Shogun (1980)

Shogun (1980 TV Mini-Series)

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Oct 14, 2003 | 2 out of 2 found this Shogun (1980) review helpful

Pros: Faithful to book, superb sets & costuming...

Cons: Needs the full 12 hours to appreciate...

I read James Clavell's "Tai Pan" in 1976 and experienced the most incredible description of a typhoon ever written. I was hooked and subsequently read Clavell's other novel; King Rat.When Shogun was published, I devoured it immediat...ely. I'm sure that at the time, I never thought it'd be made into a movie due to it's complexity of story and characters. When I noticed it had been made into a mini-series for TV in '80, I was sure it couldn't come anywhere close to the book. That Clavell was Executive Producer was reason enough to watch, so I did! It was spread over 6 nights over 2 weeks in 2 hour chapters.My question over the past few years is why did it take so long for it to show up on DVD? The show is magnificent from beginning to end. Chamberlain, Mifune & Rhys-Davies were more than perfect. In fact, all the actors chosen were in roles seemingly written for them.Having lived in Japan for short stints in the 60's & 70's, I was especially critical of the sets since I'm interested in 15th & 16th century Japan & it's culture. Any criticisms I might have had would have been unfounded, since the research into the sets & costumes were faithful to the time.To say the least, I was pleased with the result of the mini-series. It was as true to the novel as any other films based on books that I've seen in my lifetime. While this is by no means a Kurosawa film, I recommend it highly. Read more Less