Before I started this I was a little sceptical. Shogun is my favorite book ever, I red it 4 times and I was not sure this mini series would be at least as good as the 1st one, with Chamberlain. Boy was I wrong!! In the 70 series, Toranaga looks like heartless, stone taught leader with no emotions. In the FX series, Sanada does a brilliant job, showing us countless expressions and emotions of the character. From fear (you know when you see it, no spoilers), happiness, determination and so on. Mariko is so graceful, the actress plays her serenity perfect, compared to the actress from the 1st series. Even Blacktorne is good (not as these 2 but very close), he looks so humane and fragile sometimes. Actually, you won't see a weak link in the acting department, support cast also.
The cinematography is very good, I love that they show different scenarios (rain, sunny, winter, etc), the attention to details is mind-blowing for a tf series.
Please don't compare this to game of thrones. That was a fantasy TV series. Anything was permitted. Shogun is about HUMANS, about emotions, honor, duty and so much more. It looks slow paced, you...contemplate this show instead of watch it, you take your time. Rarely I've been so absorbed and glued to the screen from a TV series like I'm here and again, I'm surprised they could pull this off.
The rating is well deserved, actors, cinematography, everything is perfect. My only "problem" is that it could have been 2 seasons long and not just 10 episodes. The book is big enough for this buy hey, we must enjoy what we have and Shogun is by far the best show of the year. Safe to say is (if they keep it like this the remaining 4 episodes) it will become a classic and one of the best ever.
22 out of 37 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Tell Your Friends