Masamune
through the Movies
A study of the Highlander Masamune Katana and its various incarnations
By Jason Dingledine
One of the most memorable swords of film, the Highlander Masamune Katana,
has gone through as many evolutions as it has film appearances.
Highlander
I
The katana is a key element in the plot of the film, Highlander I. It is symbolic
of Connor MacLeod's (Christopher Lambert), "coming of age" as an Immortal,
as well as the reason why the forensic scientist, Brenda Wyatt, is initially
interested in Connor.
When first introduced
in the film, the character of Ramirez (portrayed by Sean Connery) carries
the Masamune katana as his weapon, using it in his instruction of Connor
in combat and the ways of the Immortals. After Ramirez's death and the death
of Connor's wife, Heather, Connor takes the katana and leaves his claymore
behind as a grave marker for his wife -- symbolic of leaving his old life
behind and beginning his new life as an Immortal.
For Highlander I, Effects Associated at Pinewood Studios in London, propmaker
for the film, needed to create a sword that would show minimal detail on
camera. They decided to add a carved Chinese dragonhead to the sculpted,
ivory-colored handle of a katana that was then commercially available from
Marto, a Toledo (Spain) based manufacturer of swords.
The dragonhead was a sculpted add-on, and not a cast part of the original
hilt. If you look closely at the final quickening, when Connor drops the
katana, the head breaks off when it hits the concrete floor.
The dragon's head was carved to have a "Mohawk-like" mane, with incised
line detailing. The scales appeared to be simple triangular dimples pressed
into the material. It appears that the scales were formed by impressing
a common tool from a leather carver's toolset, the triangular "figure carving
foliage and texture" tool, into the clay. Because the sword was never meant
to be seen in a close-up, the detailing was never as fine as it would have
been on a prop meant to be shot in close-up.
The hilt also lacked a fuchi (ferrule, or metal collar) that would normally
be found on a katana at the guard end of the grip. The tsuba (guard) was
manufactured to reflect Chinese impressionist bamboo, similar pieces of
artwork can be found as privacy screens and other pierce work from China.
The strong Chinese character to the dragon's head, and the tsuba could be
attributed to the strong influence that Chinese culture had on Japanese
society during the time-period that this sword was supposed to have been
created.
The tsuka (grip) was secured to the sword by a single brass pin (possible
a screw) through a hole drilled far back on the grip.
Pictured in this article are photographs from a study of the original Highlander
I prop on display at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, Nevada. This aluminum-bladed
sword is believed to have been an actual fighting prop, the one used in
the fight between Ramirez (Connery) and the Kurgan (Brown).
Highlander II
In the second film, the sword's basic design was already established, but
it was further refined.
Original Highlander II prop, courtesy of Thomas
Mulack
The scales for the dragon were re-carved to more resemble those of a snake.
They are rounded, and evenly over-lapped. When photographed up close (as
the sword was in publicity stills for the film) these changes create a cleaner
and more aesthetically-pleasing appearance.
Original Highlander II prop hilt, courtesy of Thomas
Mulack
The second major alteration to the hilt was the dragon's mane. Instead of
an evenly edged ridge, the top of the mane was scalloped and the incised
line details were eliminated. The final few changes included polishing the
tsuba (it was satin finished in the first film); this was done without altering
its design, except for a slight rounding of the edges and texturing of the
surface. The ivory hilt was also antiqued with a brown wash to bring out
details on film.
Original Highlander II prop hilt, courtesy of Thomas
Mulack
Finally, the sword itself was given a stainless-steel blade for the "Hero"
props meant for close-up shots.
Highlander III
In the third film, Canadian knife maker Jose de Braga was approached to
create the swords and other weapons for the film. For Connor's ivory hilted
katana, an auctioned prop from Highlander II was lent back to Davis/Panzer,
and given to Jose to use as a model to work from.
A screen capture from HIII
The most noticeable difference in Jose's version is the inclusion of a fuchi
to the hilt of the sword, a feature not found on the swords in the first
two films.
A
screen capture from HIII
About the making of the katanas for the film, Jose says:
"The Masamune handles were made in probably the same resin you are
going to use. Very strong ,almost unbreakable on impact (for artist security
reasons) and yet soft with some flexibility. They came out of a mold that
the Art department received from England (apparently one that was used for
HL 2) and the result was far from the purpose we intended to use them for.
One of the criteria asked to be achieved was that it had to look like Ivory,
highly polished by age, but yet well taken care of with great respect.
