Runtime: 109 minutes
Directed by: John Frankenheimer
Starring: Scott Glenn, Toshiro Mifune, Donna Kei Benz, Atsuo Nakamura, Calvin Jung
From: CBS Theatrical Films
I was hoping for a movie better than just “fine.” Recently, a mutual brought up one John Sayles film (not this one) while commenting on another picture he co-wrote, Battle Beyond the Stars. It reminded me that as I plan on seeing a few films in a row from the early half of the 1980’s in a row, I’ve known of The Challenge for years yet never pressed “play” until last night, & this has quite the convergence & confluence of talent… that is why the picture was selected.
After all, Sayles apparently helped in changing the setting from China to Japan-I’m going off of IMDb’s Trivia page here-among other contributions to the plot, and the other talent involved included Frankenheimer, Mifune, Scott Glenn, Goldsmith and even pre-acting “Steve Seagal” as the “martial arts coordinator.” Thus, this could have been pretty badass along the likes of the previous decade’s The Yakuza but instead this just managed to be good.
Glenn is a boxer who is duped into a plot involving the transport of a special sword to Japan and a pair of brothers are feuding for ownership of said sword. Glenn was a Dumb American at first but soon becomes enamored of the Bushido way of life… there’s romance, a kidnapping, and other bog-standard stuff you’d probably expect. There are also some wacky moments which *probably* aren’t a part of traditional training but perhaps I’m mistaken…
Ultimately, the script was more about the bond that forms between Mifune and Glenn. Instead, by the time filming began this is more a martial arts story. Sure, when we get action it is exciting-especially the climax of the movie-and at times graphic; that and the lovely Jerry Goldsmith score are delights.
However, despite that and some nice character moments throughout, The Challenge does not rise up to be something special. Then again, the fact that I’ve known of The Challenge for many years and it wasn’t something I thought was bad… I can’t be too disappointed. All the footage of early 80’s Japan was also appreciated by me.
No comments:
Post a Comment