Customer Reviews

Lone Wolf and Cub Box Set

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

For pure, unadulterated, visceral entertainment, the "Lone Wolf and Cub" series can't be beat. The acting, directing, the screenplays, and the cinematography are all top notch. The action sequences have to be seen to be believed. Each and every film feature loads of "money shots". Fans of Tarantino will immediately see where he drew much of his inspiration for the "Kill Bill" series. I suspect that these movies were an influence on "Mighty Python and the Holy Grail" as well. Another little known fact is that the manga that this is based upon was also the inspiration for "Road to Perdition".

People with no experience with Japanese cinema will probably find these movies to be very bizarre the first time they see them. They depict a culture whose morals and values are quite different from Western standards. Its not uncommon in these movies for someone to kill, or commit suicide, for reasons not easily comprehended. Examples: in Volume 2, a cult of female ninjas brutally dismember and kill one of their allies, just to prove a point (that they're superior fighters). In volume 6, one thug after another joyfully sacrifice their lives in order to help a princess perfect her killing technique. In volume 3, following a brutal rape and murder, a Samurai attempts to help the criminals cover up their atrocity. His actions are depicted as honorable behavior.

The main character, Ogami Itto, can only be described as an anti-hero. An assassin by trade, he describes himself as evil, a demon, "one who walks along the crossroads of Hell". He will kill anyone for 500 pieces of gold, even women and children. The opening scene in the first film sets the tone of the series, when Ogami, the official executioner of the Shogun, brutally decapitates a toddler. Even so, he is portayed throughout the series as a very sympathetic, honorable character. You will find yourself rooting for him and his son.

I can't say enough good things about these movies. They are so satisfying on every level. You'll get a rush at the over-the-top scenes of violence. You may even begin to question your Westernized notions of morality. Be cautioned though: these movies are not for the squeamish. Volume 1 and 3, in particular, feature very disturbing depictions of rape and murder. Don't say I didn't warn you.

"Lone Wolf and Cub" is the pinnacle of Asian grindhouse cinema and the most action-packed and downright cool series of samurai films ever made. The violence is brutal, the sex (both forced and consensual) is plentiful, the characters are memorable, and there is a lot of subtle humor and beautiful Japanese culture to be enjoyed as well. I cannot recommend these six films enough.

Beginning as the Shogun's personal executioner, our anti-hero Ogami Itto is framed by the jealous and ambitious Yagyu clan's shadow ops; his wife murdered in the process. In his rage, Itto takes his young son, Daigoro, and declares them to be demons, apart from the world of men to live as assassins for hire. His primary target: the head of the Shadow Yagyus, a decrepit old warrior known as Retsudo. Along the way he encounters hidden ninja and other Yagyu warriors, deadly kunoichi, clan heads in need of his services, friendly villagers, prostitutes, yakuza, Retsudo's skilled offspring, and many more, most of whom will either be diced up by his sword, or by his enemies'. Thankfully, Lone Wolf and Cub are more than ready for whatever comes their way. Ogami Itto pushes his son around in a modified baby cart that is packed full of hidden surprises for anyone who wishes to take his head. And nobody is his equal with a sword. Nobody. Amusingly, Daigoro manages to rack up a little body count of his own and embarks on his own little adventures from time to time too.

The first film "Sword of Vengeance" focuses on Ogami Itto's first clashes with the Shadow Yagyu clan; playing a bloody game of chess as the disgraced samurai embarks upon his demon's journey by outwitting Retsudo and escaping to the open road. "Baby Cart at the River Styx" is my favorite film of the series and features a deadly band of lady shinobi (kunoichi), and a mission which pits Lone Wolf and Cub against a trio of skilled and honorable warriors with brutal weapons who have been hired to protect his target. "Baby Cart to Hades" (best title ever!) has Itto sacrificing his own body to protect a lowly prostitute in need and features one of the greatest action sequences ever filmed as our (anti)hero single-handedly battles an entire force of Yagyu troopers and kills ever last one. Awesome. "Baby Cart in Peril" features a heroic female samurai with tattoos who fights topless (for distraction, see?). In order to retrieve the information vital to his mission in "Baby Cart in the Land of Demons" Lone Wolf and Cub must past the deadly tests put forth by five of the clans retainers who can appear anywhere at any time. Lastly "White Heaven in Hell" pits Ogami Itto and son against a Yagyu clan desperate to finally avenge their shame by ending their lives. Lord Retsudo orders every person who helps or even speaks to them to be put to death. As Itto flees civilization into the frozen mountains, Retsudo sends his supernaturally-powered ninja to stalk him while the remainder of the clan's army is brought up for the end game. All of these films are must-sees for martial-arts and action fans.

The bonus features include many trailers, particularly for Zatoichi films (Shintaro Katsu -who played the legendary blind swordsman- produced the first three films and cast this brother, Tomisaburo Wakayama, as Ogami Itto). Each disc also features extensive and informative notes about Japanese history and culture to help put some of the events in the films in perspective. Good stuff.

