Shogun Assassin: Lightning Swords of Death (1972) – DVD Review

Once again, Ogami and Daigoro are back on the road, and this time things are getting a bit more complicated. When we last left the father and son team they had defeated ‘The Masters of Death” and now a proposition has been made. What follows is another round of blood, swordfights, nudity and double-crossing that only a film in the Shogun Assassin series could bring. It rocks!

Rating:

Ogami (Tomisaburo Wakayam) and his son Daigoro are on the road again, and this time they run into a young prostitute. She’s on the run as she as has just killed a man working for the Yakuza. He offers to suffer, instead of her, and is subsequently put through water torture and then beaten into unconsciousness. Afterwards he is offered the chance to kill an important figurehead (and someone that is connected to Ogami’s past) and soon enough the blood is flowing and the film builds up to a battle that has to be seen to be believed. A mysterious traveling swordsman that politely asks for a challenge with Ogami more then once.

Where to begin? Oh, the action seems to be a good place to start. Yes, up until the final battle, the action is few and far between, but it still comes hard and extremely bloody early on. Even Daigoro gets involved when Ogami sets out to take out one of the more dangerous fighters he has to face. Ogami shows that he’s no pushover, even when faced with a pistol to his face, by jamming the trigger mechanism from across a room. But, I digress; everyone wants to know about the final battle. Well, not only does he have to fight for his life, but also Ogami ends up taking on about seventy to one hundred well armed, and well trained, fighters. The fight is a bloodbath, and body parts are hacked off as blood sprays across the screen. Make sure to pay attention to the most loaded baby cart I’ve ever seen (you’ll know when you see it), proving that Daigo is no push over either. The traveling swordsman also gets his due, and Ogami cannot pass until he has settled his confrontation with that man. Though it seems like a lot of fighting happens, the first film has much more action then Lightning Swords of Death.

The film looks beautiful and really catches the eye. The sequences tend to take place either within a cramped room or out in the open. The open outdoor shots are really where Shogun Assassin: Lightning Swords of Death shines. In the sequence where Ogami hunts the fighter and has his son play the bait in the charade, everything takes place near a river. The man thinks he sees Ogami’s son drowning in the water, but as he drops his guns and swims out to save the kid, Daigoro stands up, showing that the river is much shallower then the man thought. This leads to a cool little death sequence, but in that moment the camera tricks really match up with Ogami’s cunning and the man’s eyes go wide with understanding. It’s a very cool scene, made even better by the way it’s shot.

Tomisaburo Wakayam once again carries the film with ease, and is completely devoid of emotion. He lives by a code and that dictates each and every choice he makes. He can’t be bought off the code (though murdering is a source of income) and if someone is doing something wrong, he won’t hesitate to step in and fix things (unless it has nothing to do with him or his code, in which case the person getting destroyed is screwed). He’s a fascinating character because he’s not really a good guy, per se, but he’s dedicated to what he believes is right, and it just so happens that the bad guys are terrified of him, which, makes him a lot of fun to root for.

Overall, Shogun Assassin: Lighting Swords of Death is a great addition to the Shogun Assassin series, and really takes Ogami and Daigo one step further in their quest. It also builds Ogami’s character a little bit more as pieces of his life are laid out, so we start to get a better understanding of the lead character. The intense fight scenes only add to the film, and watching Ogami kick ass and take names is always very entertaining. Highly recommended.

EXTRAS:

PROGRAM NOTES: Presented in a slideshow format so you can easily click through the slides without rushing. Here you’ll find out a bit more about the confusing releases this film has gone under as well as how the Shogun Assassin series is directly connected to the Lone Wolf and Cub series. The boring of pieces of film from one series to the other can become a bit confusing at times, and the order of films is a little wierd (also explained here). This is also a very cool place to find out some historical facts about the land and the samurai fighters.

IMAGE GALLERY

SHOGUN ASSASSIN TRAILER

ZATOICHI’S CONSPIRACY TRAILER

SHADOW HUNTERS TRAILER

DVD CREDITS