The Challenge (1982)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

John Frankenheimer

Writers:

Richard Maxwell (writer)
Ivan Moffat (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

23 July 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Tagline:

He has trained every thought, every muscle, every nerve, for the moment of truth!

Plot:

A down-and-out American boxer becomes involved in a feud between two Japanese brothers.

Plot Keywords:

Samurai | Businessman | Sword | Japan | Training

Cast

Scott Glenn	...	Rick
Toshirô Mifune	...	Toru Yoshida
Donna Kei Benz	...	Akiko Yoshida, Toru's daughter
Atsuo Nakamura	...	Hideo Yoshida, Toru's brother
Calvin Jung	...	Ando
Clyde Kusatsu	...	Go
Sab Shimono	...	Toshio Yoshida, Toru's son
Kiyoako Nagai	...	Kubo
Kenta Fukasaku	...	Jiro
Shogo Shimada	...	Toru Yoshida's Father (as Shoga Shimada)
Yoshio Inaba	...	Instructor
Seiji Miyaguchi	...	Old Man
Miiko Taka	...	Toru Yoshida's Wife
Akio Kameda	...	Boxer
Hisashi Osaka	...	Knifeman
Yûko Okamoto	...	T.V. Moniter Girl #1
Tae Matsuda	...	T.V. Monitor Girl #2
Pat McNamara	...	Fight Promoter
Pamela Bowman	...	Girl in Gym
Roy Andrews	...	Hanger-on
Henry Celis	...	Jorge
Kazunaga Tsuji	...	Hashimoto
Kusuo Kita	...	Thug
Naoto Fujita	...	Tanaka
Masao Hisanori	...	Oshima
Ryuji Yamashita	...	Toshio Yoshida (childhood)
Toshio Chiba	...	Customs Officer
Minoru Sanada	...	Porter
Shigehiro Kino	...	Van's Driver
Katsutoshi Nakayama	...	Taxi Driver
Masatoshi Ishikawa	...	Thug's Driver
Eriko Sugita	...	Woman #1 in bar
Munehisa Fujita	...	Man in bar
Sanae Nakahara	...	Cashier
Kanata Uyeno	...	Waitress

Directed by
John Frankenheimer

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Richard Maxwell		writer
Ivan Moffat		writer
John Sayles		writer

Produced by
Ron Beckman	....	producer
Lyle Poncher	....	executive producer
Robert L. Rosen	....	producer

Original Music by
Jerry Goldsmith

Cinematography by
Kozo Okazaki

Film Editing by
John W. Wheeler

Production Design by
Yoshiyuki Ishida

Art Direction by
Yoshiyuki Ishida

Set Decoration by
Koichi Hamamura

Costume Design by
Etsuko Yagyu

Makeup Department
Masato Abe	....	hair stylist
Robert Dawn	....	makeup artist
Yukio Ueda	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Alan Levine	....	unit production manager: USA
Kijuro Ota	....	unit production manager: Japan

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Mike Abe	....	first assistant director
Forrest L. Futrell	....	second assistant director: second unit
Toshinori Hirayanagi	....	second assistant director
Hisao Nabeshima	....	first assistant director
Lindsley Parsons III	....	first assistant director: second unit
Masaichi Shirao	....	second assistant director
Etsu Totoku	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Kyoji Sasaki	....	property master

Sound Department
David E. Campbell	....	sound re-recording mixer
Joseph D. Citarella	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jack A. Finlay	....	looping editor
John Glascock	....	sound mixer
Robert G. Henderson	....	supervising sound editor
Alan Robert Murray	....	sound editor (as Alan Murray)
John T. Reitz	....	sound re-recording mixer

