Review – Red Sun

Samurai movies and westerns have a lot in common. Characters and plots from one can often be transferred directly to the other. But this is the first, last and only time I’ve ever seen the two directly combined. Toshiro Mifune plays one of the retainers of the Japanese ambassador to the United States on a long train trip through the Wild West. The train is robbed by a gang of criminals headed by Charles Bronson, and after the outlaw is double-crossed by a subordinate – who also steals a sword and kills a member of the Japanese contingent – our two heroes end up on the trail together. The story works well enough as long as the two men struggle to get past their mutual distrust long enough to accomplish their goals. But then suddenly we get Ursula Andress and a string of Comanche attacks that transform the picture into a garden variety western with a disappointing ending. Mildly amusing