Sengoku jieitai (1979)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Kôsei Saitô

Writers:

Ryo Hanmura (novel)
Toshio Kamata (writer)

Release Date:

January 1981 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

Plot:

A squadron of Japanese Self-Defense Force soldiers find themselves transported through time to their country's warring states era...

Plot Keywords:

Samurai | Soldier | Japan | Manga | Time Travel

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Sonny Chiba	...	Lt. Yoshiaki Iba
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jun Etô	...	Nobuhiko Ken
Moeko Ezawa	...	Widow Yui
Ryô Hayami	...	Kazumichi Morishita
Ayako Honma	...	Old Woman
Koji Iizuka	...	Shokichi
Masashi Ishibashi	...	Hosokawa Fujitaka
Toshitaka Ito	...	Seaman Harumi Takashima
Haruki Kadokawa	...	Sanada Masayuki
Takuzo Kadono	...	Seaman Toshishige Suga
Hiroshi Kamayatsu	...	Mokichi Nemoto
Goro Kataoka	...	Tategawa Katsuzo
Tadashi Kato	...	Sgt. Hideo Shimizu
Hiroshi Katsuno	...	Track Coach
Kenzô Kawarasaki	...	Koji Kano
Shin Kishida	...	Naoe Bungo
Asao Koike	...	Koizumi Yukinaga
Shinkoma Kokontei	...	Kenji Hori
Kentaro Kudo	...	Ishiba Takehide
Isao Kuraishi	...	Masao Maruoka
Masao Kusakari	...	Masakichi
Shinichirô Mikami	...	Goichi Shimada
Yoichi Miura	...	Manabu Nonaka
Kôji Naka	...	Taisuke Mimura
Hirohisa Nakata	...	Kuroda Naoharu
Noboru Nakaya	...	Yoshitaka Kujo
Mikio Narita	...	Kosa
Isao Natsuyagi	...	Nagao Kagetora
Akira Nishikino	...	Koji Kikuchi
Nana Okada	...	Kazuko Arai
Hitoshi Omae	...	Kuribayashi Magoichi
Miyuki Ono	...	Miwa
Maiko Otsuka	...	Mai
Raita Ryû	...	Haruhisa Kimura
Hiroyuki Sanada	...	Takeda Katsuyori
Gajiro Satoh	...	Foot Soldier
Jinya Sato	...	Osamu Seki
Akihiro Shimizu	...	Satoshi Onishi
Hiromitsu Suzuki	...	Go Nishizawa
Mizuho Suzuki	...	Ashikaga Yoshiaki
Ken Takahashi	...	Masayoshi Hirai
Hiroshi Tanaka	...	Takeda Shingen
Kaori Taniguchi	...	Shokichi & Mai's Mother
Kazunaga Tsuji	...	Shoichiro Ono
Katsumasa Uchida	...	Asaba Yorichika
Ryudo Uzaki	...	Ochimusha
Tsunehiko Watase	...	Hayato Yano
Hiroko Yakushimaru	...	Young Takeda Samurai

Directed by
Kôsei Saitô

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Ryo Hanmura		novel
Toshio Kamata		writer

Produced by
Haruki Kadokawa	....	executive producer
Takeshi Motomura	....	producer

Original Music by
Kentaro Haneda

Film Editing by
Shinya Inoue

Art Direction by
Hiroshi Ueda

Production Companies

• Kadokawa Haruki Jimusho

Distributors

• Toho Company (1979) (Japan) (theatrical)
• American National Enterprises (1981) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Arena Home Video
• Astra Video (1983) (UK) (VHS)
• BCI Eclipse (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Oriental Extremes Video
• Stomp Visual (2005) (Australia) (DVD)
• VPS Film-Entertainment GmbH

Also Known As:

G.I. Samurai
Time Slip

Runtime:

139 min | Norway:117 min | USA:85 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:MA | UK:15 | UK:15 (cut) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) (video rating) | Finland:K-18 | Norway:18

Company:

Kadokawa Haruki Jimusho

Movie Connections:

Version of Sengoku jieitai 1549 (2005)

More madness from Toho

"GI Samurai" sees Sonny Chiba and some other guys get transported back to civil war stricken feudal Japan for no particular reason, and much carnage ensues. It's a rather over the top essay of sword vs. machine gun that ultimately yields some interesting results.

The plot essentially runs along the rails that you might expect from the title; initial fish-out-the-water antics ("what is this flying metal box?" etc etc), "aren't we better off here" discussions and ultimately a huge battle. The latter is proof that the film doesn't take itself seriously at all, the carnage taking up most of the second half as samurai army battles Chiba's platoon; a face off one would fully expect from the title but it still manages to overwhelm with its inventiveness and extravagance. It's certainly one of the most unique battle sequences of its time and doesn't drag despite its extended length.

Chiba gives a gruff performance as Iba, initially a good leader but someone who finally finds himself questioning his own morals as the situation slowly has an effect on him. This is certainly one of his better vehicles from his terrific CV. By the final act the two worlds have had such an effect on each other you have to wonder if it was a bit of nihilism on the part of the writers, as they seem to be asking "weren't we better off back then?'. But this is maybe reading a bit much into was can generally be described as a hugely entertaining two hours of (almost) non stop action.