Special Effects by
Roger Hanson	....	special effects

Stunts
Shigeji Aoki	....	stunts
Kazuo Arai	....	stunts
Akiyoshi Arima	....	stunts
Kazunori Asano	....	stunts
Masuji Fujiwara	....	stunts
Michio Harada	....	stunts
Kan'ichi Hayashi	....	stunts
Noboru Ishihara	....	stunts
Tsuneo Ito	....	stunts
Akira Kato	....	stunts
Ryu Kuze	....	stunt coordinator
Haruo Matsuoka	....	stunts
Toshio Matsushima	....	stunts
Seiji Nishino	....	stunts
Hiroshi Oike	....	stunts
Takashi Okamura	....	stunts
Kenji Ono	....	stunts
Mitsuyuki Oshima	....	stunts
Yoshio Otake	....	stunts
Masaru Sakurai	....	stunts
Katsumi Shirono	....	stunts
Takafumi Tanaka	....	stunts
Takashi Totsuka	....	stunts
Yoshifumi Tsuboike	....	stunts
Hiroyoshi Yamaguchi	....	assistant stunt coordinator
Yuichi Yoneda	....	stunts
Yoshikazu Yoshimoto	....	stunts
Roku Yoshinaka	....	stunts
Hiroyuki Yuasa	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Mike Benson	....	camera operator (as Michael A. Benson)
Koichi Haruta	....	key grip
Richard Meinardas	....	assistant camera
Kazuo Shimomura	....	gaffer
Don Smetzer	....	still photographer

Casting Department
Patricia Mock	....	casting: USA
Patrick Mook	....	casting: USA
Hisao Nabeshima	....	casting: Japan

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Hiroshi Hamazaki	....	wardrobe: men
Masatoshi Utsumi	....	wardrobe: women

Editorial Department
Steven Polivka	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Arthur Morton	....	orchestrator
Robert Takagi	....	music editor

Other crew
Lou Dyer	....	unit publicist
Wai Hung	....	production advisor
Ryu Kuze	....	sword coordinator
Robert Monosmith	....	location auditor
June Samson	....	script supervisor
Steven Seagal	....	martial arts coordinator (as Steve Seagal)
Toshiro Suzuki	....	location manager
Max Whitehouse	....	assistant to director

Production Companies

• CBS Theatrical Films
• Poncher-Rosen-Beckman Productions

Distributors

• Embassy Pictures Corporation (1982) (USA) (theatrical)
• New World-Mutual (1982) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Fox Video (1983) (USA) (VHS)
• CBS/Fox Video (1984) (Belgium) (VHS)
• CBS/Fox Home Video (1991) (USA) (VHS)

Special Effects

• Private Stock Effects Inc.

Other Companies

• Compact Sound Services  sound re-recording
• Kyoto International Convention Center  special thanks
• Mifune Productions Co. Ltd.  special thanks
• Panavision  camera and lenses
• Private Stock Effects Inc.  titles and opticals

Also Known As:

Equals
Sword of the Ninja

Runtime:

113 min | USA:108 min

Country:

USA | Japan

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:M | Finland:K-18 | UK:18 | USA:R | Norway:(Banned) (1982-2003) (cinema release)

Filming Locations:

Kyoto, Japan

Company:

CBS Theatrical Films

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: After Akiko disappears at the street festival, Rick runs into a guy with a walkie-talkie. As they're talking, people passing in the background look at the camera, duck, and run out of frame.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in P & B (1983)

A Hidden Martial Arts Classic

The Challenge is one of those genre movies that is so good that it not only breaks the genre mold but gets lost in the shuffle, hidden by lots of other movies not nearly as good.

Scott Glenn and Toshiro Mifune give excellent and their usual intense performances as a budding samurai cum boxer and his instructor, bonding as the instructor is caught up in a clan feud with his brother.

This movie is good for three reasons. One reason is the normal steadfast performances of its stars. The second is the keen, insightful direction of John Frankenheimer, a grossly underrated director who helmed such classics as The Train, Ronin, and The Manchurian Candidate. And the third is the able kenjutsu (swordfighting)and aikido of a then unknown American martial arts instructor based in Japan who at the time was going by Steve Seagal. I guess I don't have to tell you who he grew up to be.