Ten to Chi to (1990)

Director:

Haruki Kadokawa

Writers:

Haruki Kadokawa (writer)
Chogoro Kaionji (writer)

Release Date:

8 February 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Action | Adventure | War

Plot:

Warlords Kagetora and Takeda each wish to prevent the other from gaining hegemony in feudal Japan. The...

Plot Keywords:

Flute | Japan | Samurai | Chambara | Cult Favorite

Awards:

1 win & 6 nominations

Cast

Takaaki Enoki	...	Kagetora
Masahiko Tsugawa	...	Takeda Shingen
Atsuko Asano	...	Nami
Naomi Zaizen	...	Yae
Hironobu Nomura	...	Taro Yoshinobu
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Masatô Ibu	...	Akida
Morio Kazama	...	Imperial Messenger
Kyôko Kishida	...	Maid-In-Waiting
Hideo Murota	...	Obu
Isao Natsuyagi	...	Yamamoto Kansuke
Hiroyuki Okita	...	Kosaka Danjo
Hideji Otaki	...	Matasaburo
Tsunehiko Watase	...	Usami
Stuart Whitman	...	Narrator (English version) (voice)

Also Known As:

Heaven and Earth (USA)
Kagetora (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

Japan:104 min (cut version) | Japan:125 min (uncut version)

Country:

Japan

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Alberta, Canada

Company:

Haruki Kadokawa Films

Trivia:

Set a world record for the most number of saddled horses ever used in one sequence for a motion picture: 800 horses.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The Ashigaru (foot-soldiers) all wore Mempo (face masks). Mempo were only worn by samurai (and not even then by ALL samurai), who were all mounted. The reason for this is because pretty much all of the Ashigaru were played by Canadians, and the Mempo hid this fact.

Quotes:

Kagetora: Is everyone's future preordained?

A wonderful Samurai film!

I happened to get a chance to see Ten To Chi To or Heaven And Earth, as we knew it here, on the big screen when it debuted in Calgary in the spring of 1990. After having worked many long hours on the movie for a good part of the late summer in 1989 as one of the 2000 Samurai infantry extras, it was amazing to see the finished product on the big screen. As mentioned in one of the earlier reviews, for fans of the Samurai movie genre, this is a must see. The large battle scenes are spectacular.

Trivia note. Actor Ken Watanabe was originally cast as one of the lead actors in Heaven and Earth. While filming Ken was diagnosed with acute myelogenic leukemia, a life-threatening disease of the bone marrow, that put an end to his part in the movie. Ken had to return to Japan for treatment that kept him away acting for a few years. He came back in 1994 only to have a relapse, but once again battled back. Ken has been nominated for Best Actor in a supporting role at this year's Academy Awards for his outstanding performance as Katsumoto in The Last Samurai. I wish him all the best!

BTW, I was one of a handful of extras who worked all through the filming from July to early Sepetebmber 1989, here in Alberta. During the last few days of filming there was only about 50 or so of us left. On the final day, final scene, a Saturday afternoon IIRC, some production people came around and handed each of us a cold beer. Director Haruki Kadokawa came out and toasted us. He smiled and said, "Very long. Very hard. Thank you!"