Watch the version with Richard Chamberlain
It's better.
shareI agree. The 70s version is 98% accurate to the book.
shareIt actually aired in 1980.
In regard to your point about the book, I haven't read the book and I haven't seen the original mini-series since the mid-90s, but I have seen some people say that the series neglected to portray the Japanese viewpoint that was the subject of a good chunk of the book.
Apparently that was Clavell's doing -- the author himself. He wasn't just a novelist, he was very much involved in film making, and he was executive producer on the 1980 miniseries. He wanted the audience to see things from Blackthorne's perspective as an outsider who didn't even speak the language, hence the lengthy scenes of the Japanese characters speaking in their native tongue, with no subtitles to inform the viewer what they're saying; the only Japanese non-Japanese-speaking viewers get to understand is what Alvito or Mariko translate for Blackthorne in any given scene (and the odd bit of voice-over narration from Orson Welles, to clear up essential plot developments that viewers would otherwise have missed).
The problem with that approach is that, as noted, it robs the viewer of a lot of the information in the novel, a large part of which is centered around the court intrigue and Toranaga's climb to the pinnacle of power. This time, the makers of the series have chosen to bring the audience in by providing subtitles to all the Japanese dialogue. Both creative choices are justifiable, but it's good that the newer series is taking a different path, and not merely copying the approach of its predecessor.
That just means they were probably filming it in 1978-79, but frankly, the camera quality and Blackthorn's hair just screams 1970s, despite the film-makers' best efforts to make him look like an Elizabethan man.
I think the series did just fine, and you pick up on the intrigue anyway, even from Blackthorn's perspective.
No. Maybe 10% of the book is in the 580 minute runtime of the mini-series.
The vast majority of the political back story from the book is absent from the series since the series tries to depict nearly everything from Blackthorne's point of view.
Almost the entire political subplot of the book is from the point of view of Toranaga, something that Blackthorne is ignorant of.
I picked up the dvd set of the earlier series last year, brand new, for 10¢. (Yep, ten cents.).
shareIf it looks anything like this one: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/eEQAAOSwBihl5gRx/s-l1600.png
I'd say you got a really good bargain :D
It’s this one
https://www.amazon.com/Shogun-Disc-Box-Richard-Chamberlain/dp/B01I078QFU
I was thrifting at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore one evening, maybe an hour before closing. They had just received a huge donation of DVDs; some items were still sealed but most were opened. A senior volunteer was shelving them on a media cart. I spotted a couple things of interest so I asked the volunteer how much the sets were. He said everything on the cart was 10 for a dollar, you must buy ten. Apparently they were just trying to get rid lf them without having to check each case to verify the discs were inside. I spent five dollars and got
Shogun
Centennial
13 seasons of Midsomer Murders
Rome 1st and 2nd seasons
Monarch of the Glen s1
Chernobyl
and much more.
Sounds like you're gonna have some entertaining nights ahead :)
sharethe book is not accruate to reality tho. in the book he writes that they dont use guns becuase "its not honorable" when in reality since the portugese came they manufactured thousends of them and used them reguraly.
share