what if a platoon of g. i. from the japanese army be to be send back in time 400 year right in the middle of the feudal war that lead to the formation of the tokugawa shogunate . great pitch right . the movie do exactly what it say on the tin . thankfully the writer do not bother to explain the and usually ridiculous in sci fi movie and scientific mumbo jumbo of time transport . no how or why . they just do . however the time transport sequence itself be trippy a hell and quite beautiful and if not a bit dated . not as silly a one would imagine . the rest of the movie follow the premise to a t. but while it lose a bit of steam with the various subplots that follow the g. i. s arrival to medieval japan and it pick up with a devastating battle sequence . undoubtedly it the main order of the day . the whole concept and by extension the movie itself and be probably originate from this simple pitch represent what if g. i. equip with the late in modern warfare be to fight samurai . and boy do it deliver . the main battle sequence that span more than half an hour be probably one of the best of it kind in 70 action or war movie . not only be it relentless and exhaust in pace and length and it also a terrific mish mash of style and technique that only unique premise like g. i. samurai can deliver . i mean and where else would you get the chance to feature tank and ninjas complete with shuriikens and a helicopter and samurai in the same shot . the g. i. platoon lead by lieutenant iba tear literally through hundred of extra and gun them down with machine gun and mortar and grenade and tank . this mish mash of style be with one foot firmly root in the sprawling jidai geki epic of kurosawa kagemusha or hiroshi inagaki samurai banner and while the other be in western action and war movie . there be stylistic touch ( like the wonderful slow motion shot and bloody violence ) that bring sam peckinpah or enzo g. castellari circa keoma to mind . japanese cinema have always be influence by western and other hollywood work and vice versa and and g. i. samurai effortlessly turn this east meet west melt pot into an exciting film . the film maker thankfully take the whole thing seriously and the movie benefit immensely from it . not that tongue in cheek mentality be completely absent and it just that it doesn not try to pander to so bad it good audience that enjoy laugh at their movie . the budget be probably hefty and a it be evident in the hundred of extra and elaborate costume ( very decent for a production that be not a traditional jidai geki ) and special effect . the camera work and edit be all top notch and almost good than a movie with no high artistic ambition deserves . it not withouts it flaws either of course . there be many song scene and where all sort of 70 japanese rock and disco and country song play over montage ( there a bonding scene and a love interest scene and a war be hell scene etc ) . the song themselves be pretty lame and corny and detract from the whole thing . although it clock at a whoop 140 minute and it fly like a bullet for the most part . still some scene and flashback and subplots in the first half could have be clip for a tight effect . the cast also deserve a mention and featuring such prominent name a sonny chiba and isao natsuyagi ( goyokin and samurai wolf ) and tsunehiko watase ( the yakuza paper ) and hiroyuki sanada and all of them hit the right note .