Shogun Assassin DVD: Review By Rock

Jul 11th, 2009 by Rock
A shogun breakdown by Rock the assassin
  • OVERALL
    5.0
    SUPERB
  • Feature
  • Picture
  • Sound
  • Extras
  • Replay Value
Dubbing : well you can only find this film dubed , the dubbing is pretty good , it's full of pretty bad grammar but it made some pretty memorable quotes. And i have sene a lot of ninja and sumarai dubbed films from that time and this is the best dubbing i have ever heard, it's not full of sterotype voice you usually find in those kind of films.

The directors : Robert Houston really did a marvellous job , For someone who doesnt know that this film his a mash of two films ( check my first post) , and that not all the scenes are put in chronologiacl order, will never noticed because the scenes are so well edited together . And to had a narating voice to Daigoro was pure genius. Has for Kenji Misumi i have only seen 3 of his films and wow what a genius director he really push all his actors to the edge

-Opening credits : well it's mostly an introduction to the Lone wolf and cub characters and history( mostly from the first film of the franchise) with one of the most memorable opening naration i have ever heard so here it is : When I was little, my father was famous. He was the greatest Samurai in the empire, and he was the Shogun's decapitator. He cut off the heads of 131 lords, for the Shogun. It was a bad time for the empire. The Shogun just stayed inside his castle and he never came out. People said his brain was infected by devils, and that he is rotting with evil. The Shogun said the people were not loyal. He said he had a lot of enemies, but he killed more people than that. It was a bad time. Everybody living in fear, but still we were happy. My father would come home to mother, and when he had see her, he would forget about the killings. He wasn't scared of the Shogun, but the Shogun was scared of him. Maybe that was the problem. That night, mother would sing for us, while father would go into his temple and pray for peace. He had prayed for things to get better. Then, one night the Shogun sent his ninja spies to our house. They were supposed to kill my father, but they didn't. That was the night everything changed, forever. That was when my father left his samurai life and became a demon. He became an assassin, he walks the road of vengeance. And he took me with him. I don't remember most of this myself. I only remember the Shogun's ninja hunted us wherever we go. And the bodies falling. And the blood."

Story and characters : It's maybe your typical samurai films about revenge but with a more darker side since the main character was the Shogun assasin beforw he went rogue after the shogun killed his wife and now he wants his son dead.Shogun assasin plays more like someone his telling you a legend . The ending doesnt seem like an ending since the origianl story takes six films to complete but it is a good closure. Most of the main characters are pretty well established and some are pretty complexe. Tomisaburo Wakayama plays to perfection Lone wolf, he really looks like a mad samurai that you would not like to have on your bad side. And that kid who plays Daigoro, masahiro Tomikawa his exceptionnal , only a japanese kid could of acted so calm foor a such a grueling and dangerous shoot.

And you gotta love the three masters of death , pretty cool and cruel characters.

Fights and effects : I love the fights , awesome choreography , and yes the blood flows like crazy and his by times pretty cheesy . but again i think it was made to look like that since the story plays like a legend , in a legend things are mostly blown out of proportion. But most of the timing for the blood to go off and the way it's film his pure art. Man does he have one interesting arsenal with him and in the babycart , I really love that by times the cub takes part in the killings too.

location and shots: Wow this movie is full of beatiful scenery and location , that bridges seems dangerous has hell. Everytime i want to escape in a beutiful landscape (full of violence) i put in this film.

And Midumi really use the camera like a painting brush to creat great art , just look how he shot the death of the first son of the shogun.

