This is a fascinating & kick-ass movie for anyone interested in Japanese swordplay, & especially great for us stupid Americans (gaijin) who don't know our butts from a brick about the subject, because it's a film ABOUT a gaijin who gets caught up in the middle of a generations-old violent family dispute over a mysterious pair of very important & impressive swords. Scott Glenn (Silence of the Lambs) is an American boxer recruited to smuggle an ancient sword into Japan. Upon arrival he is taken by thugs who explain that the sword he was hired to smuggle is one of a pair of swords known as "The Equals"-- swords passed down from generation to generation in a powerful Japanese bloodline. During the last passing-down ceremony, one of two brothers bloodily ambushed the ceremony, wanting The Equals for his own. Banished, he has become a ruthless & powerful modern business warrior. The other brother has stayed true to his ancient heritage & now trains others in tradition & a myriad of ancient fighting arts, including mastery of the sword. Glenn is forced to choose between the brothers to reunite The Equals & bring an end to this long and bloody feud, one way or another. Along his journey, he(& thus vicariously the viewer)is taught a wealth of knowledge about the ways of both ancient & modern Japanese power and lifestyle. It's a fascinating education that never leaves your intelligence insulted. On top of all this, the action scenes are at once brutal, graceful, thrilling, inventive, never escaping the realm of realism, & just damn astonishing. An outstanding film, The Challenge is one of my all-time favorites.

This is by far one of my favorite Toshiro movies. It was one of the defining movies of my whole movie watching experience. Toshiro Mifune is at his best, better than "Red Sun"! Scott Glenn, also at his best!! The fights are great. The choreography is also at its best. The story is gripping and holds the movie-goer until the end. Drama! Seeing T. Mifune as the teacher is inspiring. He is a fascinating character and is probably one of the best there was. As the story goes it is a classic dramatic struggle between the elements of the warrior. Seeing Scott Glenn make the transition from a simple man to the Warrior he becomes is gripping and holds you until the action packed ending.

I wish it was on DVD. As noted by another reviewer, the martial arts scenes are skillfully done. The basic story is that an upstart American (Scott Glenn) is hired to smuggle an historic Japanese sword *back* into Japan. Naturally there are bad guys trying to prevent this sword from making it to it's intended recipient (Mifune). The bad guys are funded and led by a rich Japanese industrialist who wants the sword for himself, but there's more also, which I will not mention here. Scott Glenn is beaten by the bad guys, eventually decides he likes the honor of the good guys group, and trains to become a ninja/samurai type. The movie culminates with a martial arts vs. gun-fu battle not to be missed. The director and cast make this movie: Frankenheimer is a very skilled director and it shows here. Ad to that the location shooting in Japan, and Scott Glenn and Mifune as student and teacher, and this movie is an absolute winner.

I saw this under the title "Sword of the Ninja" back in the 80's and not being a huge fan of martial arts movies, found it very enjoyable. I didn't expect the movie to be so deep...it really has a great story of two Japanese brothers, one traditional and one a powerful businessman, fighting over a set of ancient family swords. The American is brought in as a courrier(and planted thief)and becomes embroiled in the battle.The amount of action and gore in this movie is unbelievable, and the story even has room for a young boy training to become a warrior and a great scene where the American is introduced to fine Japanese food thats still alive.Moving at a brisk pace, this movie flows well from beginning to end..and what an ending it has!My rating....7 out of 10