SHOGUN may be the ultimate expression of this neglected TV format. They were great prestige products for the networks who, risking immense financial expenditure, hoped to create a cinematic masterpiece on a small screen. There was a time in TV when the mini-series was king. For anyone with a taste for epics, Japan or just plain good entertainment, this is essential viewing. It is certainly more intimate and detailed, but a more faithful and excellent adaptation of such a rich book you are not likely to see anytime soon. Many will tell you that the book is better. Maurice Jarre's score might not reach the lofty heights of his work for David Lean but it serves it's purpose. The direction and photography are quite tasteful, often reminiscent of early Kurosawa, only in color. Indeed the budget must have been quite important (and set a record at the time) but never is the story or it's rhythm scarified to show-off.

For a television miniseries, the technical specs are quite surprisingly good. Every actor gives life to Clavell's carefully drawn and layered characters (most of all a very bombastic John Rhys-Davies). Supporting him are Japanese icon Toshiro Mifune as the shrewd warlord and aspiring shogun Torunaga, who befriends/manipulates Blackthorne, and Yoko Shimada as Blackthorne's translator, confident and friend. Richard Chamberlain embodies Blackthorne to perfection, successfully gaining our empathy through an ambiguous yet very human performance. With all respect for the 2003 film, Shogun is far out of it's reach. People who have seen 'The Last Samurai' might see a few plot similarities (even in certain smaller details: Tom Cruise sports exactly the same haircut as Richard Chamberlain). Clocking in at almost 10 hours, this mega-budgeted series delivers the goods. No small feat considering the length and complexity of Clavell's 1200+ page door-stopper. In 1980, this miniseries was unleashed on the world and created a whole new audience for the mammoth bestseller. He gradually finds his place, oft the central pawn of political intrigues between various foreign powers and the local warlords. In 1976, James Clavell wrote an epic masterpiece: the story of Blackthorne, an English sailor lost in Feudal Japan.

Shogun by james clavell review