Customer Reviews

Iron Chef USA, Two Culinary Clashes

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4 star:		(1)
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2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Between 1993 and 1999, a popular television show in Japan called "Iron Chef" ("Ryori no tetsujin") pitted its acclaimed one of its professional chefs against a challenging chef each week using a particular theme ingredient in all of the dishes made. The show was hosted by the flamboyant Chairman Kaga (Takeshi Kaga) who opened each show, presented the challenger, unveiled the theme ingredient and gave a brief synopsis before the winning chef was declared. The show gained popularity in syndication in the U.S. on the Food Network using a mixture of dubbed English and subtitles.

Due to the rising popularity of the show from cable subscribers, the UPN TV network decided to broadcast an American version of the show in 2001 that was produced by the Larry Thompson Organization and Lions Gate Television of Canada. Unfortunately, these two companies failed to effectively reproduce the elements of the Japanese show that had made it so popular. Instead, they created a poorly written & directed substitute that was akin to watching a WWF wrestling match, not a challenge between two professional chefs.

The first mistake that the Larry Thompson Organization and Lions Gate Television made was in their selection of the new chairman for "Iron Chef USA". Though I very much enjoy William Shatner in his roles as Captain Kirk in the original "Star Trek" TV series, T.J. Hooker in the show of the same name and his more recent role as an attorney in "Boston Legal", his attempt at being chairman of "Iron Chef USA" was far too farcical and clownish to be taken seriously in trying to replicate Takeshi Kaga's flamboyance from the original Japanese TV series. Their next mistake was in the commentaries. During each of the original Japanese "Iron Chef" shows, a group of commentators (which included a culinary expert) would explain what each chef was doing, as well as analyze the possible dish outcomes. The "Iron Chef USA" commentators treated the two chefs as if they were athletes and would even send in an annoying "field reporter" (Sissy Biggers) to ask them stupid question while they were busily preparing their meals. Their other major mistake was their selection of judges. Most of the Japanese "Iron Chef" shows included an actual food critic as one of the judges, as well as Japanese actors, actresses & sports personalities, who were quite articulate in their critiques of the prepared meals; but the "Iron Chef USA" judges were inarticulate and inexperienced.

Not surprisingly (and quite thankfully), only two episodes of "Iron Chef USA" starring William Shatner were ever produced and were entitled, "Iron Chef USA: Showdown in Las Vegas" and "Iron Chef USA: Holiday Showdown". Each of these shows on the DVD I rate with a well-deserved 1 out of 5 stars for being poor mockeries of the much more entertaining original Japanese version. In 2004, the Food Network's produced its own version entitled "Iron Chef America: Battle of the Masters" that included two of the beloved original Japanese Iron Chefs, Hiroyuki Sakai and Masaharu Morimoto, and was hosted by Takeshi Kaga's nephew, Mark Dacascos. It was a far better show than the ill-fated 2001 "Iron Chef USA". If you are considering purchase of the 2001 "Iron Chef USA" DVD, you do so at your own risk.

Torpid excuse for a domesticized version of an already classic cooking show from Japan. I only give credit for UPN 9's attempt to "cross over" the original IC from its inspirational Asian origin and into the American mainstream, but really this wasn't to much avail. I've read so many insulting remarks on this IC, and I believe them all...ESPECIALLY after my seeing only a few minutes of each of IC USA's only two specials (these). From that point on I was like, "Never again." The entire mess looks like it wants to blow the original off the face of the earth, but it didn't. I mean, this IS fine for people who like "Star Trek" pioneer William Shatner and who want a taste of crossover if little more.

The original's translation from Japanese to English while maintaining its original form is fine enough. Even "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" was done more justice when brought into America from Japan's "Go Rangers." And the stars of that series were very easy to handle, no problem. I stopped watching them after the "Lightspeed Rescue" came into play. But since I'm talking culinary programs like IC, I love EVERYTHING about the original: the Kitchen Stadium, the cinematography, the seven talented Japanese cooks themselves, Chairman Takeshi Kaga...you name it. To me the true IC looks and feels like NOTHING on the Nielsen ratings - then, now, or probably ever. That's proof of my love for it. Emeril would have done a better take on it than Chris Kattan, Horatio Sans, and Charlie Sheen.

I didn't think Shatner would be the host of these limited edition "Iron Chef USA" specials. Unfair to the original, because I don't like this IC's scenery and the audience. The Kitchen Arena (based in Las Vegas!) looks horrible compared to the beautiful Asia-based Kitchen Stadium from the original "Tetsujin" (Iron Chef), the audience makes it seem more like a boxing match without the punching, and Shatner himself fails to deliver the same charm handsome Takeshi Kaga did on his IC. And the latter literally burns me up alive with his seductive looks and of course that sexy duke-like wardrobe, especially if he wears red (his China, France, 2000th Plate, New York, and King of Iron Chefs Tournament specials), white (his 21st Century Battle), or black (too many to mention!).

