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(Redirected from Sengoku jieitai (1979 film))

is a 1979 Japanese feature length film focusing on the adventures of a modern day Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) element that accidentally manages to travel to the Warring States period （戦国時代　or ''Sengoku jieitai''）of Japanese history. The film stars Japanese cult actor Sonny Chiba.

Contents

Plot

Cast

Trivia

Adaptations

External link

Plot

On their way to a maneuver, a wildly mixed group of Japanese soldiers with a tank, an APC, a patrol boat and a helicopter suddenly find themselves stranded 400 years in the past and under attack by samurai forces. Their designated leader, Lieutenant Yoshiaki Iba (Sonny Chiba), befriends and joins forces with Nagao Kagetora, the war leader of lord Koizumi. Seeing the stranded soldiers' war machinery in action, Kagetora persuades Iba to aid him in his struggle for supremacy in Japan.

In the meantime, however, Iba finds himself facing the desperation of his men who want to return to their own time. Some make contact with the locals - one of the soldiers, Mimura, even finds himself a consort who keeps following him - whilst others freak out, running away in a desperate attempt to return home, or rebelling against rules and restrictions and try to live a pirate's life. Finally, his force shrunk from 21 men to 11, Iba manages to calm his troops by telling them that by fighting history and thus creating a time paradox they might be able to return home. Iba joins Kagetora and fights by his side.
Finally, Iba and the soldiers face Takeda Shingen's forces in battle. But their trust in their advanced weaponry costs them dearly: Shingen's forces outmaneouver them at every turn, the soldiers lose all their vehicles and major weapons, and five of them die on the battlefield. In a desperate attempt, Iba forces his way to Shingen's command post and kills him in a sword duel.
As Iba and his remaining men go to join Kagetora in Kyoto, the latter is put under pressure by his family and the Ashikaga shogun to get rid of Iba. Reluctantly conceding, Kagetora intercepts Iba's group at an old temple. But as Iba prepares to kill Kagetora for his betrayal, he is killed an M1 Carbine used by his foe. Mimura and the other soldiers are killed by Kagetora's archers. Mimura's consort then delivers the coup-de-grace to her lover.

Kagetora shows remorse by burying Iba and his men with all due honors. In the end, only one of the soldiers survives, having left the group to help a boy and his family, whose father had been killed.

Cast

Name as Character
Sonny Chiba.... Lieutenant Iba Yoshiaki
Isao Natsuyagi.... Nagao Kagetora
Jun Eto.... Nobuhiko Ken
Toshitaka Ito.... Harumi Takashima
Haruki Kadokawa.... Sanada Masayuki
Raita Ryu .... Mimura
Hiroshi Kamayatsu.... Mokichi Nemoto
Kenzo Kawarazaki....Koji Kano
Asao Koike.... Koizumi
Kentaro Kudo....Ishiba
Ko Kuraishi.... Masao Maruoka
Masao Kusakari.... Masakichi
Yoichi Miura.... Manabu Nonaka
Noboru Nakaya.... Yoshitaka Kujo
Mikio Narita.... Honganji
Akira Nishikino.... Koji Kikuchi
Nana Okada.... Kazuko Arai
Hitoshi Omae.... Kuribayashi
Miyuki Ono.... Miwa
Hiromitsu Suzuki.... Nishizawa
Mancho Tsuji.... Ono, Shoichiro
Tsunehiko Watase.... Hayato Yano
Hiroyuki Sanada .... Takeda Shingen's Son
Hiroko Yakushimaru.... Young Samurai

Trivia

★ Initially, the producers approached the JGSDF for props and vehicles, but they cut their support after reading that soldiers go AWOL in the script. For that reason, old and sometimes out-dated equipment (like M3 submachine guns) had to be used. The tank featured in the movie was even built entirely from scratch.

★ The vehicles, including a tank and a helicopter, continue to run despite there being no replenishing fuel supply in the 16th century.

★ Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada has a minor role as Shingen's samurai who boards the helicopter and kills its crew.

★ Hiroko Yakushimaru , Japanese actor and singer, has a minor character as Young Samurai who killed by JGSDF with modern gun during battlefield.

Adaptations

★ The comic book series of the same name was authored by Ryo Hanmura.

★ A film remake in 2005 was titled ''Sengoku Jieitai 1549''.

External link

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