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The Sword of Doom - Criterion Collection Director: Kihachi Okamoto Number of Items: 1 Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Widescreen Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Running Time: 121 minutes Studio: Criterion Collection Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2005-03-15 Buy from Amazon |
 "A BOLD, UNFORGETTABLE CLASSIC"Tatsuya Nakadai is wandering samurai Ryunosuke in Kihachi Okamoto's fiercely visceral SWORD OF DOOM (Criterion). Filmed in black and white 40 years ago, this is one of the greatest samurai films because it not only has a great, original story with a moral center but superbly choreographed sword play (without relying on CGI or wires). Ryunosuke is a sociopathic samurai whose soul is as cold as his steel blade. Using his singular style of fencing, he kills without remorse. He's a liar. His word means nothing. Soon we realize that this killing machine has no code of honor except to kill and survive to kill again. This film pulls no punches and goes all the way with its premise. Evil is as evil does. It may be irrational but it has an ultimate end and Ryunasuke finally finds himself in the eye of a hurricane of insane, imploding violence. I loved this extraordinarily beautiful and violent film about the nature of evil. The nice looking print is a newly-restored high-definition transfer. An interesting extra is an essay by critic Geoffrey O'Brien. "A different sort of samurai movie"This is a very dark and nihilistic story from director Okamoto about an evil swordsman whose passion for the sword becomes an all-consuming desire to destroy anyone who challenges him or stands in his way. His character may seem puzzling at first to western audiences more acquainted with the more famous movies from Kurosawa, where samurai are portrayed more positively, but the writer (unfortunately his name escapes me) whose book the movie was based on regarded himself as a student of such western authors as Dostoyevski and Victor Hugo, and their well-known self-destructive and nihilistic anti-heroes no doubt influenced his portrayal of Ryunosuke. There are also Japanese legends of evil swords possessing their owners. But in Ryunosuke's case, there is no doubt that an evil mind wields an evil sword. Ryunosuke's relationships with women are no better, and his dysfuctional marriage with his wife seems to concern him no more than all the hapless people he kills in the movie. His position there is a true swordsman should be true to his sword just as a woman would be to her chastity, and so he refuses to lose gracefully in a match to a friend's husband although it will mean ruin to him and his family if he loses. Ryunosuke, on the other hand, has nothing to lose since he holds no position with the local lord (although all the other swordsman realize they are no match for him). The movie skillfully weaves together several plot lines, such as his quest to kill the last Utsugi brother, what will happen when he finally meets Mifune's senior student in a duel, or possibily even Mifune itself. But the movie takes an unpexpected turn at the very end, when the evil swordsman's karma finally comes back to haunt him (literally). I won't say anymore so as to avoid any spoilers, but the ending wasn't what I expected. Interestingly, although Mifune and Nakadai are billed as the two top actors, you don't actually see Mifune until about halfway through the movie, where he's seen as the sword master presiding over some matches in his own school. He only really has one major scene, where he takes on several dozen swordsman in the snow, as Ryunosuke watches in awe--the first time he has ever seen another swordsman who was his equal or perhaps superior. Also, the shots of the samurai dueling in the heavy snow are pretty cool. I don't know if they were actually shooting during the winter or if they used snow making machines, but some of the snowflakes are the size of postage stamps. So there are some nice atmospheric touches as well. And Nakadai's "drunken style" swordsmanship (well, not exactly, but you'll see what I mean) and acting at the very end of the movie are superb. In fact, when he's not out and about accomplishing evil, he spends a lot of his time staring vacantly off into space with a convincingly looney/evil expression on his face. I actually enjoyed this movie in some ways more than the Kurosawa movies with Mifune. It's definitely done in a different style, and if you're a fan of samurai movies or of Japanese film, you'll probably want to see this one just because of how different it is from the other directors such as Kurosawa, Inagaki, and so on.  "Left me hanging....."First, I agree with most that the move was well acted, nicely choreographed, and beautifully photgraphed. But I also agree with a few here, that the plot was woefully lacking. If the whole movie was about the journey of a tortured soul, then why bother with subplots which aren't resolved? Many minutes of the film are spent on the brother (Utsuki) and his quest for revenge - the fact that he never gets a chance for it is a HUGE letdown. Did he see the final battle inside the buring building? Did he witness the death of Ryunosuke? Did he deliver the final blow? If not, he just wasted 2 years of his life training and chasing Ryunosuke. (Also, whatever happened to the duel at 6:00am in the middle of the movie?) At least the Omatsu storyline was somewhat satisfying. Her story of her grandfather being killed is the final straw which sends Ryunosuke over the edge. However, did she escape the burining building alive? Did she meet up with Utsuki? Why bother giving her much screen time if her subplot is just cast away at the end? When I saw the words "THE END" in the middle of the final battle, I was left shocked. I firmly believe the director must have ran out of money or film stock. The ending ruined what was a thoroughly enjoyable movie. If the final image the director wanted was the crazed look of Ryunosuke fighting for his life, then fine - all I would've asked for is a short shot of the girl running out of the building into Utsuki's arms, and them watching the building burn. Then, it could have cut back to the battle and the final shot of Ryunosuke. An extra minute of film! Would that have been so difficult!? p.s. I don't think it's my "Western sensibiltiy" that calls for a movie to have a satisfying ending. It's common sense that any story needs to have its plot resolved. I don't care if it's neat, sloppy, happy, sad, or whatever - just wrap up the loose ends which have been created by the storyteller! "good film, bad DVD, no bonus material"This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film. "The Sword of Doom" known in Japan as "Dai-bosatsu tôge" is a depiction of a samurai swordsman who is inherently evil and kills an opponent during a fencing match. The dead man's family pursues the killer. The film is very good and has some great scenes but the DVD has no special features at all except for the essay in the liner notes which I don't think count. This is the first Criterion DVD without special features for a long time and think it was a mistake for them to release a film without special features. "Read what I have to say before buying this movie."I saw this movie a few years ago. I loved it till the end when there was a cliffhanger ending. I was really angry with the ending but I did a little research and I found out that this movie was part 1 of a trillogy. The other 2 films were never made! So I can only give this a partial recommendation. With a movie this great, its a shame the others were not made... |
