The Challenge

Wow, it's a crying shame that more people haven't seen this one. It's really a lot of fun to watch. Frankenheimer's direction is sharp (as always) and the performances from Glenn and Mifune are pretty okay. The fact that John Sayles worked on the screenplay is what first drew me to it. My expectations were definitively on the lower end (I mean Alligator, Battle Beyond the Stars and Piranha are fun, but.....). So I was pleasantly surprised to find a film that I ended up really enjoying. It's not as good as Sidney Pollack's somewhat similar Yakuza, but they'd make an interesting double feature. The final raid on Mifune's brother's complex is a nice finale.

Very interesting movie. Say it when I was much younger and remember vividly the live lobster eating part as well as the eels in Sake. Scott Glenn plays a very believable Gaijin blundering around in Japan. The Lead Actress (Donna Kei Benz) threw me for a bit. I suspected that she was not Japanese but the name leads me a bit to wonder. Looked very Filipino.

A very classic representation of action movies around that time. I do admit that is does do a bit more homage to the way things were like in Japan at the time. The Office complex was as I would envision the offices of the Zaibatsu of that era. Worth a bowl of popcorn!

This isn't an award winning film. This isn't a well known film. But it has a good premise and is one of my secret pleasures. Two Brothers in a long standing feud over an ancient family sword and an American "dupe" that's been thrown into the fray. We watch his journey and education in a different culture with different values (yet oddly similar to ours, and riddled with similar weaknesses.)

The reason I know I like this one (even with all the flaws) is that it keeps coming to mind from time to time. And after some thought, I think it boils down to basic examinations of how to live one's life. How important is Honor? Is it better to take the quick and easy $ or to work for it? How important are family bonds? Are the modern ways of life any better than the traditional ones? Is it ever too late to turn your life around? And so forth. These are why I like this movie. Sure it can come off as a bit preachy about duty, honor, loyalty and traditional ways, but it has always made me think about what is the best way to live one's life.

The Challenge is one of those genre movies that is so good that it not only breaks the genre mold but gets lost in the shuffle, hidden by lots of other movies not nearly as good.

Scott Glenn and Toshiro Mifune give excellent and their usual intense performances as a budding samurai cum boxer and his instructor, bonding as the instructor is caught up in a clan feud with his brother.

This movie is good for three reasons. One reason is the normal steadfast performances of its stars. The second is the keen, insightful direction of John Frankenheimer, a grossly underrated director who helmed such classics as The Train, Ronin, and The Manchurian Candidate. And the third is the able kenjutsu (swordfighting)and aikido of a then unknown American martial arts instructor based in Japan who at the time was going by Steve Seagal. I guess I don't have to tell you who he grew up to be.

What seems to be just another "east meets west" actioner is given the John Frankenheimer treatment and comes up a winner. Scott Glenn is fantastic as a loser boxer recruited to help escort a priceless family heirloom back to Japan, and by the end o f the film he rediscovers his worth as a human being and man. Frankenheimer has always dealt extremely well with themes of "manliness" and this one is no exception. For a good companion piece, check out his even better "round-eye on the loose in Japan" flick THE YAKUZA.