The Bushido blade

A co-production between the US and the UK, “The Bushido blade” is set in Japan in 1854 at the time when Commodore Matthew Perry (Richard Boone in his last film role) and his men sailed from the United States on a mission to Japan to sign a treaty uniting the two nations. As a sign of goodwill, the Shogun was to pass on the sacred Bushido Blade to Commodore Perry as a gift for the President of the United States but the Treaty would not be signed by the Japanese until the sacred sword was in Perry’s possession. To the Japanese, the Bushido Blade is a national symbol of the old ways, the Samurai tradition, and it has been this way for centuries. In the Shogun’s Commander’s (Toshiro Mifune) words “The sword is of spiritual character…Samurai warrior should live and die, sword in hand”. However, during the course of events, and just before the Treaty is to be signed, the Bushido Blade is stolen by a group of Samurai warriors opposed to the treaty and from there on in the remainder of the film is dedicated to the return of the blade. Based loosely on historical facts, the film proved to be a disappointment on release probably due to the low budget, poor scripting and not enough action (too much of the comedy and romance for dedicated fans of Japanese warrior films). It was eventually reissued under the title “The Bloody Bushido”. Cast also includes Sony Chiba, Laura Gemser, Frank Converse, James Earl Jones, Mako, Mayumi Atano, Timothy Murphy, Michael Starr.