G.I. Samurai (1979)

1979 film by Kōsei Saitō

Released

1979

Country

Japan

Language

Japanese

Genre

Kung fu film, Samurai film

Director

Kōsei Saitō

Screenplay

Toshio Kamata

Producer

Haruki Kadokawa

Music

Kentarō Haneda

Starring

Sonny Chiba, Jun Etō, Tsunehiko Watase, Isao Natsuyagi, Etsuko Shihomi, Hiroyuki Sanada, Hiroko Yakushimaru, Raita Ryū

Running time

139 minutes

Production company

Kadokawa Pictures

Distributor

Toho, Netflix

Budget

$9 million

Set in

Japan

G.I. Samurai (Japanese: 戦国自衛隊, Hepburn: Sengoku jieitai; lit. Sengoku Self Defense Force), also known as Time Slip, is a 1979 Japanese science fiction/action film focusing on the adventures of a modern-day Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) team that accidentally travels in time to the Warring States period (戦国時代, Sengoku jidai). The film stars Sonny Chiba, one of the top male Japanese actors of the time, and was based on a novel by Ryo Hanmura, a well-known writer of historical novels and science fiction. A remake was theatrically released in Japan in 2005 under the title Samurai Commando: Mission 1549.

Cast

• Sonny Chiba
• Jun Etō
• Tsunehiko Watase
• Isao Natsuyagi
• Etsuko Shihomi
• Hiroyuki Sanada
• Hiroko Yakushimaru
• Raita Ryū
• Haruki Kadokawa
• Hiromitsu Suzuki
• Asao Koike
• Kenzō Kawarasaki
• Masao Kusakari

More films directed by Kōsei Saitō

• Ninja Wars 1982

External links

• Wikipedia
• IMDb
• TMDb
• Wikidata

Facts from Wikidata Q1032603 (CC0); quoted introduction from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.

Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.