The Challenge (1982)

A down-and-out American boxer becomes involved in a feud between two Japanese brothers.

Director:

John Frankenheimer

Writers:

Richard Maxwell, John Sayles,

Stars:

Scott Glenn, Toshirô Mifune, Donna Kei Benz

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Scott Glenn	...	Rick
Toshirô Mifune	...	Toru Yoshida
Donna Kei Benz	...	Akiko Yoshida
Atsuo Nakamura	...	Hideo Yoshida
Calvin Jung	...	Ando
Clyde Kusatsu	...	Go
Sab Shimono	...	Toshio Yoshida
Kiyoaki Nagai	...	Kubo
Kenta Fukasaku	...	Jiro
Shôgo Shimada	...	Toru Yoshida's Father
Yoshio Inaba	...	Instructor
Seiji Miyaguchi	...	Old Man
Miiko Taka	...	Toru Yoshida's Wife
Akio Kameda	...	Boxer
Hisashi Osaka	...	Knifeman

Storyline

Rick, a down-and-out American boxer, is hired to transport a sword to Japan, unaware that the whole thing is a set up in a bitter blood-feud between two brothers, one who follows the traditional path of the samurai and the other a businessman. At the behest of the businessman, Rick undertakes samurai training from the other brother, but joins his cause. He also becomes romantically involved with the samurai's daughter.

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Plot Keywords:

samurai | businessman | japan | sword | training | 

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Taglines:

He has trained every thought, every muscle, every nerve, for the moment of truth!

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Genres:

Action | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA Japan

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

23 July 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Equals

Filming Locations:

Kyoto, Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

CBS Theatrical Films, Poncher-Rosen-Beckman Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

After Akiko disappears at the street festival, Rick runs into a guy with a walkie-talkie. As they're talking, people passing in the background look at the camera, duck, and run out of frame.

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Connections

Referenced in P & B (1983)

User Reviews

awesome and overlooked adventure yarn

I must confess to a particular fondness for thetwo films of John Frankenheimer's that he himself didn't seem to have much affection for: Prophecy(about mutant bears in the woods of Maine) and his one, The Challenge. I remember seeing this in theaters back in '82 and really digging it. The script by John Sayles moves along at a nice clip and Scott Glenn is well cast and well used ( for once) as the down on his luck American boxer who finds himself involved in an age old blood feud between two opposing ways of life in Japan; there is an interesting tension between the good guys and the bad guys: East/West as well as Modern/Traditional. (Clever fellow, that Mr Sayles.)The major character arc for Scott Glenn's American pug is not at all dissimilar to that later adopted by Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai. Not only does this film have one of the last major performances in a western film from that towering figure of Japanese cinema, Toshiro Mifune, but it boasts what remains one of the all-time classic modern sword fights in the climactic showdown in a giant gleaming glass and steel Japanese office building. Scott Glenn and Atsuo Nakamura slash each other to ribbons with samurai swords then resort to stapling each other's faces and shocking each other with severed computer cables during the final battle and it is choreographed, shot and edited, with a snappy sense of kineticism. Bravo to all involved.