A darker and slightly faster paced version than we got in 1980.
Many things were done very well. Acting, visuals, costume design, screenplay, sets, all very top notch. Most plot and story changes were well done.
I appreciated the action scenes added in this version as well, they were extremely well done and I rewatched a couple of them just to appreciate the attention to detail.
Without spoiling anything, I do feel a bit let down by the latter half of the show, but it is still pretty good overall with seriously well-done character moments.
One minor negative is that I think the show suffers a bit from trying to focus less on the English-speaking characters, it feels less personal than the 1980 rendition by focusing on a wider gamut of characters. That also makes the world feel well fleshed out though.
The one major flaw that is unforgivable is the atrocious music. It doesn't fit at all, and it is extremely bleak and repetitive. At many points, it ruins the atmosphere rather than building it.
This is especially criminal considering the 1980 rendition had such a beautiful and powerful soundtrack that generated an amazing atmosphere and evoked immense emotion.
Because of this, I felt like the 1980 version respected the beauty present in medieval Japan, which is basically absent in this much bleaker take.
I genuinely at many points while watching this version, played in my head or hummed the 1980 themes for Japan and Mariko.
The new soundtrack is outright offensively bad and generic comparatively.
Aside from that, this version of Shogun is genuinely more entertaining and modern than the 1980 version, which was more personal, but also more boring. It also steers clear of wokism almost entirely, which is such a breath of fresh air!
Will check back in a decade and see if anyone has made a fan-edit to fix the music! :)
Many things were done very well. Acting, visuals, costume design, screenplay, sets, all very top notch. Most plot and story changes were well done.
I appreciated the action scenes added in this version as well, they were extremely well done and I rewatched a couple of them just to appreciate the attention to detail.
Without spoiling anything, I do feel a bit let down by the latter half of the show, but it is still pretty good overall with seriously well-done character moments.
One minor negative is that I think the show suffers a bit from trying to focus less on the English-speaking characters, it feels less personal than the 1980 rendition by focusing on a wider gamut of characters. That also makes the world feel well fleshed out though.
The one major flaw that is unforgivable is the atrocious music. It doesn't fit at all, and it is extremely bleak and repetitive. At many points, it ruins the atmosphere rather than building it.
This is especially criminal considering the 1980 rendition had such a beautiful and powerful soundtrack that generated an amazing atmosphere and evoked immense emotion.
Because of this, I felt like the 1980 version respected the beauty present in medieval Japan, which is basically absent in this much bleaker take.
I genuinely at many points while watching this version, played in my head or hummed the 1980 themes for Japan and Mariko.
The new soundtrack is outright offensively bad and generic comparatively.
Aside from that, this version of Shogun is genuinely more entertaining and modern than the 1980 version, which was more personal, but also more boring. It also steers clear of wokism almost entirely, which is such a breath of fresh air!
Will check back in a decade and see if anyone has made a fan-edit to fix the music! :)