If you're looking for unrelenting action, brutal gore, a protagonist who is an unstoppable bada$#, and a story that has coolness around every corner then this is a series you must look into. It's a great place to start if you're looking to get into samurai films and this set belongs in the DVD library of all professing to be fans of the genre. Buy these films and enter the Crossroads to Hell.

I'm a huge fan of martial arts films in general, samurais in particular. Part of the problem, for me, in finding samurai films I'd like is the tendency of Japanese filmamkers to include odd humor and action scenes that are too unbelievable. Now, I like unrealistic action fights, I can watch Drunken Master 2 or Crouching Tiger,Hidden Dragon all day, but sometimes you can take fantasy too far--in the anime version of Samurai Showdown, Haohmaru the samurai defeats a swarm of bees with his sword by chopping them up. A bit too much.

The reason I bring this up is to let anyone who has the same taste as I do in martial arts films (fantasy fighting with some gravity to it) know that they'll enjoy these movies as much as anything they've seen.

First off, the story is just great in each film. You really can't predict the actions and decisions that lead hero, Ogami Itto, will make. He's the perfect samurai character, grim, silent, and ruthlessly efficient. I was a bit leary about Tomisaburo Wakaya, as he's not the vision of the ultimate samurai, but his fine acting and martial arts chops make you forget about his double chin. Upon first seeing him, I wished they had cast an actor who looked mroe like the comicbook Ogami Itto--twenty minutes into a film, I forgot all about the comics.

The action is just incredibly well done. It's not the beautiful, agile swordplay of the Chinese sword films, but it has an elegance to it. Whereas the Chinese like to draw out a fight and have both warriors display every move in their arsenal, the Japanese directors tend to focus on a single, perfect stroke. The fights are fast and furious, with limbs and fountains of blood. For those seeking to avoid blood and guts, you might want to rethink getting this. Just think of the final action scene in the phenomenal Kill Bill Vol. 1, where the bride decimates the Crazy 88. Now imagine that scene with someone who actually knows martial arts, and you'll get the idea.

Anyway, let me just say that these six flicks are MY Star Wars. The ultimate samurai saga, bar none. If only Kenji Masume and Kazuo Koike would ahve made a Musashi film.

I thankfully stumbled upon the "Lone Wolf & Cub" movie series not too long ago after rediscovering the "Zatoichi" series via their DVD releases.

(A little back-history)
As a teenager, my friends & I used to watch movies at The State, an old pre-WWII movie theatre. We had watched & enjoyed several of the great "spaghetti" westerns movies there - the "Fistful", "Magnificent Seven" & "Nobody" movies to name a few. What interested us most was that those movies had such interestingly enigmatic and, for lack of a better term, bad-assed characters portrayed by actors like Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, & Terrence Hill. Needless to say, we were all hooked on those types of movies. We all wanted to be THAT guy!

After being closed for quite a few years, the old State re-opened as an Asian cinema. By then, that old theatre was about as run down as they can get but I tell you it was our paradise(obvious pun). We loved that place. There we were introduced to the Kung Fu & Samurai genres of cinema by movies such as "Zatoichi", "Yojimbo", "Master Killer" & "Drunken Master" among many others. Unfortunately, there are many great movies we saw at The State that I cannot remember the title of and/or still cannot find to this day.

However, in that search I found this awesome series and hope you find them as I have - completely entertaining. In fact, I chose this series as my first movie review because I believe it has all the elements found in the others that made them so great.

Tomasaburo Wakayama as Ogami Itto stands out as being every bit the nomadic bad-ass that Eastwood portrays in the "man with no name" movies. I realized very quickly into the first movie that same feeling I'd had before - I want to be THAT guy! Itto's young son, Daigoro, is a brave & participating partner in his father's pursuit of vengeance as they travel like "demons" on the path between Heaven and Hell.

I don't want to give any spoilers as I feel doing so ruins the whole experience of watching great movies like these for the first time - an experience I've frequently wished I could get back and therefore something I'd hate to take away from anyone. All I'll say about this series is that I found the movies action-packed, culturally interesting, touchingly sensitive & magnificently triumphant though I also found them at times to be hideously gory, gratuitously sexual & horrifically sinister. The best description I can give of the movies would be to say that they are severely "human" because they portray some of the most kindest & noblest deeds of humanity yet some of its most horribly terrifying ones, too.

Finally, there are a few scenes where some might say, "Yeah right, that's impossible" or "Did they really need to show that?" Believe me, I understand, however it took absolutely no effort to quickly remember that this is a mythical story of an utterly determined man's quest for vengeance - limitations, circumstances & consequences are irrelevant.

It is my sincere hope that you will find these movies as interesting & entertaining as I have. So please, pop some popcorn, grab some gummy bears, pour a cold one with some friends or by yourself & enjoy.

