![\"The](\"http:\/\/www.allouttabubblegum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/Challenge1.jpg\" "\\"The")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
An American boxer becomes embroiled in a Japanese conflict over ancient swords.<\/p>\n
After An Eye For An Eye<\/strong> all but invented many of the ideas, scenes, and moments of the 80s Action movie, all that was left was further implementation.\u00a0 A film that could have easily starred Chuck Norris<\/a>, The Challenge<\/strong> is about a westerner going to Japan and getting in over his head.\u00a0 The idea, seen in earlier works (like the James Bond flick You Only Live Twice<\/strong>) as well as those in later years (see Black Rain<\/strong>), is here given a far more Eastern approach than expected.\u00a0 The westerner is treated as the odd man out, a man from a capitalist, and largely dishonorable culture.\u00a0 Still, he remains our hero.<\/p>\n Scott Glenn manages well enough, typically arrogant and ignorant of the ways of the culture in which he finds himself.\u00a0 Later in the film he has come to understand and respect the values of the East, even adopting its ways.\u00a0 Glenn looks like a David Carradine clone, but fights like a mixture of Chuck Norris and Steven Seagal<\/a> at half speed.<\/p>\n Of course, since Seagal actually worked as an advisor for the film’s fight choreography (in the credits as Steve Seagal), this only makes sense.\u00a0 And the sensei’s arm-twisting Aikido fighting style can be seen in several scenes, such as the following one:<\/p>\n [flashvideo filename=videos\/Challenge.avi.FLV \/]<\/p>\n This, naturally, takes place in the movie’s brilliant third act.\u00a0 What had, at first, seemed like a culture clash story about the value of honor and integrity turns into a wild Action flick, violent and fun as hell.\u00a0 Toshiro Mifune shows his stuff, nearly taking over the whole thing by the end, but leaving one of the genre’s best sword fights to Glenn.<\/p>\n As difficult as The Challenge<\/strong> is to come by anymore, I must say that it is completely worth the trouble.\u00a0 It may be a tad slow to start, but the pay-off is unbelievably awesome.\u00a0 I can’t stress enough that bearing through the first half of the film is worth it.\u00a0 You simply have to watch the damn thing yourself.\u00a0 And besides, you haven’t lived until you’ve seen Scott Glenn wielding an M-16 with a samurai sword strapped to his back.<\/p>\n Scott Glenn is Rick<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Rick seems to think it’s still the 70s, sporting a late 70s-Norris haircut, tight pants, and a tucked in button-up shirt for most of the movie.\u00a0 He thinks he can fight, being a boxer from the States, though only after intense training from Mifune can he actually start to kick-ass.\u00a0 He essentially starts out as a bit of a loser, but ends the film as an Easternized bad-ass.<\/p>\n Toshir\u00f4 Mifune is Toru Yoshida<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n He’s Toshir\u00f4 motherfuckin’ Mifune!\u00a0 At this point, it’s just assumed that he’s a bad-ass.\u00a0 This incarnation, though older, shows he can still slay with the best of them, single-handedly taking on several of the primary antagonist’s guards, splitting stomachs and piercing hearts.<\/p>\n In the film’s third act, things go from tame to truly gory, as we get decapitations, disembowelments, stabbings, slicings, impalings, and that old stand-by, death from gunshots.\u00a0 This is one of those movies where the good guys kill way more people than the bad guys.\u00a0 Mifune manages to kill 17, all in fairly violent fashion, and Scott Glenn gets most of the rest.<\/p>\n Ando’s a pain in the neck.\u00a0 The snarkiest little bastard in the movie, he finally messes up and it costs him his head.<\/p>\n Despite Glenn’s goofy hair, the movie takes its sexuality only in hetero directions.\u00a0 There is a rivalry between Rick and Kubo, but it never goes anywhere thematically or sexually.<\/p>\n There’s nothing too overt here, just the fact that after explaining how her father trained her to become a warrior because he “wanted a boy”, Akiko gets captured and plays the damsel in distress for the remainder of the picture.<\/p>\n After Yoshida’s daughter gets kidnapped, he decides to attack his brother’s compound by himself.\u00a0 Accompanied by a score that sounds eerily similar to the one from Rambo: First Blood Part II<\/a> (in fact, both scores were done by Jerry Goldsmith), Toshir\u00f4 Mifune raids the place, killing everyone he comes by, until he teams up with Scott Glenn, who only adds fuel to the fire.