The score : It's a great 80's a bit techno soundtrack , great kick ass beats and themes ,

Favorite scenes and quotes : well the movie is for me just one big ass favorite scene and one big ass quote. But here are a couples of scenes and quotes that i adore : I love when the ninja womens kills the ninja by takin off piece of him with there knife. I love the death of the fist son of the shogun , such a beautifull scne , I love the batle with the shogun soldiers in the water, I love when the masters of death are on fire and go do a flip in the water. This movie has also lot's of pretty touching sceness , like when Lone wolf makes Daigoro choose between the ball or the sword , when lone wolf washes daigoro , but one of the most touching scene i have ever saw his the avata i'm using now , when him and his son are all wet and they get naked and he also takes of all of the ninja women assasin so they can bundle up together and you see daigoro touchs both of their chest , really touching scene there gets me all the time. I really love when he kills the last Master of death with a cut accross the neck and the blood flows like powder tru the wind and he sayWhen cut across the neck, a sound like wailing winter winds is heard, they says: 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 .Has for quotes , i love that narrating introduction and it would be too long to list you every quotes i adore from this film so ill just write this one by 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.

well i could probably go on and on about this film but ill leave it at that for the moment. Again if you took time to read my big ass post ty for disregarding my spelling mistakes.

'' I guess I wish it was different. But a wish is only a wish''.

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Comments (3)

  1. Fallenlords

    Top film, a must watch for any action fan. You don't often see blood splurt like this every day, classic film that rocks from start to finish. Nice review.

    3 years agoby @fallenlordsFlag

  2. 313td

    This just looks like a movie that I would like.lol
    Nice review.

    3 years agoby @313tdFlag

  3. Rock

    heres some interesting shogun trivia :

    Shogun assasin is the perfect film to introduce you to the Lone wolf and cub universe heres why :

    Lone Wolf and Cub (known in Japan as Kozure &#332kami &#23376&#36899&#12428&#29436) is a well-known gekiga or manga created by the writer Kazuo Koike and the artist Goseki Kojima. Its story led to the creation of six films starring Tomisaburo Wakayama, four plays, a television series, and much more.

    The six films are known has the Lone wolf and cub : babycart series here they are in order : 1- Lone wolf and cub : sword of vengence
    2-Lone wolf and cub : Babycart at the river styx
    3-Lone wolf and cub :Babycart to Hades
    4-Lone wolf and cub :Babycart in peril
    5-Lone wolf and cub : Babycart in the land of demons
    6-Lone wolf and cub : White heaven in hell

    Shogun assasin :Shogun Assassin (known in Japan as Kozure &#332kami &#23376&#36899&#12428&#29436) is a very violent jidaigeki movie made for the American market and released in 1980. The film is considered a classic by many fans of the samurai-film genre. In 2006 it was restored and re-released on DVD in North America by AnimEigo.

    Shogun Assassin was edited and compiled by robert Houston from the first two films in the Baby Cart series, using 12 minutes of the first film, Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance , and most of Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx(70 min), he also redub it and put in a new soundtrack and also a narrator . Both were originally released in 1972. There were six films in all in the series. These in turn were based on the long-running 1970s manga series, Lone Wolf and Cub, created by the writer Kazuo Koike and the artist Goseki Kojima.

    Shogun Assassin was dubbed into English whereas the originals are in Japanese. The film, being compiled from separate stories, uses a much-simplified version of the situation. For instance, any mention of clan war is gone and the opponent Retsudo is simply called "The Shogun." A foreboding synthesizer score of the type popular at the time was applied. Sandra Bernhard provided one of the voices in the dubbed edition.

    The title character, Ogami Itt&#333, is played by Tomisaburo Wakayama, brother of the producer, Shintaro Katsu, who is known for playing Zatoichi in a series of 26 films starting in the 1960s.

    Several audio clips from Shogun Assassin are used on GZA's Liquid Swords (produced by RZA). In addition, the film is invoked in Kill Bill Vol. 2 (for which RZA provided original music) in the end scenes where the protagonist and her daughter watch it as a bed-time story .

    Quotes
    The dubbing of the movie is typified by bad grammar as a result of literal translation and cultural misinterpretation. This has resulted in some quotable catchphrases from the movie:

    "They shall pay. With rivers of blood!"
    "Oh mad one! We see your trap!"
    "I am the Supreme Ninja"
    "Your technique is magnificent, when cut across the neck a sound like wailing winter winds is heard they say, I&#180d always hoped to cut someone like that some day, to hear that sound, but to have it happen to my own neck, is ridiculous"
    "I have decided to escape, to defy the shogun. Today I will begin walking the road to hell. But you will choose your own path. So, soon you may be seeing heaven. Choose the sword, and you will join me. Choose the ball and you join your mother, in death. You don't understand my words, but you must choose. So... come boy, choose life or death.

