Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

Bergorks If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

gavin6942 A down-and-out American boxer (Scott Glenn) becomes involved in a feud between two Japanese brothers.This is one of those hidden gems you never hear about. A great blend of American and Japanese cinema, some action and some grit. The film really ought to be a cult classic, and yet I feel like very few people have ever heard of it. Most surprising to me is how the film did not seem to get a bump after the Netflix series "Daredevil" took off. In some ways, Scott Glenn's character on that show is very much a continuation of his character here.Thanks to Kino, the film is available on Blu-ray though it does not seem to have any features. That is too bad. I am always ready for an audio commentary.

lost-in-limbo Director John Frankenheimer has made some great features; some not quite so and there are those which have fallen down the cracks. "The Challenge" happens to be one those forgotten oddities, but grippingly awesome pulpy martial arts entertainment. Establishing the violently vigorous action with the dramatically thoughtful material (a westerner coming to respect the traditional ways of eastern culture) --- as Glenn's washed-up American boxer Rick finds himself caught up in a family feud when smuggling a sacred samurai sword back to Japan. There he encounters trouble, so he wants out and gets the owed money for doing the job. However there's a change of heart as he wants to learn from Toru Yoshida at his school, but secretly his paid to steal the sword for Toru's brother, Hideo. Who's a businessman more concerned with modern methods, than anything traditional.It's an outrageously sharp, but meditatively-laced screenplay by Richard Maxwell and John Sayles, which packs plenty of punches (also humour), plot surprises and sets up some memorable set-pieces (bug-munching anyone?) within its Tokyo backdrop. Composer Jerry Goldsmith contributes a flavorers, flighty musical piece. Frankenheimer's lean and mean directorial style, goes down well with the superbly staged action (helping out as a material arts supervisor was Steven Seagal) and his leering camera covers numerous creative angles that don't shy away. What we have to sit through is well worth the wait for an outstandingly honourable climatic samurai battle (swift, blood-gushing and intense confrontations -- even a stapler can be dangerous!) within a futuristic-like building between the likes of Scott Glenn, Toshiro Mifune and Atsuo Nakamura. The characters are well-defined with tremendous performances to make that possible. Glenn's rough, dogged persona simply works, but there's also a compassionate side with the relationship he shares with a young boy. Mifune brings a respectable temperament and Nakamura perfectly pitches a callous edge.Possibly overlong, but "The Challenge" is cracking entertainment.

drwinton Though the title tends to sound like a hoaky chop sockie movie, and the movie itself has nothing to do with ninjas (only samurai and the samurai code); this is a top notch story and character study. Not to mention some pretty decent action. One only has to overlook the fact that Scott Glen seems to acquire a level of skill with the sword in a matter of weeks that take the Japanese who devote their lives to the sword years to attain. None the less, it was a great character study, as I said, and touts the qualities of honor and self-respect in contrast with a mercenary attitude and a lack of respect for anything or anyone (including ones self), and no sense of a loyalty to something higher than ones self and ones own shortsighted desires.

Terence Allen The Challenge is one of those genre movies that is so good that it not only breaks the genre mold but gets lost in the shuffle, hidden by lots of other movies not nearly as good.Scott Glenn and Toshiro Mifune give excellent and their usual intense performances as a budding samurai cum boxer and his instructor, bonding as the instructor is caught up in a clan feud with his brother.This movie is good for three reasons. One reason is the normal steadfast performances of its stars. The second is the keen, insightful direction of John Frankenheimer, a grossly underrated director who helmed such classics as The Train, Ronin, and The Manchurian Candidate. And the third is the able kenjutsu (swordfighting)and aikido of a then unknown American martial arts instructor based in Japan who at the time was going by Steve Seagal. I guess I don't have to tell you who he grew up to be.