This mini-series is awesome. The story runs from tender love to intense brutality. Richard Chamberlain, the king of mini-series plays Pilot Major Blackthorne. Shipwrecked in Japan, he goes from hated outsider to accepted samurai. Toshiro Mifune is great as Lord Toranaga. He's the Japanese version of Patton: warrior, leader, poet. At times the story line does go a bit slow but not for very long. Definite kudos to John Rhys-Davies who plays the roguish Vasco Rodrigues. Find a day when you can sit in front of the TV and relax, because when you start watching, you won't be able to stop until you've seen the whole thing.