I'd rather see an animated version of Nickelodeon's "Guts" than this rubbish. Maybe Andrea Bocelli would have made a greater than ideal guest for the original IC if it were still in production, which it ain't no more. But there's no way in heck sexy Kaga's IC is going to be lucky enough to even GET a nomination for American or even foreign DVD release, if ever at all. Only buy this if you are so big an IC junkie that you wanna have EVERYTHING Iron Chef, even if this isn't among its best.

Hell hath no fury like a woman who loves the original "Iron Chef" so much that she accepts no imitations!!

For years when the DVD revolution started, there were moments of pure frustration in the titles being released. One could not buy the pilot of "Twin Peaks" on DVD (perhaps the best television pilot ever) but you could get 25 cheesy movies on DVD that were mind numbing at best. Seeing this title on DVD reminds me of those days.

I watched the first episode of this show on cable and did not like it at all. But I rented this DVD the other night regardless. Since I had not seen the second episode of this series, I rented it just in case the television folks had "tweaked" some things after the first episode aired. Now it is pretty clear to me that these episodes were shot back to back--both were equally poor.

Now I loved the original Iron Chef series--it was different, educational, gave insights into the Japanese culture, etc. The American version just checked all goodness at the door. Instead of content, the series is filled with over the top hype (a crowd reminiscent of a Jerry Springer audience, a motorcycle onstage, goofy announcers complete with yellow jackets which reminded me of Monday Night Football circa 1979.) The cooking process and quality of the food are almost treated as secondary items. Even the description of the dishes during the tastings are poor; I half-expected someone to say, "Uh, this is some pretty good grub."

And William Shatner is almost a comic foil here--for the DVD I was at least hoping for some strange "extras" that would spotlight this (for example, how about William Shatner watching footage of Chairman Kaga, or practicing his chairman pose, or even humorous outtakes?) But there was nothing like this.

I guess that I can summarize all of this by stating that I would not tell Iron Chef fans to go out of their way to even watch these episodes on television, for free! Paying for the DVD makes no sense at all. This both a waste of time and money.

Given the explosion of TV titles now being released on DVD, I find it somewhat baffling that "Iron Chef USA" has made it out on DVD before its Japanese predecessor. Originally intended as a semi-regular series of specials on UPN, it was put out of its misery after only two episodes.

The Iron Chef phenomenon is definitely missing something in its translation to American programming - which is, perhaps, confusing given the faithfulness of its adaptation to the Japanese original. Virtually every aspect of the show - from the melodramatic Chairman (no longer named 'Kaga', but now played by William Shatner) to the theme music has been brought over. However, in casting the show, they seem to have found people with no prior knowledge of it. It's as if the producers were fans of the show down to smallest detail, but somehow could only recruit people who had no prior acquaintance to it. The judges and the commentators seem to be especially guilty of this. Rather than commenting on styles of cooking or familiarizing themselves with intricacies of ingredients, they fall back on statements like "For those of you who don't know what ravioli is...". Likewise, the judges seem more concerned with how the food stacks up to popular cuisine than how innovative it is. It all makes for a show that seems to be trying too self-consciously to be campy.

The DVD itself is even a bit of a disappointment. It contains both episodes shown, but falls totally flat on extras. There's nothing to bring the novice up to speed with the "Iron Chef" phenomenon, no deleted scenes, commentary or anything else - just a subtitle track and previews for a few other "Lion's Gate" titles (including the preview for this very DVD).

So, unless you have a perverse fascination for William Shatner or a bizarre desire to own failed UPN programming in perpetutity, I recommend giving this a miss. It's not the worst thing ever put to DVD, but it's really not suitable for watching anytime before 2am. Here's hoping the Japanese version makes it out one of these days...

Do not confuse this with the Real thing. i found teh VHS of this for $1 at a store near me. I was interested so i got it. I watch Iron Chef on the Food Network evey night, and this dosent even begin to hold a candle to it! The one commentator is a failed comedian, and the other is a culinary half wit!I never heard more ussless facts in a 90min span b4 in my life. The chefs in the first baattle were, for lack of a better term dissrespectful, i mean come on how are you gonna have a cell phone on you and answer it During a Cooking battle?!? They kept cutting away from the cooking to show interview clips with the chefs. The Cooks were pretty good, they had a decent talent but we didnt get to see as much of it here as you do on the real show. There Flour reporter keeps bugging them thru out the whole thing, asking questionspassed down from the dumb announcer.They kept tryign to play shatner off as a culinary genius but come on we all know that he is nothing but a medeocore actor....out side of star trek or wat ever he was on. The only you see shatner is when he is talking about clearly prewritten statements that sound kinda incoherant lol. All in all i give this 2 stars, and that purely gose ot the merit of the chefs, not to the shows them selfs. Unless your a shatner Fanatic, or sone won thats just kinnda like "its cooking, I'll watch it" but be warned. Its not as good as it could be. Glad i only spen $1 on it bc its truely not worth more.

