Review of The Sword of Doom (1966) by Jayakrishnan R — 16 Dec 2015

THUMBS UP.

Viewed this on 16/12/15.

This masterpiece Samurai film puts all the Kurosawa films to shame thanks in large parts to it's engrossing direction, pacing, superior acting (especially from one of the best antihero of all time), it's unbelievably beautiful and haunting violence and a sensible story. I have never seen a B/W film with such technical excellence, take for instance the showdown in the snow with Toshiro Mifune or it's famous brutally violent climax with 8 minutes of nonstop violence. This is a criminally ignored work of a vastly underrated director whose efficiency can be seen in how effectively he makes Toshiro Mifune act in a controlled and respectable manner and compare it with the overacting in Rashamon as well as Seven Samurai.