Heaven and Earth (1990 film)

Heaven and Earth (天と地と) is a 1990 Japanese film, directed by Haruki Kadokawa and starring Takaaki Enoki, Tsugawa Masahiko, Asano Atsuko, Zaizen Naomi and Nomura Hironobu. The film was released in Japan in June 1990, and an English version was released in North America in 1991.

Ken Watanabe was originally cast in the role of Kenshin but had to pull out due to his severe illness.

Plot
Set in feudal Japan, the daimyō Kagetora (Enoki) must protect his lands and his people from the ambitions of the warlord Takeda (Tsugawa).

Kagetora is also known as Uesugi Kenshin. In the film, Kagetora must defend his province of Echigo against Takeda Shingen. The famous battles include the Battle of Kawanakajima.

Cast

 * Takaaki Enoki as Uesugi Kenshin
 * Masahiko Tsugawa as Takeda Shingen
 * Atsuko Asano as Nami
 * Naomi Zaizen as Yae
 * Hironobu Nomura as Takeda "Tarō" Yoshinobu
 * Taro Ishida as Takeda Nobushige
 * Binpachi Itō as Kakizaki Kageie
 * Akira Hamada as Naoe Kagetsuna
 * Hiroyuki Okita as Kōsaka Danjō
 * Hideo Murota as Obu Toramasa
 * Isao Natsuyagi as Yamamoto Kansuke
 * Tsunehiko Watase as Usami Sadayuki
 * Morio Kazama
 * Masatō Ibu
 * Kyōko Kishida
 * Hideji Ōtaki
 * Tomomichi Nishimura as Narrator

Production
Heaven and Earth was the most expensive Japanese production at the time with a budget of $40 million. The film was shot largely in Canada and was in production for a year and featured 1,000 horses and 3,000 extras.

The shooting in Canada was just outside of Banff, Alberta in an area known as Morley Flats.

Reception
In Japan, Heaven and Earth had sold 4.8 million tickets in pre-sales prior to release. It opened on 23 June 1990 on 215 screens in Japan and grossed $8.4 million, one of the largest openings in Japan at the time. It became the number-one Japanese film on the domestic market in 1990, earning ¥5.05 billion in distributor rental income and ¥9.2 billion in gross receipts. In the United States, the film grossed $307,775.