Shogun Assassin (1980)

Director:

Robert Houston

Writers:

Robert Houston (writer)
Kazuo Koike (screenplay)

Release Date:

11 November 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure

Tagline:

The legend of lone wolf and cub continues!

Plot:

Long ago there was a great samurai warrior who served his Shogun honorably. The Shogun however grew paranoid as he became more and more senile...

Plot Keywords:

Samurai | Ninja | Death | Japan | Splatter

Cast

Tomisaburo Wakayama	...	Ogami Itto
Kayo Matsuo	...	Supreme Ninja
Minoru Ohki	...	Master of Death
Akiji Kobayashi	...	Master of Death
Shin Kishida	...	Master of Death
Akihiro Tomikawa	...	Daigoro (as Masahiro Tomikawa)
Lamont Johnson	...	Voice (voice)
Marshall Efron	...	Voice (voice)
Sandra Bernhard	...	Voice (voice)
Vic Davis	...	Voice (voice)
Lennie Weinrib	...	Voice (voice)
Lainie Cooke	...	Voice (voice)
Sam Weisman	...	Voice (voice)
Mark Lindsay	...	Voice (voice)
Robert Houston	...	Voice (voice)

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

Japan | USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

New Zealand:R18 (re-rating) | Australia:R | Singapore:R21 | UK:(Banned) (1984-1992) | UK:18 (video rating) (1992) | UK:X (original rating) (cut) | USA:R | Norway:18 (video rating) (1984) | Norway:(Banned) (video) (1986) | New Zealand:(Banned) (1982-2003) (cinema release) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Company:

Baby Cart

Trivia:

Mark Lindsay (former lead singer for Paul Revere and the Raiders) co-wrote the music with W. Michael Lewis. The performing credit is listed as "The Wonderland Philharmonic." "Wonderland" refers to the house that Lindsay lived in at one time. However, music cues from the original "Kozure Ôkami" films are also used.

Quotes:

Ogami Itto: They will pay... In rivers of blood!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Little Red Riding Hood (2009/I) (V)

Swordfight fans, you will reach Nirvana during this orgy of carnage!

For a film edited from highlights of two films in a series of six, SHOGUN ASSASSIN is far, FAR better than it has any right to be. That said, track down the originals since they are all available on video in widescreen, subtitled editions. The cinematography will make you drool, and the swordfighting is probably the most impressive samurai-type swordwork ever put on film. Another plus is Lone Wolf, played by Tomisaburo Wakayama. Casting him for a handsome comic book hero is not what would come to mind immediately, but it is his middle-aged dumpiness that makes him utterly believeable during his fight scenes. Swordfight fans, you will reach Nirvana during this orgy of carnage! For a more impressive display of Wakayama's skills, check out LIGHTNING SWORDS OF DEATH (frequently found in rental shops as LUPINE WOLF), the third film in the Lone Wolf series which was actually released in the states six years before SHOGUN ASSASSIN during the kung fu movie craze. In LIGHTNING SWORDS, the film remains totally unedited from the original and features a showdown between Lone Wolf and army that is equipped with not just swords, but arrows and rifles as well!!!