The Challenge (1982)

Director:

John Frankenheimer

Writers:

Richard Maxwell (writer)
John Sayles (writer)

Release Date:

23 July 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Plot:

A down-and-out American boxer becomes involved in a feud between two Japanese brothers.

Plot Keywords:

Knife | Jukebox | Toy Train | Stapler | Electrocution

Cast

Scott Glenn	...	Rick
Toshirô Mifune	...	Toru Yoshida
Donna Kei Benz	...	Akiko Yoshida, Toru's daughter
Atsuo Nakamura	...	Hideo Yoshida, Toru's brother
Calvin Jung	...	Ando
Clyde Kusatsu	...	Go
Sab Shimono	...	Toshio Yoshida, Toru's son
Kiyoako Nagai	...	Kubo
Kenta Fukasaku	...	Jiro
Shogo Shimada	...	Toru Yoshida's Father (as Shoga Shimada)
Yoshio Inaba	...	Instructor
Seiji Miyaguchi	...	Old Man
Miiko Taka	...	Toru Yoshida's Wife
Akio Kameda	...	Boxer
Hisashi Osaka	...	Knifeman

Also Known As:

Equals
Sword of the Ninja

Runtime:

113 min | USA:108 min

Country:

USA | Japan

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:L | Finland:K-18 | UK:18 | USA:R | Norway:(Banned) (1982-2003) (cinema release)

Filming Locations:

Kyoto, Japan

Company:

CBS Theatrical Films

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: After Akiko disappears at the street festival, Rick runs into a guy with a walkie-talkie. As they're talking, people passing in the background look at the camera, duck, and run out of frame.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in P & B (1983)

A Hidden Martial Arts Classic

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.