PS - I do not recommend buying the newer "Shogun Assassin" movies as they merely "cut & paste" the same video material from this series with the progression of events significantly altered from their original edit & intention. I own both series on DVD and never watch the newer ones. It appears the "Shogun Assassin" series were created because its makers tried to "westernize" the original series for international sale (the "Lone Wolf & Cub" films were banned in many countries for several years therefore changing their names/structures may have been a necessity). In my opinion, the changes unfortunately complicated the plot considerably, caused very "clunky" scene transitions, and ultimately presents a cheap imitation of the original series similar in many ways to the post-mortem Bruce Lee movies.

I bought these movies individually about two years ago, after accidently stumbling upon the fourth movie of the series. Afterwards I immediately went and bought the other five and watched them in sequence. They are really great movies, especially if you like this genre of movies. Even if you don't, if you don't mind the huge amounts of violence, they are great movies. As the other reviewers have mentioned, the main stars of the series are Ogami Itto and his son Daigoro. The classic anti-hero who will sometimes do bad things (in western eyes) in a noble fashion. The incredible bond between father and son, of which throughout the entire series is almost completely unspoken. I have to say that I like Daigoro the most, he's just one tough kid! (I named my dog Daigoro)
One thing that I can mention that I noticed hasn't been mention yet, is that each dvd had extensive liner notes, and if you take the time to read will give you a much better understanding of the period and certain scenes in the movies i.e. the significance of a big radish etc...
The only thing else I can say is that there is no 'kung-fu' in these movies... perhaps the other reviewers meant it is the type of movie you would see on 'kung-fu theatre'...

this is the first film in a series of 6 movies that has some of the best sword and kung-fu play in any other movie you will ever see. lone wolf worked for the shogun as his excutioner until the shogun goes crazy and has lone wolf's family killed. his young son is saved and the two start down the road of revenge and become hit men of their time to eat.
this is bloody and not for the kids, but for adults this is one of the better kung-fu movies out there. the action must be seen to be believed. not to be missed

It's too bad this set is not what it says it is. In other words, the movies are not "un-cut." Yes, the movie contents are not cut but each and every film in this set features the films where both sides of the frame are literally chopped off for no acceptable reason. The results are quite terrible considering the fact that many scenes obviously lack one of the duelists missing from the frame which totally disturbs the viewer and spoils the atmosphere. If you're willing to truely enjoy the movies to their maximum entertainment potentials, I would recommend buying the Japanese issued versions that should have the films in their original ratios though they cost tons more and come in different region codes.

I'm not the most impartial critic: in the early seventies, I was serving in the Navy, stationed in Japan. I was trying to learn to speak Japanese and watched a lot of Japanese television to try to get the pronunciation right. At the time, Kosure Ogami was a big hit TV series there. I became addicted. Withdrawal came when I rotated back to the 'States.

I knew they had made a movie based on the TV series, poorly overdubbed in English and released in this country as "Lightning Swords of Death". I'd seen it in a theater, and been disappointed (the overdubbing, as I said, was not very good).

A few weeks ago, a friend and I were discussing martial arts movies and it got me to thinking. I Googled "Lightning Swords of Death" and wound up on Amazon, looking at not just one, but a box set of SIX Kosure Ogami films, which I promptly bought.

I've since watched all six. Ogami Itto is still the best swordsman in Japan. Daigoro is still a sharp kid. The (obviously) fake blood still flows like water - special effects were never the series' strong suite. But the poor English overdubs have been replaced with English subtitles - the original Japanese soundtrack is intact. It was taken from really good prints - the video and audio quality are excellent.

Is this great cinematic art? No. But it is an interesting story, fairly-well acted, with some of the best-choreographed swordplay ever filmed. I think I got my money's worth and more.

This box is a must-have for anyone with an interest in martial arts and samurai action. All six movies can be seen individually, but for the best experience, I would recommend viewing them in order.

Itto Ogami, the main character is arguably the coolest person ever in movies. He was the shogunates assassin, responsible for helping people who commit seppuku (ritual suicide by slicing open the gut) die a less painful death, by decapitating them.

Ogami is a true master of sword fighting as well as fighting in general. He pushes around a baby cart containing his only son (about 3-4 years of age) along with an arsenal of hidden weapons. I will not reveal just how cool the cart really is, but trust me, it is cool.

The red thread in the movies is revenge. Ogami wants to revenge his wife's and servant's deaths and clean his clan name by killing the evil Yagyu clan members lead by Retsudu. They don't give up easily and Ogami has to fight hordes of Yagyu people as well as an assorted group of other persons wanting to kill him.

Highly recommended.

enjoy the set agree with a negative review about the transfer to dvd not giving full picture. the choice is no copy or what i have , i will keep the box set unless a restored version comes out at a reasonable price