View Larger Image

Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance Director: Kenji Misumi Number of Items: 1 Format: Color, Widescreen Audience Rating: Unrated Running Time: 83 minutes Studio: AnimEigo Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2003-08-26 Buy from Amazon

Customer Reviews: Total numer of reviews: 28 Average rating: 4.5 "Great" I first got introduced to the lone wolf series in the early eighties when I saw Shogun Assasin. I thought it was great, but to actually find the original Japanese series has been fantastic. If you like martial arts movies with weaponry and great stories and characters this is a must to have. The original Japanese version is far superior to the Shogun Assasin release. I have purchased every one in the series and have yet to be dissappointed in them.Itto Ogami is great with the sword and if your a martial arts movie fan this is for you.Daigoro! "What a Swordsman" Itto Ogami is the coolest swordsman I have ever seen. The Chinese swordsman novels and movies and other samurai movies are not as cool. Ogami just walked and stood like a stone but when he meant to kill, he moved elegantly with heads and legs of his enemies just chopped off and flew away. For the sake of vengeance, violence became just all beautiful, it is even erotic, if it is conducted by the master Ogami. The duel with the best of the Yagyu Clan and other group fighting scenes, either with bandits or with samurai, were just perfectly choreographed. Being betrayed by the Yagyu Clan, Ogami just turned all his enemies into desperation, begging for instant death. He was just too good to be defeated. With his wife killed in the betrayal and his family members all eliminated except his toddler son, Ogami killed like a blood-thirsty lone wolf, with the vision of creating a world of gore in which human flesh is treated as sashimi. A surrealist dream is created in the process. The beginning of a great series and a male-chauvinist masterpiece. I look forward to seeing all of them, alone, not with any ladies around, perhaps. "A CLASSIC" I have spent 3 years now looking for this film, and it was definitely worth it. As known the outline of the story is not for an Oscar, they kill his wife and he kills the shogun. But this film represents in it's maximum the ancient values of Japanese society; analysing the film the philosophy behind the fighting scenes can be integrated in the lifes of those practising martial arts. The use of the sword is close to perfection and it is a film which must be owned, certainly being a classic in its genre "It's a good "spaghetti" samuri film, but ..." 5 stars! No *way*. That can only be reserved for Kurosawa's "The Seven Samuri," the penultimate samuri movie. Or "The Hidden Fortress", "Yojimbo", etc. Now having said that, these are enjoyable, well-directed films, good for an evening of light escapism. Personally though, I find it hard to reconcile the occasional moments of cinematic excellence with the very liberal usage of whatever special effects technology shoots fake blood out 10 to 15 feet from a sword wound. And I could have done without the gratuitous breast shots and rape scenes too. Zatochi, in his travels, didn't run into such incidents ... what is it about the Lone Wolf that attracts such goings on? "He Ain't Purty...But He Bad!" The 1st film in the 6 film Series "Lone Wolf & Cub" we are introduced to the Shogun's Executioner, Ogami Itto, whose job is to Second (assist, i.e., behead) those the Shogun has ordered to commit Seppuku (ritual suicide). We learn from the first frame that we aren't in Kansas anymore Toto, when we see that the Clan leader Ogami is to "assist" is a child. This is 17th Century Japan, and life is hard. You're a sumarai or your dirt. Various Clans are constantly scheming and intriguing for power and Ogami Itto's life is overthrown when his wife is murdered and he is set up as a traitor by the Yagyu Clan who want and get the Shogun to order Itto to commit Seppuku in order to put one of their own in the Shogun's Executioner office. But Itto oufoxes them and has vengeance in mind. He first sets up a choice for his infant son: choose a ball & he will dispatch him to join his mother in the "other world" or choose his sword and he will join Ogami Itto as a "demon, without rules", a ronin wandering assassin for hire, which will be Ogami's sideline as he hunts and kills as many Yagyu clansmen as he can find, with their leader, Lord Retsudo, his ultimate goal. Be forewarned, this is bloody stuff indeed. No doubt sword fighting was a messy affair, and these filmakers have opted to show arterial spray with blood gushing like broken water mains from chest & neck wounds, decapitations, lopped limbs, and an Itto specialty, chopping his opponent down by severing his legs below the knees. There is also rape & nudity. Our hero isn't a Hollywood hunk. Leaning toward middle-age, a wee bit portly, he nonetheless can wield a sword like a maniac and has a certain real gravity that anchors the series and let's you accept the more fantastic elements in the stories. Both graphic & fantastic, the series is detailed, beautifully photographed, fast & action-packed, and intelligent. Itto wandering around various Japanese locales with his son in the baby-cart (that of the many weapons) dispatching dozens of villains is something else! The films come with detailed Liner Notes that help the viewer understand the strict codes and customs these people lived by. Great fun if you've a mind for it. Certainly not for everyone.