pyattimac Shogun is an amazing novel, and can be reread countless times yet still present one with overlooked/newly discovered details. To do justice adequately to such a complex/detailed saga seems improbable, yet the miniseries did just that. The acting was spot on, and visually such a feast for the eyes! It really was a great introduction to the roots of Japanese culture, and I learned several words in the language just by reading the book and watching the miniseries. Highly recommend it- you will be sucked in!

nicholls_les I find it hard to fault this series. I watched it when it was first shown on British TV in the 80s and since bought the box set which I have now watched more than once. For me they captured the essence of the book (which I have also read more than once) and although Richard Chamberlain was not their first choice, I find it hard to imagine anyone else as Blackthorn now. Apparently Sean Connery was asked but I think he would have been awful. Connery does one act and that is himself. He cannot do accents (remember him as an Irish cop in The Untouchables with a Scottish accent?) Blackthorne was English and Chamberlain's accent is appropriately ambiguous. But for me all the Japanese actors steal this series. Toshirô Mifune is a perfect Lord Toranaga; Yôko Shimada as Miriko is perfect but also many of the lesser characters fill their roles perfectly. Furankî Sakai as Yabu is brilliant as is Yûki Meguro as Omi. Of the non Japanese actors John Rhys-Davies stands out as a perfect portrayal of Rodrigues as does Damien Thomas as Father Alvito. The story is brilliant and James Clavell's insight into Japanese life goes beyond his research. After being a prisoner of war in a Japanese camp during WW2 he set out to 'understand' how the Japanese could treat the western prisoners so wickedly. Shogun is in some ways an explanation of how they could do some pretty evil things. Based on the true story of William Adams a sailor in the 1600s who became the first Western samurai, many aspects of his life Mirror the things we see happen to Blackthorn in Shogun.I am sure that they could remake this story with maybe Henry Cavill as Blackthorn and with modern special effects but I doubt if a remake would ever be as good. Who knows maybe one day they will remake it and I will be pleasantly surprised?

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.