James Clavell's Shogun

James Clavell's Shogun
by Jerry London

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DVD details

Actor: Alan Badel, Frankie Sakai, Richard Chamberlain, Toshir? Mifune, Y?ko Shimada
Director: Jerry London
Brand: Paramount
Cinematographer: Andrew Laszlo
Producer: Ben Chapman
Producer: Eric Bercovici
Writer: Eric Bercovici
Producer: James Clavell
Writer: James Clavell
Producer: Kerry Feltham
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); English (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 547 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-09-23
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Paramount

DVD Reviews of James Clavell's Shogun

DVD Review: Shogun - - my personal comments
Summary: 5 Stars

Having lived 2 years in Japan, I found the DVD format of "Shogun" very interesting. There is much beauty in Japan. The common people were very polite and respectful; very clean and industrious. It is a very interesting country to visit. I can certainly sympathize with Pilot Blackthorn, at the end of his experiences, in having a dismal future alone.

DVD Review: Made for TV Mini Series
Summary: 5 Stars

Excellent original version of this James Clavell novel.
It's very long, but great history is included.

DVD Review: Clavell's Shogun DVD set - Re-Broadcast Version
Summary: 5 Stars

It has been nearly 30 years since the original broadcast of this superb miniseries, and my recollections of that and the subsequent re-broadcast are still vivid.

This is an excellent set, and highly recommended. I have watched these DVD's several times now, and the set wears well. Certainly, it is one of the finest and most faithful adaptations of a book you will ever see.

This DVD set was made from the re-broadcast version. Compared to the original version, several short, minor scenes have been cut, and voice-over narration added in places. Take for example the scene in which Lord Toranaga confronts Lord Yabu. In the original broadcast, there was only a single subtitle at the beginning of the scene: "Lord Yabu's treachery revealed". From the action and the actor's expressions, a viewer immediately can understands what is happening, and in my opinion the word-for-word voice over narration of the actual dialogue detracts more than it adds. I understand that the director's intent originally was for the viewer to experience the scene as Blackthorne with his limited fluency in Japanese would have.

I've been to Japan a number of times since I first saw this series, and I am now amused to understand where and how some scenes were filmed. The scene in which Blackthorne goes to to Osaka-Jo (castle) was filmed at both Himeji-Jo and Hikone-Jo: the procession enters at Himeji-Jo, walks under the bridge at Hikone-Jo, then returns to Himeji-Jo. The scene with Blackthorne, Mariko, and Toranaga was filmed at Hikone-Jo.

DVD Review: Shogun
Summary: 5 Stars

My husband really wanted to watch Shogun, the mini-series that came out in the 80's. I searched rental stores and retail stores, and no one had it. I found it on Amazon and gave it to him for our anniversary and he was delighted.

DVD Review: James Clavell's Shogun
Summary: 4 Stars

Very good service. Excellence product, my husband was very surpized that I could get the set. He had loaned his to a friend and never got it back.

Description of James Clavell's Shogun

Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 09/23/2003 Starring: Richard Chamberlain Damien Thomas Run time: 600 minutes Rating: Nr Director: Jerry London

What better way to escape from the onslaught of so-called reality television than to sail away with Richard Chamberlain to "the Japans" for a little samurai action and some discreet "pillowing"? From the golden age of the miniseries comes this television benchmark, the 10-hour, Golden Globe-winning saga based on James Clavell's bestselling epic. In his award-winning performance, Chamberlain stars as John Blackthorne, the 17th-century English navigator on a Dutch trading ship. A storm runs the ship aground off the coast of Japan, a "torn and cruelly divided country" locked in a power struggle between Toranaga (the venerable Toshiro Mifune) and Ishido, two warlords who would be Shogun. Blackthorne gets over his initial culture shock ("I piss on you and your country," he defiantly proclaims to his samurai captors, which to his humiliation turns out to be an unfortunate choice of words) to become a trusted ally of Toranaga and the lover of the beautiful interpreter Lady Mariko (Yoko Shimada). Their forbidden, ill-fated romance--and Blackthorne's total assimilation into Japanese culture--is set against political intrigue as Toranaga prepares for the inevitable showdown with Ishido, and Blackthorne's growing influence threatens the local Jesuits who had built up a lucrative trade monopoly. Shogun was a production blessed with good karma, and it remains an awesome achievement from a bygone era when the miniseries was king. --Donald Liebenson

Originally broadcast in September of 1980 as a 5-part, 12-hour miniseries, Shogun stood out from the pack of television events at the time with its boldness of action and calculated risks. Based on James Clavell's epic novel, Shogun stars Richard Chamberlain as John Blackthorne, a 17th-century English pilot commanding a Dutch ship that wrecks off the coast of Japan. Viewed suspiciously by local authorities, Blackthorne is at first in some danger of being executed. But with little hope of returning to Britain anytime soon, he begins to assimilate into the feudal society, befriending a powerful warlord (Toshiro Mifune) and wearing the robes of a samurai. Inevitably, Blackthorne begins to think of himself as Japanese, defending his hosts in battle, learning the language, and falling in love with an interpreter (Yoko Shimada). At the same time, his presence there exacerbates a problem with would-be European colonialists gazing at Japan covetously. Directed by journeyman Jerry London, Shogun immediately caught on with its blend of romance, exoticism, and compelling myth of an outsider's reinvention--a story that becomes sadder as it becomes clear that Blackthorne may never see his home again. The production deliberately pushed hard against various television taboos and audience expectations, including the extensive use of Japanese dialogue, startling violence, near nudity, and profane behavior. That all looks tamer now, of course, but Shogun is still a unique entry in the phenomenon of prestige miniseries from the late 1970s and early '80s. --Tom Keogh

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