Review of Shogun Assassin (1980) by Aaron N — 30 Mar 2008

Voice of Daigoro: When we're on a mission, I keep count of how many ninja my father kills. He says not to keep count, only to pray for their souls. But if I don't keep count, I don't know how many souls to pray for. So I keep count. So far it's three hundred and forty-two.

[three ninja women ambush Lone Wolf. He swiftly kills them].

Voice of Daigoro: Three hundred and forty... five.

This is an awesome samurai film that has been formed from several films originally made in Japan, only to be brought over to America, cut and dubbed to have become a violent classic samurai film for western audiences.

The story surrounds a lone samurai, a ronin, who travels around with his son in a cradle, only to be constantly attacked by warriors enlisted by a shogun who wishes him to be dead.

This lone samurai is known as Lone Wolf and is one of the most skilled samurai who has ever lived of course. His blade easily kills almost any one he crosses, and the cradle his son travels in also functions as a weapons storage.

This movie is about 80 minutes long, and is packed with action. And the action is great. It is very stylized, clearly having influenced later films, namely Kill Bill Vol. 1, with the way the blood splatters all over. This film is also responsible for influencing a wide range of media including the rap group The Wu-Tang Clan.

The whole film is very enjoyable, even the dubbing, which I usually don't like, but here it is perfectly fitting.

Master of Death: [his jugular fatally slashed] Your technique is magnificent. When cut across the neck, a sound like wailing winter winds is heard, they say. I'd always hoped to cut someone like that someday, to hear that sound. But to have it happen to my own neck is ridiculous.