    Oh here what all the Lone wolf and cub universes inspired :
    Influence
    Because of its immense popularity in Japan and its cult status in the West, both the manga series and subsequent film adaptations have had a lasting impact on popular culture both in Japan and elsewhere.

    Lone Wolf and Cub and Kazuo Koike's style have heavily influenced other manga by creating a romanticization of the r&#333nin, or masterless samurai, the lone wanderer who follows his own code. Similar titles in spirit include Osamu Tezuka's Black Jack and later Nobuhiro Watsuki's Rurouni Kenshin. It has also influenced American comics, most notably Frank Miller in his Sin City and Ronin series and Max Allan Collins in his Road to Perdition series.

    There are also various referFences to Lone Wolf and Cub in popular culture:

    American rock band The Dirty Marmaduke Flute Squad included a song entitled "Lone Wolf & Cub" on their 2007 album "Die Humpin!" The song features lyrics about the characters from the graphic novel and verses written in haiku form.
    In Kill Bill Vol. 2 near the end, the protagonist and her daughter watch Shogun Assassin as a bed-time story. In the end, it is said that she has rejoined her "cub".
    The video game Puyo Pop Fever features a character named "Kozure Franken", who is a Frankenstein's monster who pushes a baby Frankenstein's monster in a baby carriage.
    The video game Final Fantasy X features a Samurai character named Yojimbo, who can be hired to attack the player's enemies. One of his attacks is performed by a sidekick (in this case a dog), which goes by the name "Daigoro".
    The comic Usagi Yojimbo also has references to Lone Wolf and Cub in a pair of characters known as "Lone Goat and Kid."
    The 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series had an episode called "Lone Raph and Cub" as an homage to Lone Wolf and Cub.
    The video game Kung Fu Chaos/Panic features a character(s) named "Chop n Styx", who are a father and son duo samurai, in which the son is a baby named Styx in a basket and the father named Chop carries him on his back.
    The album Liquid Swords by rapper GZA contains several samples from Shogun Assassin, including Daigoro's monologue, flute of the fallen tiger, and the choice between ball and sword.
    The song Danger! Danger! by UK punk band Sonic Boom Six contains a sample from Shogun Assassin, from Daigaro's voiceover as Lone Wolf and Cub enter the town.
    The anime Samurai Champloo has numeruous references to and cameos by Lone Wolf and Cub.
    At the conclusion of the 22nd episode of Samurai Champloo, both Ogami Itt&#333 and Daigoro appear when a meteor hits the ground. Daigoro is shown saying, "Look, a mushroom!" referring to the cloud of debris left from the impact.
    In Episode 24 of Samurai Champloo, while the character Fuu is asking around for Kasumi Seizou, the woman who tells her is seen taking care of Daigoro. It is unknown where Ogami Itt&#333 is during this, or whether his character is still alive by this time.
    Lone Wolf and Cub served as the inspiration for Dark Horse Comics' futuristic retelling, Lone Wolf 2100, written by Mike Kennedy, with art by Francisco Ruiz Velazco.
    In episode XIX of Cartoon Network's Samurai Jack Season 2, Lone Wolf and Cub appear in a flashback of Jack's past. It is implied that witnessing Ogami Itt&#333 fight off four basket headed thugs helped to inspire Jack's development as a samurai.

    I have only seen the first three Lone wolf and cub and Shogun assasin , thats the only thing i have seen from this world but i want to get my hands on evrything . specially the 6 films ( since i only have shogun assasin), and i heard the series his pretty darn good. A lot of people say that the first two films are superior to Shogun assasin , there a bit right but i saw Shogun assasin before i saw those two films and this film really shape my taste in samurai films and scores and dubbing so I say there equally great. And this film made GZA's album a pure classic for me

    to save time i copyed most of whats up the from wikipedia but i knew most of it i was just lazy dint want to write it all and this way theres barely spelling mystakes

    3 years agoby @elrochoFlag