<\/p>\n After being buried up to his neck for five days, without food or drink, Glenn eats a beetle that crawls by his face and, still maintaining his American sense of humor, croaks: “Breakfast of champions.”<\/strong><\/p>\n Even Americans can discover honor.<\/p>\n The Challenge (1982) <\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>\u00a9 CBS Theatrical Films, Embassy Pictures Corporation and CBS\/Fox Home Video<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [THE CHALK-OUTLINE] The Challenge (1982) a.k.a. Sword Of The Ninja a.k.a. Equals: Breakdown by Kain424 An American boxer becomes embroiled in a Japanese conflict over ancient swords. [THE EXECUTION] After An Eye For An Eye all but invented many of the ideas, scenes, and moments of the 80s Action movie, all that was left was … Read moreEast Meets Glenn<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1688],"class_list":["post-2139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-the-challenge"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/allouttabubblegum.com\/new-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/allouttabubblegum.com\/new-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/allouttabubblegum.com\/new-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allouttabubblegum.com\/new-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allouttabubblegum.com\/new-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/allouttabubblegum.com\/new-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2139\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/allouttabubblegum.com\/new-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allouttabubblegum.com\/new-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allouttabubblegum.com\/new-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Food](\"http:\/\/www.allouttabubblegum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/Challenge3.jpg\" "\\"Food")
<\/p>\n![\"Challenge](\"http:\/\/www.allouttabubblegum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/Challenge7.jpg\" "\\"Challenge")
<\/p>\n[HOW BAD-ASS ARE THE MAIN CHARACTERS?]<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Scott](\"http:\/\/www.allouttabubblegum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/Challenge2.jpg\" "\\"Scott")
<\/p>\n![\"ChallengeToshiro\"](\"http:\/\/www.allouttabubblegum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/ChallengeToshiro.jpg\" "\\"ChallengeToshiro\\"")
<\/p>\n[THE BODY COUNT: 39]<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n
[MOST SATISFYING DEATH]<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Ando](\"http:\/\/www.allouttabubblegum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/Challenge9.jpg\" "\\"Ando")
<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n[DUDESWEAT AND MACHISMO]<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"ChallengeSwords\"](\"http:\/\/www.allouttabubblegum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/ChallengeSwords.jpg\" "\\"ChallengeSwords\\"")
<\/p>\n[EXPLOITATION AND MISOGYNY]<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n
[EPIC MOMENT AND BEST ONE-LINER]<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Toshiro](\"http:\/\/www.allouttabubblegum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/Challenge6.jpg\" "\\"Toshiro")
<\/p>\n![\"Breakfast](\"http:\/\/www.allouttabubblegum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/Challenge5.jpg\" "\\"Breakfast")
<\/p>\n[THE MORAL OF THE STORY]<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n
[THE CHECKLIST: 11 outta 25]<\/span><\/h2>\n
[\u00a0 ] Athlete(s) Turned \u201cActor\u201d
\n[\u00a0 ] Clinging To The Outside Of A Moving Vehicle
\n[X] Crotch Attack
\n[\u00a0 ] Dialogue Telling Us How Bad-Ass The Main Character(s) Is\/Are
\n[\u00a0 ] Ending Featuring An Ambulance, A Blanket or A Towel
\n[\u00a0 ] Factory\/Warehouse
\n[\u00a0 ] Giant Explosion(s)
\n[X] Heavy Artillery
\n[X] Improvised Weapon(s)
\n[\u00a0 ] Macho Mode(s) Of Transportation
\n[\u00a0 ] Main Character Sports Facial Accessory(s)
\n[\u00a0 ] Manly Embrace(s)
\n[\u00a0 ] Notorious Stunt-Man Sighting
\n[X] Passage(s) Of Time Via Montage
\n[X] Politically Fueled Plot Point(s)
\n[X] Senseless Destruction Of Property
\n[X] Shoot Out(s) and\/or Sword Fight(s)
\n[\u00a0 ] Slow-Motion Finishing Move(s)\/Death(s)
\n[\u00a0 ] Stupid Authoritative Figure(s)
\n[X] Substance Usage and\/or Abuse
\n[\u00a0 ] Tis The Season
\n[X] Torture Sequence(s)
\n[\u00a0 ] Unnecessary Sequel
\n[X] Vehicle Chase(s)
\n[X] Vigilante Justice<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n![\"Deadly](\"http:\/\/www.allouttabubblegum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/Challenge8.jpg\" "\\"Deadly")
<\/p>\nThese Two.\u00a0 A Surprisingly Bad-Ass Team.<\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h1>\n