BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Freaktana A Major Disappointment

Josephina Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

thedaddywilson I remember watching the mini-series years ago (more than I would like to admit). It was worth watching then and worth watching now. Some people make comments about the special effects, we have to remember how long ago it was made. It is still extremely great entertainment, from the moment they meet the Japanese people too the time Blackthorne becomes a member of Toranaga's family. The many differences between the caste system from the lowliest peasant to the highest ranking Samurai Lords. Their different outlook of life and death was centuries and world's apart. I would recommend the series and the book to anybody. People can criticize the wardrobe the speech or other things. I don't believe it was ever made as a documentary, it was made for entertainment. It is my opinion that it was kept as close to history as was needed. Any closer would have been unnecessary after all it was made for entertainment not education. I think it showed life as it was without any bias in any way. I would like to see it remade. With the wealth of talent in the film and television companies from all the differing jobs involved in making films and T.V series it would be amazing. A definite 5 star's for the existing series. Hoping to be able to rate another version.

ebiros2 Based on a real life English pilot William Adam's (Japanese name Miura Anjin) life, Shogun is a fictional account of John Blackthorn's adventure in the feudal era (Azuchi Momoyama period) Japan. Some other characters are also based on actual historic figure (Like Kagetora is caricature of Iyeyasu ), but their names are changed in this story. Tossed by a storm, John Blackthorn's (Richard Chamberlain) ship Erathmus reaches the shore of Japan. He's met with Lord Yabu's (Franky Sakai) soldiers. Blackthorn is initially shocked at the barbaric deeds of the samurai but gradually leans the ropes to live in this foreign country.Cultural depiction of Japan of the era is not entirely accurate, and behavior is exaggerated to bring the point to the viewers. This was in the early '80s when the Americans were still getting acquainted with sushi, and knew lot less about the Japanese culture. But it was bold move on NBC's part to broadcast such epic story for 5 nights in a row when this series first aired. Japanese actress Yoko Shimada won the Emmy for best actress that year.It's not an authentic portrayal of samurai culture which is bit unfortunate, but the series deserves an A+ for putting the period drama of Japan in the early '80s. 20 years later, Hollywood does a much better job with the likes of "The Last Samurai" that impressed even the Japanese with its accurate depiction of Japanese towns and villages.The show should be viewed with couple of grains of salt, but the adventure of John Blackthorn is an intriguing and exciting tale to watch.

Neil Welch I watched Shogun when it first aired in the UK, I read the novel a couple of years later, I watched the DVD boxset a couple of years ago, and I am currently watching chunks of it as it airs on one of the late night satellite channels. You can take it that I approve of it.It tells a relatively simple story of John Blackthorne, an English sailor (a "pilot") stranded in 17th century Japan. Toronaga, the local feudal lord, realises that he could be of unique strategic and tactical importance, and keeps him there despite his determination to return home. In the course of being taught Japanese, Blackthorne falls in love with his married tutor Mariko, a love forbidden under the rules of Japanese society. There are other plot threads, but these two drive this long (10 hours) series.Extravagantly mounted, Shogun looks good and is still gripping. It presents Japanese culture, and the extreme differences in attitudes, very fairly - you see the positive and negative aspects and are never required to make a judgement about them, although Blackthorne does (and, in doing so, undergoes the character development arc which is the most satisfying element of the narrative).While the series now feels, perhaps, a little dated, it is well worth watching. The performances are all first rate although I now find Richard Chamberlain's Blackthorne very American and, while committed, possibly a little over intense and lacking in humour. To be fair, though, he doesn't have much to laugh about!

kinume Any movie with this magnificent actor even showing up in a cameo, I give a 10. Actually, the costumes weren't very good, & a lot of the true historical facts were sometimes a little silly, but Toshiro Mifune makes the movie a classic. He's elemental, a force of nature, fantastic. Watch it just to get a glimpse of this wonderful actor's presence & charisma. The movie is based on the book by Clavell, & he did write the part of Toranaga with Toshiro in mind. The movie does follow the book pretty closely, and the book is based very loosely on an Englishman who was stranded on the Japanese Islands in the early 1600's.All-in-all, the movie on DVD is a lot better than the previous video tape that was out.