" I had to recarve directly on these resin castings -- believe me,
I would have favored to carve them out in micarta. That resin just didn't
wanted to obey any of my tool's requests. I finally found that rough textured
diamond burs at slow speed were the only thing able to put some dent into
that stuff without having it melt down or clog the burs.
A screen capture from HIII
" The mane was carved wavy length wise and smooth to the touch. The
nose went through a major surgery along with the eyes, which I gave a bit
more menacing look. The scales were deeply carved and all scenes were greatly
enhanced. It had 3 large flat teeth on the upper and 2 on the lower jaws.
"The final glossy finish was achieved with a heating device. The task
was to melt down the surface just a bit without affecting the finely carved
details. It took me 6 days with an average of 12 intensive hours a day to
bring them up to the desired state. The final result was exactly what the
Art Director was looking for. I did design a tsuba following the criteria
of the Art director. They were to be a bit oversized for camera purposes
to achieve a better look on the screen. I made 2 of these (see picture below)
but they decided upon request of the actor that these should be very light
and smaller. The ones I did were never used.
Jose's original tsuba design
"They sent me the design that was to be used and told me to not
bother with it -- that they would set up Laurent Dousot (a knife maker I
trained and who was working in the prop department with them) to make them
out of plastic. The Prop Art director, Lise Pharand, sent me 3 Plexiglas
tsubas, yellow bronze plated, they had made from a design source unknown
and probably from the same place they got the mold of the handle.
" I don't think the person who designed it knew about tsubas, I had
to rework the blade mouth on each one of them to have them perfectly centered
and aligned. As for the other prop tsubas I 'm sure Laurent found out about
that problem and fixed them up properly. The tsuba design I sent you is
the corrected sketch which wasn't used because they were all made before
I could say a word about it. So they had to cope with the flaw.
A screen capture of the HIII final tsuba
A sketch of the Masamune and Dark Magic
tsubas
Jose made a retractable blade version (top), a background
prop (center), and the "hero" version (bottom) for close-ups.
"Anyway that's (if my memory is good) the spot where they gave me
Carte Blanche for the rest of the project..... LOL
"There was also something that went unnoticed -- the fact that there
were red vulcanized seppas used on each sword, barely visible from a distance,
but in close-up it gave them a touch of high class -- they were sandwiched
between the brass seppas and the tsuba thus barely seen. The saya of the
HIII was black lacquered high gloss with a large throat in brass as seen
on the picture I sent you."
Jose created, of his own design, the villain Kane's katana, and named it
"Dark Magic." Jose also re-mastered the hilt for the MacLeod claymore, which
was required for a scene where Connor is featured lighting a candle at the
grave of his first wife, Heather (the rusted sword still there as her grave-marker).
The Jose de Braga Dark Magic katana
Jose with the finished swords
Highlander IV
The fourth film in the series featured the use of the production swords
available on the market, just as they are manufactured by Marto of Toledo,
Spain.
This sword features the mane as it seems to appear in the first film, but
the angle of the dragon's head is straighter, more parallel with the grip
body. The scales are an overlapping diamond shape with an incised line cut
down the center of each one.
The hilt also features a fuchi that is standard to a number of Marto models,
including the "Sword of the Dragon" which was used by Duncan MacLeod (Adrian
Paul) in the Highlander Series.
The final change Marto made was to add texturing to the flats of the tsuba
(which is back to the design found in Highlander II).
Conclusion
The swords vary from film to film, but this is not unheard of in the film
industry.
The only unknown factor in our comparison to date is the diameter of the
original prop hilts from HI and HIII. We currently have the hilts for the
Marto production piece, and the Highlander II molded hilt. The hilt on the
Highlander II sword is much slimmer in profile than the Marto version, more
comfortable to grip, and easier for the author of this article to wield.
As we take delivery of the de Braga created hilt and the hilt from the Highlander
I sword, we will continue this comparison.
Why did the swords change from film to film? Prop designers and makers for
sequels to any film have needed to make do with what was easily obtainable
at the time of shooting.
A case in point is Conan the Destroyer, where all of the Atlantean
swords were fiberglass copies that had been altered. Props can be lost,
destroyed, or simply auctioned off between films, especially when a sequel
is not currently in the works at that time. As a result, the design evolves
and grows.
Albion is currently working with Jose de Braga, Davis-Panzer and the other creators/owners of these film originals, and this article will be updated as new information becomes available.
