The Challenge is a 1982 American action film directed by John Frankenheimer and written by John Sayles, Richard Maxwell, and Marc Norman. The film stars Scott Glenn and Toshirō Mifune, and features several aikido-based action scenes choreographed by Steven Seagal, prior to the start of his own film career.
Plot
A katana, one of a pair known as "The Equals", was an heirloom of the Yoshida family, passed down through the generations before being lost during World War II. It was finally tracked down and recovered in California by siblings Toshio and Akiko. Hoping to return the katana to its rightful owner, their father Toru, Toshio hires down-on-his luck prize fighter Rick Murphy to smuggle the sword back to Japan.
Upon their arrival, Murphy and Toshio are captured by thugs working for Turo's estranged brother Hideo, a well-connected kuromaku (or "black curtain" in English, a fixer who works behind the scenes for Yakuza). Toshio is murdered and Murphy is faced with the prospect of being killed by Hideo. Murphy learns that the sword is a fake and himself a decoy, intended to ward off potential thieves. Murphy escapes Hideo's thugs and awakens in Akiko's family home and after a brief stay departs with his money. Hideo's thugs find Murphy and give him two choices: infiltrate Yoshida's martial arts school and obtain the sword, or be beheaded. He takes the infiltration option, yet finds himself being drawn into the ways of Japanese etiquette and tradition to the point where he returns the sword to Toru after having the perfect opportunity to escape with it. Murphy then humbly asks Toru if he can be forgiven and taken back in because he wants to learn the ways of Bushido. Toru agrees, but only if Murphy follows Toru's conditions.
Murphy continues to bumble his way through life at Toru's school until, after a treacherous and almost fatal attempt by one of the higher members of the school to steal the sword, he leaves and is found in a hotel in Kyoto by Toru's surviving child, his daughter Akiko. Finding romance, they go out to see the sights and sounds of the city, including watching a Shinto ceremony. During the hub-bub of the crowded parade, Murphy and Akiko get separated and Hideo's henchmen kidnap her and deliver her to her uncle. Toru, laden with ancient weaponry, ventures out to Hideo's industrial complex where he is shot and wounded by Hideo's bodyguard Ando. Ando is slain by Hideo for this, and Murphy – who has joined him in his quest – opts to fight Hideo to defend his sensei. Murphy manages to kill Hideo and present "The Equals" to Toru.
Cast
Scott Glenn as Rick Murphy
Toshiro Mifune as Satoru "Toru" Yoshida
Atsuo Nakamura as Hideo Yoshida
Donna Kei Benz as Akiko Yoshida
Calvin Jung as Ando
Clyde Kusatsu as Go
Sab Shimono as Toshio Yoshida
Ryuji Yamashita as young Toshio
Kiyoaki Nagai as Kubo
Kenta Fukasaku as Jiro
Shōgo Shimada as Shin'ichi Yoshida
Yoshio Inaba as Kenzo the Instructor
Seiji Miyaguchi as Old Man
Miiko Taka as Machiko Yoshida
Production
The film was shot entirely in Japan. The Kyoto International Conference Center was used as the location of Hideo's headquarters.
When asked by The A.V. Club in 2015 about playing the part of Rick Murphy in The Challenge, Scott Glenn responded,
Alternate version
A re-edited version of the film entitled Sword of the Ninja was created for television. In this version, about ten minutes of footage are cut, some of the graphic violence of the original version is removed, and "fades" are added to make room for commercial breaks.
Reception
Critic Dennis Schwartz gave the film a C+ grade, calling it a "pointless", "low-level Chuck Norris flick". He enjoyed Frankenheimer's directing and Mifune's performance, questioning why they chose to make such a film. Time Out wrote that the "elaborate combat will please fans", but that The Yakuza was a much better film in the genre. Janet Maslin for The New York Times was unimpressed with the film's "regrettably vicious streak" and wrote that the film had unused potential. However, she praised Toshirō Mifune's performance as adding weight to the film. Adam Lippe, writing for Examiner.com, had a better opinion of the film, calling it "grimy, off-putting, and just right for the moment." On the last "Dogs of the Week" segment that Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert ever did on their TV show, Siskel stated that he went to see the film in expectation that it would be a bad movie, but found it to be a smart and involving action film that he recommended viewers should see.
On Rotten Tomatoes, The Challenge holds a rating of 50% from 16 reviews.