Review of The Sword of Doom (1966) by Simon L — 03 Mar 2009

Sword of Doom is one of those movies that constantly threatens to become a masterpiece, yet never quite pulls it off. There's plenty about the film to praise, but there are enough foundational flaws to keep those things from adding up to a true classic.

Obviously, the biggest problem is the fact that Sword of Doom is only the first third of an unfinished trilogy, thus virtually every plot thread is left unresolved. Even without that much-harped-on flaw, the abrupt chronological leaps make the plot hard to follow and short ciruit the otherwise excelent editing.

And, frankly, even if parts two and three WERE made, the ending of this film would still seem far too abrupt. That's not to say that Sword of Doom isn't a good film, just that it SHOULD have been a great film.

Kihachi Okamoto strikes a perfect ballance between fast action and quiet tension, never allowing the film to lean too heavily in either direction. The cast is uniformly excelent as well. Tatsuya Nakadai has a wildly difficult task in portraying a character who is both expresion-less AND boiling over with mad intensity, but he pulls it off perfectly.

And while it's little more than a gloified cameo, Toshiro Mifune is a real terror to behold onscreen. Oh, and there's also swordfights. Sure, they're more like massacres than fights, with single, super-human figures plowing through seas of expendable meat, but it's still a wonder to behold.

Too bad it just stops right when things are getting good.