Justin here with a look at a couple of versions of an awesome samurai movie, Shogun Assassin/Lone Wolf and Cub 1&2.
These are my favorite samurai movies. If you haven't seen Lone Wolf and Cub or Shogun Assassin, then you need to. That's the meat of the review portion of this write-up. Here it is again: see Lone Wolf and Cub or Shogun Assassin or both. You need to. They're required. Now that you're aware of them and how awesome they are you don't have an excuse. It's OK, open up Netflix in another tab and add it to the top of you're queue, I'll wait. But I know you... you're going to want to buy it. Here's the link for that. The rest of this post is going to be more informative.
There’s a lot of confusion with these movies. Shogun Assassin is the American release of two Japanese films edited together, Lone Wolf and Cub 1 and 2. Here’s how it breaks down:
In Japan in 1972, two movies came out, Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengence and Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx. Several years later, these were re-released as one movie in America as Shogun Assassin. For years, this was the only version available. It is referenced in Kill Bill v.2 and sampled by GZA on Liquid Swords. Shogun Assassin is a condensed version of the first two Lone Wolf movies, it contains about 10 minutes from the first movie, and about 80 minutes from the second movie.
The differences don’t stop there though. Shogun Assassin is dubbed where as Lone Wolf is subtitled. Also, Lone wolf does not have any narration, Shogun Assassin is narrated by the main character, Ogami Ito’s son. The soundtrack is different too, the Lone Wolf cuts have a very stylish psych-pop soundtrack, Shogun Assassin has a very 80’s synth soundtrack that reminded me a lot of the Blade Runner score.
Both versions are well worth watching, and I found it very interesting how much the narration in Shogun Assassin changed how the story played out. I strongly preferred the Lone Wolf cuts of the movie though, they had a lot of quieter moments and the plot was a little more complex. Since Shogun Assassin packs so much into such a small package, it feels absolutely relentless. The body count is astronomical and scarcely a moment goes by without Ogami filleting a ninja.
Aside from those differences, the movies are amazing. They focus on Ogami Itto, the Shogun’s head executioner. Ogami is betrayed and his wife is murdered by a conniving clan. Afterwards, Ogami and his son set out to walk the land as demons. For 500 pieces of gold they take on assassination jobs. Meanwhile, the Shogun sends wave after wave of ninjas, samurai, and other baddies to try to take Ogami down.
Lone Wolf and Cub is based on the manga series of the same name and has had several incarnations. This film series contains 6 movies (5 Shogun Assassin cuts) they are all excellent. There was also a live action TV series and an anime series. Dark Horse comics translated and issued the manga in the US. I haven’t gotten my mitts on them yet…
I was attracted to this series because I wanted to watch some samurai movies that weren’t high art. I love Akira Kurosawa and all, but it didn’t feel like I was getting a good representation of the genre across the board. Without oversimplifying it, I see Samuari movies in Japan being what westerns are in America. Watching only Kurosawa movies would be like watching only John Ford movies. I wouldn’t even recommend a John Ford movie to someone wanting to watch a movie that was representative of most westerns. I think I’d show something a little rougher and more inconsistent like El Dorado.
Lone Wolf and Cub has a lot of the same sensibilities of the Leone spaghetti westerns. I’m going to admit that I don’t know my history here, but it feels like there was a big cultural exploitation cinema conversation happening between Kurosawa’s samurai films, American westerns, spaghetti westerns, and movies like Lone Wolf and cub. They all feel like they’re from the same club and keep pushing the envelope in different ways.
Lone Wolf and Cub captures the episodic feeling that I’m sure the manga had quite well. Aside from the first movie, I don’t think it’s very important to watch these in any particular order. Each movie has the same elements. Ogami picks up an assassination contract or two, teaches someone about the way of the warrior, and fights some ridiculous ninjas. The bad guys in the second movie are a trio of bad guys with different weapons, one of which is Wolverine claws. The fourth movie features a woman who uses her sexuality as a weapon – she has a tattoo of a demon reaching for her nipple on her breast. During combat she flashes her opponent to catch them off guard before she kills them. The third movie features a six-gun wielding baddie that Ogami has to take down. The last movie has ninjas on skis.
This is a movie series that I love intensely, but I don’t have a lot to say about because I don’t want to ruin anyone’s first time experience with it. Whichever version you track down, you’re going to have an awesome time watching this. Both versions of this are currently available in the US through a company called Animeigo, their first Blu-Ray release was Shogun Assassin. I can’t praise them enough for the work they did on Lone Wolf and Cub though. I have never seen better subtitles on a movie. When two characters are talking, one has different colored text, but what’s even better is that the subtitles have foot notes for words that don’t have a 1:1 English translation. A word like “seppuku” which I believe refers to ordered ritual suicide would have that explanation at the top of the screen while the dialogue runs at the bottom. Additionally, each disc has a bonus feature of text explaining some of the different cultural or historical curiosities in the movie. Lone Wolf and Cub is actually very historically accurate in spite of how over the top it is. In one of the films, early on a woman is seen with her teeth painted black. The bonus feature explains that this was something upper class married women did as a fashion.