Shogun (TV 1980)

An English navigator becomes both pawn and player in the deadly political games in feudal Japan.

Director:

Jerry London

Writers:

James Clavell (novel), Eric Bercovici

Stars:

Richard Chamberlain, Toshirô Mifune, Yôko Shimada

1 win.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Richard Chamberlain	...	Pilot-Major John Blackthorne
Toshirô Mifune	...	Lord Yoshi Toranaga
Yôko Shimada	...	Lady Toda Buntaro - Mariko
Frankie Sakai	...	Lord Yabu
Alan Badel	...	Father Dell'Aqua
Damien Thomas	...	Father Alvito
Michael Hordern	...	Friar Domingo
Vladek Sheybal	...	Captain Ferriera
Yûki Meguro	...	Omi
Noburo Kaneko	...	Lord Ishido
George Innes	...	Vinck
Leon Lissek	...	Father Sebastio
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tôru Abe	...	Hiromatsu
Anne Bancroft	...	Narrator of US home video version (voice)
John J. Carney	...	Ginsel

Storyline

In the 16th Century, a Dutch ship sails the Pacific from the Americas in order to escape the Spanish. Blackthorn is the pilot of the ship and the first to realize the possibilities of Japan. Japan is a feudal society which has a strong presence of the Portugese. A struggle is in the final stages for who will be the Shogun, the leader who, under the emperor, governs the land. Toranaga sees in Blackthorn things he can use to at least survive the struggle to come, and if both play their hands correctly, become Shogun.

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Plot Keywords:

japan | shogun | feudal japan | feudal society | intrigue | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | History | War

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Details

Country:

USA Japan

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 September 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

James Clavell's Shogun

Filming Locations:

Daiei-Kyoto Studios, Kyoto, Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Asahi National Broadcasting Company, Jardine Matheson Co. Ltd., National Broadcasting Company (NBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min 125 min (edited)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The ship used to play the Erasmus was called The Golden Hinde. It was hired in London and it sailed to Yokohama via San Francisco. This is the same ship used for the Black Ship, so it has to be modified to look different.

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Goofs

Jet Contrail Visible at very top of screen in opening shot.

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Quotes

Father Alvito: You are a heretic Dutchman pirate! You're going to die.

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Connections

Edited from Shogun (1980)

User Reviews

A Class of its own

The Shogun, TV Miniseries has to be one of the best pieces of Tv entertainment I have seen.

I have read Clavells books on Many occasions, and it is unputdownable. It is a fabulous piece of literature and when I read it, it transports me to Japan.

The conversion to the small screen, All NINE HOURS! of it is a really good piece of work.

The book is too big to be made into a 2 or 3 hour movie, and would suffer if an attempt to do so were tried.

The mini series stays very close to the book, exploring the country, the characters, and the culture of the time. It does a good job of bringing the characters to life, and when you watch it, having read the book, you get the feeling that you know the characters.

It deals with the Feudal classes in Japan, just over 400 hundred years ago, not long after the Europeans began to trade in Asia, Mostly Spanish and Portugese. The English and Dutch, allies at the time, could not gain a foothold in the lucrative Asian market, and Blackthorne's goal was to find the Japans and initiate trade with them, but as the story unfolds, you find that he met a lot of resistance from the Portugese Priests, who held a lot of power, and were going about their business of converting Japanese to Christian.

The Japanese Empire is in a state of flux, with war looming, The Warlords are quietly aligning themselves, all trying to win, or at least be on the same side as the winner.

Add to that the Portugese and the Jesuit Priests, trying to protect their trade and their church respectfully, and then all of a sudden Blackthorne, who is really a Pirate at heart, comes on the scene.

He is an intelligent , well educated man, and soon realises that to survive, he must fight with his head more than his sword. He is seen by the Portugese as a Protestant Heretic, and they believe he and his crew should be burnt, (This was the time of the inquisition), but as the story pans out, the view realises that he has a friend or two in the ranks of the Jesuits.

The love interest is an advisor to Lord Toranaga, the main Warlord, who is wise enough to see the value of Blackthorne as a Srategic and a Tactical asset, and he throughs them together to allow him to learn the language.

All in all, this is an exceptional movie, with as many plots, sub plots, twists and turns, as a Tom Clancy film.

At 9 hours, it is long, but it does pass quickly, I have watched it over a few nights, and have watched it straight through, both ways are very enjoyable.

The only fault I could point out is the make up. It is very dated now, and I think even then it would have looked a bit odd, the Samurai all have shaven heads with a Queue, a piece of hair sticking up, and it was obvious that a lot of them were wearing rubber headpieces.

It doesn't detract in any way, and this is a great movie