Leofwine_draca A typically intense – not to mention insane – example of a Japanese B-movie, that actually feels like an EPIC thanks to its non-stop action, carnage, chaos, and plenty more besides. The plot is one of those simplistic one sentence ideas you can just imagine some powerful executive in an office had "let's see a war fought between samurai soldiers and modern army officers!". The execution is splendid, gory, violent, and everything else that you could hope for. The time slip itself is hilarious, a plethora of cheap flashing lights and plenty other weirdness which set the time of production firmly within the 1970s.Once the action starts to beef up it doesn't let up at all, right until the climax. The last thirty-forty minutes depicts a war between modern and ancient soldiers and is as gratuitous, exciting and adrenaline-pumping as you could ever hope for. Top-notch choreography by martial arts legend Sonny Chiba and some outstanding makeup effects/costumes help add to the realism. Hard man hero Chiba also stars as Iba, the tough, power-hungry lieutenant who leads the modern day army, and his acting skills are as good as ever. I love the scene where he turns into a hard-ass at the end of the film, riding horses and kicking backside all over the shop. It's one of his best performance and I would put this up there with THE STREET FIGHTER as his two best movies. "Don't cry – fight!" is one of the many classic lines he gets to deliver at the film progresses.Those of a squeamish disposition note, this film is full of gory bullet hits and some damned explicit decapitations which seem to come out of nowhere! Gotta love those arrow hits, though, which are truly hilarious. Anyone who has seen a '70s Japanese samurai film will know the level of violence to expect from this one. The war itself is the best part of the film, a truly frenetic and often horrific experience showing the true terrors of warfare; the action and death is often enhanced by an experimental soundtrack in which moments of dead silence add to the viewing experience. Animal-lovers would also be well advised to look elsewhere as the film has dozens of violent horse falls, where the horse's legs are yanked out with wire leaving the horses crippled and likely to be sent to the knacker's yard. No wonder this was extensively cut – in an extremely bizarre way – for its 18 certificate UK release. Cut or not, this is an outrageous and dramatic movie which despite being downbeat offers up an amazing good time. Check it out!NB: Since I wrote this review, I've bought the DVD under the better title, G. I. SAMURAI. Seen in a widescreen print, with an extra thirty minutes added to the proceedings, I'm now convinced this is a masterpiece which belies its B-movie budget. The cost of kitting out the hundreds of Samurai warriors must have been huge and the authenticity is spot on throughout. The opening time-slip isn't too bad and in fact is the only moment in the whole film that the thing feels cheesy. Elsewhere the viewer runs the gamut of emotions from A-Z, from happiness, and outlandish joy, through to sadness, and downbeat misery. Suspense is top-notch throughout and great performances from an entire cast – especially the actor who plays the samurai commander ally. I love this film to bits.

chaos-rampant What if a platoon of G.I.'s from the Japanese army were to be send back in time 400 years right in the middle of the feudal wars that led to the formation of the Tokugawa Shogunate? Great pitch right? The movie does exactly what it says on the tin.Thankfully the writers didn't bother to explain the, usually ridiculous in sci-fi movies, scientific mumbo jumbo of time transport. No how's or why's. They just did. However the time transport sequence itself is trippy as hell and quite beautiful, if not a bit dated. Not as silly as one would imagine.The rest of the movie follows the premise to a T. But while it loses a bit of steam with the various subplots that follow the G.I.s arrival to medieval Japan, it picks up with a devastating battle sequence. Undoubtedly it's the main order of the day. The whole concept and by extension the movie itself, was probably originated from this simple pitch: what if G.I.'s equipped with the latest in modern warfare were to fight samurais? And boy does it deliver.The main battle sequence that spans more than half an hour is probably one of THE best of its kind in 70's action/war movies. Not only is it relentless and exhausting in pace and length, it's also a terrific mish-mash of styles and techniques that only unique premises like G.I. Samurai can deliver. I mean, where else would you get the chance to feature tanks, ninjas complete with shuriikens, a helicopter and samurais in the same shot? The G.I. platoon led by lieutenant Iba tears literally through hundreds of extras, gunning them down with machine guns, mortars, grenades and tanks.This mish-mash of styles is with one foot firmly rooted in the sprawling jidai-geki epic of Kurosawa's Kagemusha or Hiroshi Inagaki's Samurai Banners, while the other is in western action and war movies. There are stylistic touches (like the wonderful slow-motion shots and bloody violence) that bring Sam Peckinpah or Enzo G. Castellari circa Keoma to mind. Japanese cinema has always been influenced by westerns and other Hollywood works and vice versa, and G.I. Samurai effortlessly turns this east-meets-west melting pot into an exciting film.The film-makers thankfully take the whole thing seriously and the movie benefits immensely from it. Not that tongue-in-cheek mentality is completely absent, it's just that it doesn't try to pander to so-bad-it's-good audiences that enjoy laughing at their movies. The budget was probably hefty, as it is evident in the hundreds of extras, elaborate costumes (very decent for a production that is not a traditional jidai-geki) and special effects. The camera-work and editing are all top notch, almost better than a movie with no higher artistic ambitions deserves.It's not withouts its flaws either of course. There are many "song" scenes, where all sorts of 70's Japanese rock, disco and country songs play over montages (there's a bonding scene, a love-interest scene, a "war is hell" scene etc). The songs themselves are pretty lame and corny and detract from the whole thing. Although it clocks at a whooping 140 minutes, it flies like a bullet for the most part. Still some scenes, flashbacks and subplots in the first half could have been clipped for a tighter effect.The cast also deserves a mention, featuring such prominent names as Sonny Chiba, Isao Natsuyagi (Goyokin, Samurai Wolf), Tsunehiko Watase (The Yakuza Papers) and Hiroyuki Sanada, all of them hitting the right notes.

