Did I just through almost 10 hours in one day and watch this whole thing? Yes, yes I did. Needless to say this was an overwhelming experience and probably I could have gotten out more having seen this in at least two sitting as I was planning to.

But, no matter how dense it is, it is difficult to tear oneself away and stop watching. I wouldn't call it as unique and the greatest thing I've seen in terms of scale as there's definitely a chance the upcoming remake would be much epic. That isn't to say the scope isn't impressive, because it is, especially given the time and nature of the project. London does an excellent job of capturing…

English Version below

Fassung: Blu-Ray, drei Disc drei Teile
Gesamtlaufzeit: 549 Minuten

Disc 2: 181 Minuten

Logbuch des Navigators Simon M. F.:

Wir schreiben das Jahr 2023, die SS Nostalgiko fährt von ihrem Heimathafen Vorarlberg – Breitengrad 47.249743, Längengrad 9.979737 – in die Weiten der aneinandergereihten, zu Fuß wie per Zweiräder und Vierräder zurückgelegten Kilometersträngen sich summierenden Lebensjahre in den bisher gelebten drei Jahrzehnten.

Der Fuß ist gesetzt fremdes Land zu erkunden. Selbiges Sagenumwobenes Land wie die Göttersitze Asgard oder der Olymp. Eine fremde Tierwelt und eine weit fremdere Pflanzenwelt zu erkunden mit meinen Schritten und der hinter mir hergehende Schatten eines ganzen Kontinentes Namens Europa.

Ich bin hier, ein gestrandeter zum Ziele seiner Mühen gelangt, unfreiwillig wie eigentlich unbewusst…

English Version below

Fassung: Blu-Ray, drei Disc drei Teile
Gesamtlaufzeit: 549 Minuten

Disc 1: 171 Minuten

Logbuch des Navigators Simon M. F.:

Wir schreiben das Jahr 2023, die SS Nostalgiko fährt von ihrem Heimathafen Vorarlberg – Breitengrad 47.249743, Längengrad 9.979737 – in die Weiten der aneinandergereihten, zu Fuß wie per Zweiräder und Vierräder zurückgelegten Kilometersträngen sich summierenden Lebensjahre in den bisher gelebten drei Jahrzehnten.

Die Fahrt beginnt in der eingeschränkten Sicht der Vergangenheit neu wiederbelebt in dem ausgeschnittenen schwarzen Bilderrahmen darin schaltend und waltend Leuchtdioden und Mikrochips ihrer projizierten wie wiedergegeben Sicht der Tatsache verklärenden Blickes erweiterter Bildnisse im Vollbild einer wahren 4:3 Ansicht.

Erste Stürme in Minute fünf heruntergezählten einhunderteinundsiebzig Minuten bringen die SS Nostalgiko auf deren Weg Richtung…

English Version below

Fassung: Blu-Ray, drei Disc drei Teile
Gesamtlaufzeit: 549 Minuten

Disc 3: 197 Minuten

Logbuch des Navigators Simon M. F.:

Wir schreiben das Jahr 2023, die SS Nostalgiko fährt von ihrem Heimathafen Vorarlberg – Breitengrad 47.249743, Längengrad 9.979737 – in die Weiten der aneinandergereihten, zu Fuß wie per Zweiräder und Vierräder zurückgelegten Kilometersträngen sich summierenden Lebensjahre in den bisher gelebten drei Jahrzehnten.

Nun ist es geschehen. Ich sehe in den Spiegel und ein fremdes Gesicht starrt mich an. Der Haarschnitt ist der gleiche wie zuvor einschließlich dem wie zwei Köpfe auf der Schulter herausragende Vollbart wie ich ihn während meiner Abreise besaß. Selbst meine Haut besitzt die gleiche Tönung Seefahrer im Geiste meines mich umschließenden Gebirges. Doch die…

1980 In Review - September 

Shogun is based on the novel by James Clavell, it was adapted by NBC in the U.S. as an ambitious epic 5 episode television miniseries, starring Richard Chamberlain, which aired through the week of September 15 1980, it was the first major U.S. production to be shot entirely on location in Japan. It chronicles the culture shock adventures of fictional Englishman John Blackthorne’s adventures in early 17th Century feudal Japan (loosely based on the English navigator William Adams)

in the late 70’s and early 80’s, TV went through a bit of a boom with the Miniseries. They were often based on historical novels and then spread over several nights, they drew massive audiences and a…

Ever since watching the 2024 remake, I've had a hankering to compare it with the original 1980 miniseries, so I decided to scratch that itch over the past 4 days by watching the entire 9+ hour adaptation of James Clavell's epic tale of an English navigator who's blown ashore in the Japans, and is caught up in its complex feudal politics between opposing noble clans, along with the religious/trade struggle between the Portuguese Jesuits and their Shinto hosts.

I recall watching this eagerly over 5 nights during its first television broadcast. I'd read Clavell's massive and incredibly detailed novel about a year earlier and it kindled a strong desire in me to live in Japan and experience their culture firsthand;…

Equal parts more and less racist than I expected. Avoids the modern “Japan as peaceful fantasy” trope to make Japan seem like a kind of Antebellum South type of violent pageant.
The original novel was written by a POW camp survivor, so there is a bit of coping about Japanese authorities being extraordinarily cruel when compared to European ones, but the last 3rd plays with expectation this in a shockingly nuanced way. You could argue that Anjin learning to love being a captor of the Japanese is more author cope and orientalist fantasy, but I’d suffer as much to be boys with Toshiro Mifune. Orson Welles sleepwalks through the narration as to be expected for Late Welles, but Rhys-Davies really…

An excellent miniseries, if not a bit cheesy at times. Chamberlain's crew of sailors are some of the worst actors known to humankind, but luckily they're barely in it. Chamberlain himself is great, and very likable, and Mariko also, (I am aware of how she speaks English due to the book, but maybe the film could at least mention how she knows it...)

Toshiro Mifune is the powerhouse of the cast as usual, and manages to command the screen whenever he is on it, no matter the size of his role in the scene. The man truly is a hero of cinema. In fact, the entire Japanese cast is great. The only thing I'd love to know is why every…

After the new shogun series, of course I had to watch the original because of samurai legend Toshiro Mifune. 

And I have to say that even if I didn't completely like the 2024 miniseries, I can say the same about the 1980 version. Nevertheless, the story was able to grab me again and I was again immersed in the time of the samurai. The story itself is totally awesome. 

The strengths of the original lie above all in the cast. With Richard Chamberlain and above all toshiro Mifune, we get to see two really great performances and roles, even if I almost expected more from Mifune. The role is simply tailor-made for him. Yoko Shimada also does a great job,…

This has no right to be so good. A jobbing director who never aspired to anything except regular TV work and a lead who was clearly way down the wishlist for casting. What makes this adaptation work is Clavell's influence on the story and which elements of the plot are retained.

The book is about 'otherness'. The sailors responses to their hosts. The bulk of the crew adopt the invading force's fury and indignation at being held prisoner by lesser peoples . They show little to no interest in attempting to understand why they are being treated this way but Blackthorne does.

He questions the bizarre and apparently brutal nature of his captors before coming to realise that the brutality…