Main Cast: Sho Kosugi, David Essex, Kane Kosugi, Christopher Lee, Norman Lloyd, Toshiro Mifune
Release Year: 1992
Country: US/JP
Run Time: 107 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Sho Kosugi stars (as well as produced) this picturesque and exciting swashbuckler, directed by Gordon Hessler. Kosugi plays Mayeda, a 17th-century Japanese samurai whose clan, headed by Lord Ieyasu (Toshiro Mifune), is waging a bloody battle with a rival clan. The rival clan has the advantage of using punk-burning muskets, which work fine unless it rains, rendering the firearms useless. Ieyasu sends Mayeda to Spain to one-up the rival clan by arranging the purchase of flintlock rifles, which are immune to rain. Mayeda is accompanied on his journey by Ieyasu's young heir Yorimune (Kane Kosugi), along with a traitor -- the clan's Catholic spiritual advisory Father Vasco (Norman Lloyd), who has made a deal with the rival clan to kill Mayeda and Yorimune and to make sure that the flintlock rifles never reach their destination. However, the plot fails. In the process, the gold to pay for the rifles falls overboard, and Mayeda arrives in Spain penniless at the court of King Philip (Christopher Lee). King Philip refuses to give Mayeda the rifles, until Mayeda saves his life during an attack of rebels. But even though Mayeda now has the king on his side, he has earned the wrath of his advisor Don Pedro (David Essex) by falling in love with his fiancee Cecilia (Polly Walker). Mayeda and Don Pedro eventually tangle in mortal combat. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
John Rhys-Davies - El Zaidan; Ronald Pickup - Captain Crawford; Polly Walker - Cecilia; Dylan Kussman - Smitty; Miwa Takada - Yadogimi; Nijiko Kiyokawa - Counselor; Don Pedro Colley - Narrator; Satoru Fukasaku - Samurai Guard for Ieyasu; Junichiro Hayama - Retainer for Ieyasu; Akira Hoshino - Retainer for Ieyasu; Yoshiaki Iguchi - Retainer for Ieyasu; Shogo Ikegami - Retainer for Ieyasu; Savic Milutin - First Pistoleer; Stevan Minja - Salim; Manami Mitani - Interpreter for Yadogimi; Kenji Miura - Interpreter for Ieyasu; Masashi Muta - Daisuke Mayeda; Yuki Nasaka - Samurai Guard for Ieyasu; Takashi Odajima - Samurai Guard for Ieyasu; Tadashi Ogasawara - 2nd Page; Toshimi Ogiwara - Samurai Guard for Ieyasu; Miomir Radevic - Second Pistoleer; Yuji Sawayama - East Army General; Ken Sekiguchi - Ishikawa; Naoto Shigemizu - Nakamura; Shinsuke Shirakura - Daisuke Mayeda; Ljubomir Skiljevic - Taskmaster; Toni Sosic - Dutch; Dragomir Stanojevic-Kameni - 2nd Sailor; Bora Stojanovic - Royal Chamberlin; Yuki Sugimura - Chiyo Mayeda; Kazuhiro Taketoshi - Samurai Guard for Ieyasu; Hidekazu Utsumi - 1st Page; Dusko Vujnovic - Ibrahim; Toshimi Yamaguchi - Samurai Guard for Ieyasu; Kenji Yasunaga - Retainer for Ieyasu; Osamu Yayama - Samurai in Edo Castle; John Stewart - 1st Sailor
Credit
Gordon Hessler - Director, Bill Butler - Editor, John Scott - Composer (Music Score), Adrian H. Gorton - Production Designer, John Connor - Cinematographer, Sho Kosugi - Producer, Nelson Gidding - Screenwriter
