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| Media: |
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DVD |
| Region 1: |
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United States & Canada |
| Format: |
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NTSC |
| Languages: |
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English |
| Subtitles: |
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English |
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| Director: |
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Jerry London |
| Starring: |
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Richard Chamberlain, Toshiro Mifune, Yoko Shimada |
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| Amazon.com review: |
| 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 |
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