G.I. Samurai
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| G.I. Samurai | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Mitsumasa Saito (as Kôsei Saitô) |
| Produced by | Haruki Kadokawa, Takeshi Motomura |
| Written by | Ryo Hanmura (novel), Toshio Kamata |
| Starring | Sonny Chiba, Jun Eto, Toshitaka Ito, Haruki Kadokawa |
| Music by | Kentaro Haneda |
| Release date(s) | 1979 |
| Running time | 139 min. |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| IMDb profile | |
G.I. Samurai (戦国自衛隊 Sengoku jieitai?) is a 1979 Japanese feature length film focusing on the adventures of a modern day Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) element that accidentally manages to travel to the Warring States period （戦国時代 or Sengoku jidai）of Japanese history. The film stars Japanese cult actor Sonny Chiba.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
On their way to a maneuver, a wildly mixed group of Japanese soldiers with a tank, an APC, a patrol boat and a helicopter suddenly find themselves stranded 400 years in the past and under attack by samurai forces. Their designated leader, Lieutenant Yoshiaki Iba (Sonny Chiba), befriends and joins forces with Nagao Kagetora, the war leader of lord Koizumi. Seeing the stranded soldiers' war machinery in action, Kagetora persuades Iba to aid him in his struggle for supremacy in Japan.
In the meantime, however, Iba finds himself facing the desperation of his men who want to return to their own time. Some make contact with the locals - one of the soldiers, Mimura, even finds himself a consort who keeps following him - whilst others freak out, running away in a desperate attempt to return home, or rebelling against rules and restrictions and try to live a pirate's life. Finally, his force shrunk from 21 men to 11, Iba manages to calm his troops by telling them that by fighting history and thus creating a time paradox they might be able to return home. Iba joins Kagetora and fights by his side.
Finally, Iba and the soldiers face Takeda Shingen's forces in battle. But their trust in their advanced weaponry costs them dearly: Shingen's forces outmaneouver them at every turn, the soldiers lose all their vehicles and major weapons, and five of them die on the battlefield. In a desperate attempt, Iba forces his way to Shingen's command post and kills him in a sword duel.
As Iba and his remaining men go to join Kagetora in Kyoto, the latter is put under pressure by his family and the Ashikaga shogun to get rid of Iba. Reluctantly conceding, Kagetora intercepts Iba's group at an old temple. But as Iba prepares to kill Kagetora for his betrayal, he is killed by Mimura's consort, who also delivers the coup-de-grace to her lover. Mimura and the other soldiers are killed by Kagetora's archers.
Kagetora shows remorse by burying Iba and his men with all due honors. In the end, only one of the soldiers survives, having left the group to help a boy and his family, whose father had been killed.
[edit] Trivia
- At first the producers had approached the JGSDF for props and vehicles; but the Army command quickly cut their support after having read about soldiers going AWOL in the script. For that reason, old and sometimes out-dated equipment (like M3 submachine guns) had to be used. The tank featured in the movie was even built entirely from scratch.
- A slight mistakes in the movie is that the vehicles - especially the tank and the helicopter, which do see a lot of use - can run so long on a limited supply of gas, since there is no way of replenishing it in the 16th century.
[edit] Adaptations
- The comic book series of the same name was authored by Ryo Hanmura.
- A film remake in 2005 was titled Sengoku Jieitai 1549.
