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Review : Shogun on DVD
I must apologize. One of the reasons why I have been light on my posting as of late is because last week I purchased Shogun on DVD.
I remember watching this on TV with my father as a young child and not understanding much about what was going on but I was enthralled none the less. Then when I was in junior high school I read the mammoth book Shogun by James Clavell. It is a whopping 1,210 pages so it makes the recent Harry Potter book looks like bathroom reading. James Clavell is a master of heavily researched historical fiction and gave an insight into Pre 20th century Japan that most Americans were ignorant to. It is partially because of this book and this film that there are so many sushi restaurants. Simply put before the Shogun miniseries they were not there in the same numbers. America was exposed to Samurai, Geisha, Bushido and Ninja through Shogun. I later went on to study the Japanese language and won an opportunity to visit and study in Japan for a summer. The story of an Englishman who lead a Dutch ship to Japan in 1698 and was intertwined with the political struggles and culture of Japan has a special connection to me.
First I just wanted to get this out in the open. It is not pronounced Show-Gun but you should say Show-Goon. That is the proper Japanese vocalization. If I catch you saying Show-Gun I will contact my local Ninja clan and have them destroy all your Nintendo games.
Shogun was a massive effort. It was a huge single move filmed on location in Japan with the help of Toho studios. It spans a grand total of nine hours running time and was shown on TV with commercials in episodes. That is as long as six full length modern Hollywood movies. This was never given a proper VHS release and there was only a four hour butchered version. The movie spans four DVDs and a fifth for additional materials and documentaries.
The production value is very high and the quality of the acting and film making is timeless. Despite being made in 1979 there is nothing separating this visually from a modern production. The picture and sound quality is wonderful and this DVD set does this project justice. Now this was done with close involvement with the author of the original book and he was one of the producers on the movie.
The cast includes the great Toshiro Mifune, a very dashing Richard Chamberlain, the very lovely Yoko Shimada and the very Portuguese John Rhys-Davies . Yes the Dwarf in Lord of the Rings.
I have minor issues with the subtitles messing up some of the spelling of the Japanese words and most of the pure untranslated dialog has no subtitles on the DVD. Not all the Japanese dialog is translated or subtitled phonetically. The film was shot in full frame and so there is no cropping involved.
In retrospect there is one scene that made me smile in 2003. Richard Chamberlain just came out of the closet as a gay man in his autobiography this year. There is a scene where two of the Japanese maids have this Englishman that they are trying to nurse back to heath. They are concerned that he is not getting laid so they offer a hot night with some female servant or a male servant if he would prefer. Blackthorn was so offended and it is ironic that now yes the actor would prefer a nice guy for "pillowing".
Shogun is a costume drama by every definition of the word but it is chock full of emotion, sex, history, action, samurai, Ninjas, real untranslated Japanese, lush sets and on location shooting. It is a visual and cinematic treat. This DVD is not for everyone but if you love Japan and drama than I really suggest that you check this out. This will have a special place in my heart. It is a steal for sixty bucks.
Jake at October 14, 2003 
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Comments
Did you ever read the rest of the Shogun books? I never did, so I recently bought the first book again, and after I've read that I intend to go through the rest of 'em.
Oh, and if you never played it, Infocom's Shogun text adventure was awesome.
See here:
Posted by: jason at October 14, 2003 7:00 AM
His other novels stand on their own so they are not actual sequels just other books. Yes I had the Infocom text adventure on mac. It was hard to play. The joke on Saturday Night live when he died was. James Clavell died and his eulogy was 1,243 pages.
Posted by: Jake at October 14, 2003 7:16 AM
It's all about the nostalgia. Thanks for bringing the memories back into the mind.. I still have the scene where he's in jail and starts learning some japanese fried into my head ;) I think I'll have to check it out again :)
Posted by: wuji at October 15, 2003 6:59 AM
Hai. Wakarimasu! Toranaga sama!
Posted by: Jake at October 15, 2003 8:44 AM
Does anyone know how Shogun was received in Japan? I keep seeing these rave reviews by English-speaking people, and I wonder if the Japanese see this novel the same way.
Posted by: Jeff at August 17, 2008 10:47 PM
I don't know if this show was ever shown in Japan.
Posted by: Jake of 8bitjoystick.com at August 17, 2008 11:14 PM
