The Bushido Blade-?

[Chris]

Has anyone out there ever seen this film, it's about a stolen Bushido (samurai) blade, that the Japanese lent to America during WW2, and was stolen. It has James Earl Jones in it (!), & legendary Japanese actors: Toshiro Mifune, and Sonny Chiba! It sounds like a real cool film but I can't find it anywhere. (It's a Japanese & American production).

[BoyScoutKevin]

Time travel anyone? I say this, because--unless there are two films out there with the same title--I have seen it on TV, a number of years ago. But, the time of the film dates not from the
'40's, but from the '50's--the 1850's that is. Before then, Japan
was a closed society, but during that time period, Commodore Matthew Perry sailed into Japan with the U.S. Navy and forced to Japan to open up its markets to the rest of the world. And the samurai sword is suppose to be presented to Commodore Perry as a gift to express eternal friendship between Japan and the U.S. And that is why it is stolen. There are some people in Japan, who want Japan to remain closed to all outsiders. Thus you have a mixed group of Japanese and Americans who have to go after the stolen samurai sword to bring it back--for a number of reasons. Worth seeing. But, then I usually like "Quest" films, where you bring a disparate group of people together to go look for something or to defend something from someone. Another reason to see it, is to see Richard (Paladin) Boone from "Have Gun Will Travel" as Commodore Perry. As for Commodore Perry, you can still--as far as I know--see the house where he was born and lived in Newport, Rhode Island. And there is a statue of his older brother, Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry of the War of 1812 fame, in the town square. Enjoy

[Chris]

Wow! So we have conflicts of interest involving trade, culture, and foreign policy. Sounds very interesting and dramatic. Maybe somedat they'll re-release this on some format.

[Steve.]

BSK - you like "Quest" movies with a disparate group of people? You've probably already seen the greatest "Quest" movie ever made - "Monty Python And The Holy Grail" - if you haven't, and you do watch it, keep some clean underwear handy - anyone with a microbe of a sense of humour will p**s themselve's laughing. I'm speaking from personal experience, here (not strictly personal - it was a viewing colleague, honestly).