Shogun 4

The series, about a European trade ship that ventures east, followed Roots and caught a lot of attention and provoked a lot of discussion in my junior high school because of scenes where someone urinated on somebody else to humiliate him, or spontaneously beheaded somebody for failing to bow appropriately. These were exagerations, and the story was as ahistorical as most movies are, but it was compelling and kept my attention. Richard Chamberlain may have been miscast. He's a bit of a pretty boy rather than a rugged sea captain. Then again, under the film's portrayal of Japanese society, a less refined sea captain might not have survived the culture class. In any case, it is well worth watching.