Shogun Warrior

Plot:

Sho Kosugi stars (as well as produced) this picturesque and exciting swashbuckler, directed by Gordon Hessler. Kosugi plays Mayeda, a 17th-century Japanese samurai whose clan, headed by Lord Ieyasu (Toshiro Mifune), is waging a bloody battle with a rival clan. The rival clan has the advantage of using punk-burning muskets, which work fine unless it rains, rendering the firearms useless. Ieyasu sends Mayeda to Spain to one-up the rival clan by arranging the purchase of flintlock rifles, which are immune to rain. Mayeda is accompanied on his journey by Ieyasu's young heir Yorimune (Kane Kosugi), along with a traitor -- the clan's Catholic spiritual advisory Father Vasco (Norman Lloyd), who has made a deal with the rival clan to kill Mayeda and Yorimune and to make sure that the flintlock rifles never reach their destination. However, the plot fails. In the process, the gold to pay for the rifles falls overboard, and Mayeda arrives in Spain penniless at the court of King Philip (Christopher Lee). King Philip refuses to give Mayeda the rifles, until Mayeda saves his life during an attack of rebels. But even though Mayeda now has the king on his side, he has earned the wrath of his advisor Don Pedro (David Essex) by falling in love with his fiancee Cecilia (Polly Walker). Mayeda and Don Pedro eventually tangle in mortal combat.

Cast:

Shô Kosugi as Daigoro Mayeda
David Essex as Don Pedro
Kane Kosugi as Yorimune
Christopher Lee as King Philip
Norman Lloyd as Father Vasco
Ronald Pickup as Capt. Crawford
John Rhys-Davies as El Zaidan
Polly Walker as Cecilia
Dylan Kussman as Smitty
Miwa Takada as Yadogimi
Nijiko Kiyokawa as Counselor
Toshirô Mifune as Lord Ieyasu
Yuki Sugimura as Chiyo Mayeda
Ken Sekiguchi as Ishikawa
Naoto Shigemizu as Nakamura
Yûji Sawayama as East Army General
Toni Sosie as Dutch
Savic Milutin as First Pistolier
Miomir Radevic-Pigi as Second Pistolier
Shinsuke Shirakura as Daisuke Mayeda, ages 13-14
Dusko Yujnnovic as Ibrahim
Stevan Minja as Salim
Ljubo Skiljevic as Taskmaster (as Ljubomir Skiljevic)
John Stewart as Sailor 1
Dragomir Stanojevic-Bata Kameni as Sailor 2 (as Dragomir Stanojevic-Kameni)
Borivoje Stojanovic as Royal Chamberlain (as Bora Stojanovic)
Osamu Yayama as Samurai in Edo Castle
Kenji Miura as Interpreter for Ieyasu
Menamy Mitanes as Interpreter for Yodogimi (as Manami Mitani)
Hidekazu Utsumi as Page
Tadashi Ogawara as Page
Akira Hoshino as Ieyasu Retainer
Kenji Yasunaga as Ieyasu Retainer
Shogo Ikegami as Ieyasu Retainer
Junichiro Hayama as Ieyasu Retainer
Yoshiaki Iguchi as Ieyasu Retainer
Toshimi Yamaguchi as Samurai Guard for Ieyasu (as Toshimi Yamagushi)
Satoru Fukasaku as Samurai Guard for Ieyasu
Yuki Nasaka as Samurai Guard for Ieyasu
Kazuhiro Taketoshi as Samurai Guard for Ieyasu
Takashi Odajima as Samurai Guard for Ieyasu
Don Pedro Colley as Narrator (voice) rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Milutin Savic-Dzimi as First Pistolier (as Milutin Savic)
Dusan Vujnovic as Ibrahim (as Dusko Yujnnovic)