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What started with the 1980 release of Shogun Assassin started my life-long love of Samurai movies. Lone Wolf and Cub is a series of 6 films made in 1972 and 1973, which elevated the levels of gore and violence in the genre to unprecedented levels. Along with the blood, slicing, and dicing came unforgettable characters.
So now there is a Criterion collection of these films, annotated, cleaned up, and presented in high def, blue ray, level up, super-duper, hydromatic, hyperspacial, extra special format with commentary, extras, making-of documentaries, and all the usual "more stuff than you'll ever need to know about these films" stuff that Criterion is known for. Reviews of this set have been rave, and nothing but. Nobody hates it! Yes -- it even has a high def presentation of Shogun Assassin, which is an American dub and edit of the first two films (sort of a "Best of" Lone Wolf and Cub) that first introduced American Audiences to it. Great for drinking games -- just drink a shot for every kill Ogami makes, and you'll get drunk within the first 10 minutes.
Tomisaburo Wakayama is Ittyo Ogami, the perpetually disheveled and unshaven hero who sliced up a body count of biblical proportions, and who was the inspiration for John Bellushi's Samurai character. The kid, Daigoro, (played by Masahiro Tomikawa) has no dialog at all, but says volumes with his eyes (or at least his constant, penetrating stare). Lone Wolf Ogami had a falling out with his insane emperor, and wanders Japan selling his services as an assassin -- provided that he's killing bad guys. One could say that this avenging lone wolf is a grittier update to the Zatoichi films, where a blind swordsman does essentially the same thing -- killing all the bad guys to save people and whole towns from being screwed over by Yakuza and other baddies, but with all the severed limbs and buckets of blood gushing from bloody stumps to make it more realistic. As a result of Lone Wolf and Cub, Shintaro Katsu resurrected his blind swordsman character, to make a couple more Zatoichi films, but in full color with blood and gore because post-Lone Wolf and Cub audiences demanded it.
The whole genre of Samurai films was never to be the same from that point. Even Akira Kurosawa had to up the gore levels in his post-Lone Wolf and Cub movies like Kagemusha and Ran. Nearly every big budget and low budget Samurai flick to this day seems to have almost obligatory bloodbaths, or at least some degree of blood and gore.
My Blue Ray DVD copy should be waiting in the mailbox for me when I get home. I got it for about half price. The only drawback? I never hooked up the free Blue Ray player I got for Christmas when I got my new TV. But well, now it's time for the old DVD player that I haven't used since moving in to my house, to get replaced. I think we used it a total of 2 or 3 times before going with streaming. Almost every movie we want to watch is available streaming -- but these films have eluded the streaming networks, or only crappy copies can be found online. If you've never seen Lone Wolf and Cub before, all you need to know is that you will watch them over and over, because in spite of being more or less a live action Manga, the level of action, storytelling, and WTF scenes will keep you entertained for years to come.
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From the manufacturer
Lone Wolf and Cub
Based on the manga series, the six intensely kinetic Lone Wolf and Cub films elevated chanbara to bloody new heights. The shogun’s executioner, Itto Ogami (Tomisaburo Wakayama), takes to wandering the countryside as an assassin—along with his infant son Daigoro (Akihiro Tomikawa) and a seemingly infinitely weaponized perambulator—helping those he encounters while seeking vengeance for his murdered wife. Delivering stylish thrills and a body count that defies belief, Lone Wolf and Cub is beloved for its brilliantly choreographed action sequences as well as its tender depiction of the bonds between a parent and a child.
Reviews with images
Best version
Have the old dvds then the 2012 collection but this version is the best. The cleaning and upgrading of the film is amazing. You can actually see the night time scenes.Also a nice bonus is the hidden sketch of the baby cart in a compartment of the case box. Flattening it out now to frame it,The special features are also top notch.Highly recommend this box set specially if you like over the top fighting and violence.
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2017
Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2023
Have the old dvds then the 2012 collection but this version is the best. The cleaning and upgrading of the film is amazing. You can actually see the night time scenes.
Also a nice bonus is the hidden sketch of the baby cart in a compartment of the case box. Flattening it out now to frame it,
The special features are also top notch.
Highly recommend this box set specially if you like over the top fighting and violence.
Also a nice bonus is the hidden sketch of the baby cart in a compartment of the case box. Flattening it out now to frame it,
The special features are also top notch.
Highly recommend this box set specially if you like over the top fighting and violence.
Images in this review
Top reviews from other countries
Cristian Palaghia
very disappointed...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 14, 2021
Shaun
Great box set, shipping was careless
Reviewed in Australia on November 22, 2021