[.ca] Bushido Blade

From Amazon.com:
There's cheese-ball fun to this 1979 misfire, an American-Japanese coproduction made to cash in on Shogun-mania. Richard Boone (in his last role) plays the real-life Commodore Perry, who ended centuries of Japanese isolation by signing a treaty with a resolute shogun (Toshiro Mifune) in 1854. Against the historical backdrop is the fictional adventure of a Yankee officer (a stiff and stilted Frank Converse) who pits American gumption against samurai swordsmanship to recover the sacred Bushido Blade. Sonny Chiba's dynamic presence as a warrior prince helps energize the rudimentary fight choreography and the low budget shows through in undernourished set pieces. But the pace never lets up, and helping distract from Converse's crippling lack of charisma are the solid supporting cast, among them half-Japanese female samurai Laura Gemser, imprisoned sailor James Earl Jones, and Mike Starr as the burly bosun who bonds with a sumo wrestler in a tussle that bridges cultural and verbal barriers. --Sean Axmaker

What's going on?:
I have reviewed this travesty of a film. Why haven't you printed my reveiw?

Travesty is putting it kindly!!!:
Simply put, this film is garbage. I rented it because I love samurai films. I saw that the cast included the great Toshiro Mifune, and assumed that it had to have some worth. Boy was I wrong!!! Incredibly American ego-centric poo-poo. The film's main character is an American marine who is working with Admiral Perry. In order to seal the treaty between America and Japan, a sacred blade was to be given to America as a gift of allegiance from Japan. The Bushido Blade is quickly stolen so that the deal cannot be completed. Although the Americans fail to see the importance of such a gift, they send the marine to retrieve it from the evil samurai who had stolen it. Constantly insulting the Japanese for holding a mere object in such high regard, the film shows its small mindedness and lack of appreciciation for Japan's culture and the high art of sword making. The story goes on with the typical plot twists and some disgustingly unrealistic battles. Namely a fight between the American marine and the best swordsman of a lethal Samurai clan. Of course the American wins. That should give you a pretty good clue about his movie. !!!STAY AWAY AT ALL COSTS!!! Don't even rent this piece of crap. It will sap the intelligence straight out of you brain and rob you of 100 minutes that you can never have back. If there's one thing in my life I regret, it is watching this idiotic film.

Poor Quality Recording:
My complaints are not with the film itself but with the quality of the VHS recording. I ordered this tape brand new and paid full price, but the cassette I received was clearly used and recorded over. The soundtrack from some old news/interview program could clearly be heard overlapping the film dialogue throughout the tape. It's annoying to the point where the tape is unwatchable. Save your money and don't buy this tape.

For pity's sake don't:
Any fans of samurai films, Sonny Chiba and Toshiro Mifune, do yourself a favour and stay away from this ignorant, stupid film. The hamminess of the American actors, the portrayal of Americans as big lumbering stupid clods and Japanese as just crazy....this film is infuriatingly bad.

Cheeseball is being kind:
This hackneyed excuse for a samurai film is an example of great actors (excluding Frank Converse) needing work. The action sequences are laughable and if you may not have noticed, this is an Arthur Rankin/Jules Bass production, famed American cartoon producers, Frosty the Snowman being one of their most well-known works. Someone should have told them to "thumpity, thump, thump" back to Saturday morning fare. This one reeks about as much as the scene where the sailors refuse to take baths. Shogun may have been melodramatic, but there isn't an ounce of drama used here. Buy this one at your own risk. Only thing of value is the plastic box it came in. You can use it for another DVD and the DVD as a frisbee.