isao Kuraishi	...	Masao Maruoka
Masao Kusakari	...	Masakichi
Shinichirô Mikami	...	Goichi Shimada
Yoichi Miura	...	Manabu Nonaka
Kôji Naka	...	Taisuke Mimura
Hirohisa Nakata	...	Kuroda Naoharu
Noboru Nakaya	...	Yoshitaka Kujo
Mikio Narita	...	Kosa
Isao Natsuyagi	...	Nagao Kagetora
Akira Nishikino	...	Koji Kikuchi
Nana Okada	...	Kazuko Arai
Hitoshi Omae	...	Kuribayashi Magoichi
Miyuki Ono	...	Miwa
Maiko Otsuka	...	Mai
Raita Ryû	...	Haruhisa Kimura
Hiroyuki Sanada	...	Takeda Katsuyori
Gajiro Satoh	...	Foot Soldier
Jinya Sato	...	Osamu Seki
Akihiro Shimizu	...	Satoshi Onishi
Hiromitsu Suzuki	...	Go Nishizawa
Mizuho Suzuki	...	Ashikaga Yoshiaki
Ken Takahashi	...	Masayoshi Hirai
Hiroshi Tanaka	...	Takeda Shingen
Kaori Taniguchi	...	Shokichi & Mai's Mother
Kazunaga Tsuji	...	Shoichiro Ono
Katsumasa Uchida	...	Asaba Yorichika
Ryudo Uzaki	...	Ochimusha
Tsunehiko Watase	...	Hayato Yano
Hiroko Yakushimaru	...	Young Takeda Samurai

Also Known As:

G.I. Samurai
Time Slip

Runtime:

139 min | Norway:117 min | USA:85 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:MA | UK:15 | UK:15 (cut) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) (video rating) | Finland:K-18 | Norway:18

Company:

Kadokawa Haruki Jimusho

Movie Connections:

Version of Sengoku jieitai 1549 (2005)

Tanks vs Samurai ( who wins ?)

I would firstly say that somehow I remember seeing this movie in my early childhood, I couldn't read the subtitles and I thought Sonny Chiba was Sean Connery. But I did really like the concept. If you are not able to at least partially suspend your adult scepticism and embrace your inner seven your old you may want to avoid this movie. That said, having just watched the restored 137 minute version on DVD I have to say I enjoyed it, though not as much as when I was seven ( I remembered the ending ).

There are aspects of the movie that are worthy of criticism , the first 15 minutes and final 15 minutes both have some really comic moments, my favourite being the contrast between scenes acted out in the final 10 minutes and the curious choice of backing music ( listen to the lyrics ).

For an action film there is a great deal of focus on the personal stories of certain soldiers and the social dynamics of the squad as the strain of their time travel takes its toll. By the ending of the movie I had decided that this was a good thing, when seven I though the 'relationship' guff was a bad thing.

For an action film there is also plenty of gratifying gory action, especially a couple of epic battle scenes between the platoon and hordes of Shogun era warriors. The makers of the movie have ensured that as many deaths as possible are bloody and, lets face it, humorous. I thought this was a splendid aspect of the movie when I was a kid, and I am not ashamed to say that I still do.

I also like the fact that the modern day soldiers in general don't spend the movie walking on egg shells trying to avoid altering the space time continuum, they've got heavy calibre machine guns, mortars, rocket launchers, a tank and a helicopter and they're hell bent on making feudal Japan theirs. Which is what I'd like to think any vigorous IMDb user would do in their boots.

In short the movies worth watching, it makes the viewer regret that there are not more movies made with a similar premise, and at the same time offers some hefty hints as to why a movie like G.I. Samurai is so unique.