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G.I. Samurai - The Sonny Chiba Collection Actor: Sonny Chiba Number of Items: 1 Format: Widescreen, Dolby Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Running Time: 139 minutes Studio: Ventura Distribution Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2005-02-08 Buy from Amazon

From Description Before there was The Final Countdown . . . there was . . . G.I. Samurai A squadron of Japanese soldiers find themselves transported through time to Japan’s feudal period . . . 400 years in the past, where rival samurai clans are battling to make their leader the supreme Shogun. The squad leader, Lt. Iba (Chiba), sees this as the perfect opportunity to realize his dream of becoming the ruler of Japan. To achieve this, he teams his troops up with those of Kagatori, a samurai who also aspires to become Shogun using their hi-tech modern weaponry to rule Japan.

Customer Reviews: Total numer of reviews: 2 Average rating: 3.5 "The Warring States vs. The State of War" G.I. Samurai is a picture with pros and cons. One of the things it has going against it is its running time. At around 2 and a half hours long, even for all of its action it can find itself dragging at points. It is definitely a film that could have stood for some editing down. That being said however the film is able to juggle its myriad characters fairly well. The JDF men, as well as the various feudal characters, are well established (particularly, unsurprisingly enough, Sonny Chiba as Iba) and when the movie breaks off to follow them in their little subplots the movie makes it interesting...though not interesting enough to where it couldn't have stood being cut. The action in it...quite simply...is absolutely amazing. As you watch in particular the final battle with the samurai army it is almost impossible not to be awestruck by what you are seeing. It also speaks volumes about the message the film is trying to convey...that the barbarism of the past is not so distant from the "civility" of our present day. This film's action, without a doubt, ranks as some of the best I have ever seen. The ending could have used a lot of work though. I won't spoil it for anybody but it is pretty damned anti-climactic. In reading the liner notes for the film it stated how the ending was changed from the book since the original ending was common knowledge to almost every Japanese it was so popular. Sadly though, this ending is lost on a poor westerner such as myself who would like to know what the original ending was...because it is probably a whole lot better than what we are given. Not to say it is a horrible ending mind you...just a bit disappointing. In the end, if you like the action genre you owe it to yourself to check it out. "Engaging Mix" If you are intrigued by the idea of a group of modern soldiers equipped with modern weaponry including a tank and a helicopter duking it out with 16th century samurai, you will likely enjoy this film. A group of 20th century JDF soldiers involved in an exercise find themselves in 16th century Japan. When confronted by local troops, their charismatic leader played by Sonny Chiba strikes an alliance with the local warlord to conquer the opposition and take over the country. There are some quibbles about the film. The story at times seems choppy. There are points where a little more exposition would have been helpful. For example, there is little explanation for the seismic event that sends the soldiers back in time amidst some low budget effects. But most of the film involves striking battle scenes and these are a lot of fun in a tacky 70's style complete with hundreds of elaborately costumed extras. Sonny Chiba performs well and does some amazing stunt work. He is a pretty engaging performer. There is some nudity and a fair amount of violence. The film is not suitable for children. The print appears to be the original Japanese version with the original soundtrack complete with Japanese language pop songs rather than the truncated American version of the film. There do not appear to be a lot of extras but a lot of trailers for Sonny Chiba films including GI Samurai are included. The trailers are Japanese. A good package and several notches in quality above the old American print of this film.