Main Cast: Scott Glenn, Toshiro Mifune, Donna Kei Benz, Atsuo Nakamura, Calvin Jung
Release Year: 1982
Country: US
Run Time: 112 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
The Challenge is a classy effort directed by John Frankenheimer. Scott Glenn stars as an American boxer who finds himself in the middle of a Japanese blood feud. Toshiro Mifune and Atsuo Nakamura plays the last surviving brothers of an ancient samurai family, embroiled in a battle of the possession of the family swords. Once involved in this contretemps, Glenn must also contend with the minions of the Yakuza, a Japanese Mafia-style organization. Sword of the Ninja was co-written by John Sayles, better known as the writer/director of such films as Brother From Another Planet and Eight Men Out. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
While undoubtedly a few notches below the best work of its participants, the film brings together the talents of Toshiro Mifune, John Sayles, and John Frankenheimer in a well-executed samurai effort. It's framed around the moral education of an arrogant, burnt-out American boxer Scott Glenn who gets caught up in a battle between two Japanese brothers: one, a Yakuza, the other (Mifune) a master of the martial arts. Although some may not appreciate the ugly-American clichés of the Glenn character, Sayles' dialogue is light years beyond what is usually found in this genre, in a script that touches on themes of honor, corruption, and the twilight of the samurai tradition. Frankenheimer's merciful decision to use Steven Seagal only as a martial arts choreographer results in beautifully executed, if at times excessively bloody, battle scenes. Glenn is excellent as the former pug who accepts the discipline of the East, and the 62-year-old Mifune, obviously in fantastic shape, fills his role with an effortless dynamism. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide
Clyde Kusatsu - Go; Sab Shimono - Toshio; Yoshio Inaba - Instructor; Seiji Miyaguchi - Old Man; Miiko Taka - Yoshida's Wife; Roy Andrews - Hanger-on; Pat McNamara - Fight Promoter; Pamela Bowman - Girl in Gym
Credit
John Frankenheimer - Director, Jack Wheeler - Editor, John W. Wheeler - Editor, Jerry Goldsmith - Composer (Music Score), Steven Seagal - Martial Arts Instructor/Coordinator, Yoshiyuki Ishida - Production Designer, Kozo Okazaki - Cinematographer, Robert L. Rosen - Producer, Ron Beckman - Producer, Richard Maxwell - Screen Story, John Sayles - Screen Story, Richard Maxwell - Screenwriter, Marc Norman - Screenwriter, John Sayles - Screenwriter
