Shogun Assassin (1980)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

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:

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:

[last lines]
Voice of Daigoro: I guess I wish it was different. But a wish is only a wish.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ultraviolet (2006)

Choose the sword and you will join me...

I had heard a lot about this movie for quite some time but was never able to get my hands on it. If you have ever listened to The Gza/Genius album "Liquid Swords", it contains several soundbites from the film including the opening commentary by Daigoro(Cub). SHOGUN ASSASSIN is actually a re-released, dubbed version of the first two "Lone Wolf and Cub" films that came out from Japan in the Seventies. When I finally attained a copy of it and watched it, I was comepletely blown away. This has got to be hands down the best samurai/ninja film ever to grace the United States.

Enter Ogami Itto, aka Lone Wolf, a man who served his shogun well as the royal executioner. Until one day when the Shogun killed his wife and framed him, which sent him on a dark path of vengeance. So begins the story of Lone Wolf and Cub, a father and his little boy who travel from place to place as assassins for hire and are always watching out for the Shogun and his ninja army. Anyone who gets in their way are quickly sliced and diced by Lone Wolf's sword and a wooden baby cart rigged with all sorts of crazy weapons.

The action sequences are breathtaking, much like Kurasawa's but with ten times more blood. Blood that doesn't just pour, but spurts everywhere like a hose. Ultimately I couldn't help being moved by the story: a father and his son and their eternal bond in vengeance. This is just one of those cult films that you pray at night about, hoping that someday they re-release it in theaters or make a new film just like it. There are six films total in the "Lone Wolf and Cub" series that are avaible uncut on VHS and hopefully soon, on DVD.