I just would like to thank the person from Seattle, WA who discovered that this DVD is NOT the one that airs on the Food Network, which is what my husband and I LOVE. Like the reviewer from Seattle, I agree that Amazon should provide more information regarding DVD because I would have been seriously upset to receive what I thought was the Japanese version only to see William Shatner - yuck.

When I first saw the Japanese version of Iron Chef, I couldn't stop laughing. It was all so over-the-top, it was hard to believe this was actually a long-running show on Japanese television. After awhile, of course, I became hooked on the dubbed FTV version and stopped looking at IC as a fun, tongue-firmly-planted-in-cheek commentary on TV "battle" shows, and instead began thinking as IC as a super-serious test of culinary skills. But at it's core, Iron Chef is entertainment, pure and simple.

The Americanized version, I think, captures this original sense of hilarity, lameness, and mock-seriousness perfectly. All the elements from the Japanese version are here: the knowledgable/clueless commentator team, the meticulously dressed set, and of course, the larger-than-life "chairman", embodied here by William Shatner.

Personally, I think everyone involves does a good job in these two specials: the cooking is, for the most part, high caliber (and unlike most of the items on the Japanese version -- Natto, anyone? -- I wouldn't mind ordering these dishes in a restaurant), the commentary is amusing, and Shatner does a fine job in the chairman role. I was practically crying from laughter after Chairman Shatner delivered his "final thought" at the end of the first special, a dead-pan speech on how you should enjoy the "spice of life" on this "crystal ball called Earth".

These two syndicated specials were only shown in some TV markets, in many very late at night or without any advertisements. So if you missed ICUSA, or are just curious as to how it turned out, I say pick up this DVD. However, if you're an IC purist who thinks the show should never have been tampered with (too late, though: it's been dubbed), you may want to steer clear.

Ok, first of all I have to say that I love the original Japanese Iron Chef. I don't tape all the episodes to keep, but I certainly make an effor to tape them if I have to be out when it's on. Because I am such a fan of it, when I saw this advertised on UPN, I watched it, knowing it has Shatner in the role of the chairman. I'm also a trekkie, so I didn't exactly expect anything less than camp, glitz, and ham when you put Shatner and IC together. With the right kind of attitude, I rather enjoyed the show. I thought Kerry Simon needed a haircut though! But don't underestimate the culinary skills of these chefs. They definitely take their cooking seriously.

For that matter, the chefs on the Japanese version took their cooking very seriously too. I mean, c'mon, a feud between Kandagawa and the Japanese Iron Chefs? Just relax and enjoy the show, and maybe somewhere in there you'll also learn a thing or two that you can actually do to your food in your own kitchen, instead of the rarefied atmosphere of Kitchen Stadium.

But this one is something I'd not bother buying. If you can tape it off TV, however, it's fun enough to watch. But not really worth the money on the DVD, especially, as people have said, there aren't even extras to justify it. Oh the other hand, recently the Food Network had a week of shows with Sakai, Morimoto, Mario Batali and Bobby Flay, called Battle of the Masters. Now that's worth having, and it's out on DVD through Food Network.

The original Iron Chef was a great thing to behold, both because of the competition and the intertwining of Japanese culture. In the original "Iron Chef" two chefs - usually Japanese - would compete using the main ingredient specified by the eccentric gourmet authority Chairman Kaga. Kaga was a warlord-like character that had specially constructed a cooking arena called "Kitchen Stadium" in his castle where visiting chefs would compete against his Gourmet Academy, led by his several master Iron Chefs. Chairman Kaga himself was a showpiece in flamboyant, heavily decorated coats and jackets. The show had a campy charm that evoked memories of the English-dubbed kung fu movies of the 1970s.

Iron Chef USA is entirely too....American. In typical us-versus-them fashion (Note- everyone who is not "me" is "them") competitors will stoop to anything. The judges seem more like competitors in "The Hollywood Squares" game show of yesteryear than the dignified characters of the original Iron Chef. The Japanese judges would do anything to keep the competitors from losing face in the original, and it was quite comical to see them wrinkle up their faces and try to find something to complement about dishes they obviously found hard to swallow. Making fun of the dishes seems to be the point for the judges in the U.S. version.

In short, skip this entry and hold out for the original "Iron Chef" to come out on DVD some day. It was truly a unique and fun show.

If you have heard of Iron Chef or are a devout follower of the series on the Food Network, as I am, DON'T GET THIS DVD! It has the abysmal Americanized Iron Chef contest that was shown on network television, hosted by none other than William Shatner. Not only was something lost in the translation, but i had the displeasure of watching the American one, and found it horribly done. The excitement and exotic dishes found in the Japanese Iron Chef were severely lacking, and the commentary was as bland as Shatner's acting in T.J. Hooker.

This is to the actual Iron Chef as the XFL was to the NFL: A cheap, poorly conceieved imitation that lacks everything the original had.