wierzbowskisteedman "GI Samurai" sees Sonny Chiba and some other guys get transported back to civil war stricken feudal Japan for no particular reason, and much carnage ensues. It's a rather over the top essay of sword vs. machine gun that ultimately yields some interesting results.The plot essentially runs along the rails that you might expect from the title; initial fish-out-the-water antics ("what is this flying metal box?" etc etc), "aren't we better off here" discussions and ultimately a huge battle. The latter is proof that the film doesn't take itself seriously at all, the carnage taking up most of the second half as samurai army battles Chiba's platoon; a face off one would fully expect from the title but it still manages to overwhelm with its inventiveness and extravagance. It's certainly one of the most unique battle sequences of its time and doesn't drag despite its extended length.Chiba gives a gruff performance as Iba, initially a good leader but someone who finally finds himself questioning his own morals as the situation slowly has an effect on him. This is certainly one of his better vehicles from his terrific CV. By the final act the two worlds have had such an effect on each other you have to wonder if it was a bit of nihilism on the part of the writers, as they seem to be asking "weren't we better off back then?'. But this is maybe reading a bit much into was can generally be described as a hugely entertaining two hours of (almost) non stop action.

kevin-dunlop I would firstly say that somehow I remember seeing this movie in my early childhood, I couldn't read the subtitles and I thought Sonny Chiba was Sean Connery. But I did really like the concept. If you are not able to at least partially suspend your adult scepticism and embrace your inner seven your old you may want to avoid this movie. That said, having just watched the restored 137 minute version on DVD I have to say I enjoyed it, though not as much as when I was seven ( I remembered the ending ). There are aspects of the movie that are worthy of criticism , the first 15 minutes and final 15 minutes both have some really comic moments, my favourite being the contrast between scenes acted out in the final 10 minutes and the curious choice of backing music ( listen to the lyrics ). For an action film there is a great deal of focus on the personal stories of certain soldiers and the social dynamics of the squad as the strain of their time travel takes its toll. By the ending of the movie I had decided that this was a good thing, when seven I though the 'relationship' guff was a bad thing.For an action film there is also plenty of gratifying gory action, especially a couple of epic battle scenes between the platoon and hordes of Shogun era warriors. The makers of the movie have ensured that as many deaths as possible are bloody and, lets face it, humorous. I thought this was a splendid aspect of the movie when I was a kid, and I am not ashamed to say that I still do.I also like the fact that the modern day soldiers in general don't spend the movie walking on egg shells trying to avoid altering the space time continuum, they've got heavy calibre machine guns, mortars, rocket launchers, a tank and a helicopter and they're hell bent on making feudal Japan theirs. Which is what I'd like to think any vigorous IMDb user would do in their boots.In short the movies worth watching, it makes the viewer regret that there are not more movies made with a similar premise, and at the same time offers some hefty hints as to why a movie like G.I. Samurai is so unique.