I Want To

Sonny Chiba delivers an excellent performance in this movie that pits modern weapons against the formidable swords and strategic brilliance of the war lords from ancient Japan. I saw this movie first as a teenager in Germany and it was shown under the title Time Slip. I searched for many years until I found it again as G.I. Samurai. I purchased the DVD which has the English dubbed version along with the original Japanese with English subtitles. The Japanese version has much more impact due to it's more authentic delivery of the dialogue. Some of the emotion and mannerism is lost in the dubbed version.

I have a pre-cert copy of this film, which is under the title 'time wars' and it runs at an even shorter time than the 110mins version mentioned here by other users. My copy barely hits 60 mins and the hacked editing shows in a very obvious way. There is little explanation of what is going on; the prostitute from the past seems to be still working at the brothel in the late 1970s; a Samurai appears riding a horse down the street in the 1970s for NO reason and while the ending is reminiscent of Macbeth there is a much a much stronger feeling of MacDuff to the whole finished product. I would like to see an unedited version of this in relation to what people are saying about it as my memory of it is as an instigator of Family arguments

BO!

High concept movies don't get much higher in concept than G. I. Samurai, which is about a group of military personnel and their equipment getting transported back in time 100s of years, to samurai times. Once there, they get involved in a great many battles and ridiculous action ensues, especially for what feels like most of the second half.

At 140 minutes, I feel like it's way too long. There are also some uncomfortable/awkward moments here and there that soured things a little. But at the same time, I enjoyed quite a lot of it, and I liked how gonzo it was. It found a good deal of things to do with the wild premise at hand, and in that way, it definitely didn't feel like a waste or a missed opportunity.

Apart from controversial acting, directing, plot etc. there is one particular aspect of this movie thats is actually bad unconditionally.

If one would judge by "Sengoku Jieitai", one would conclude that JGSDF is the worst disciplined and trained army in the world, assembled by drafting idiots with criminal tendencies.

Samurai tactics against modern soldiers, shown in the movie, is remarkably decent to my surprise. It might even work IRL - well, if modern soldiers were indeed that stupid and untrained. Modern soldiers' tactics is just plain ridiculous - "WTF are they doing?!!" was all I could think about watching the otherwise spectacular final battle.

In my opinion, this movie creates a very bad image of JGSDF.

It also seems that there's not even single one positive character - anyone who's not an extra is either plain bad or just repulsive person. Even Lt. Iba (Sonny Chiba) - being badass - is also bad and an ass.

Well, at least we have two badass guys here.

"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.