SHOGUN ASSASSIN

'''Shogun Assassin''' (known in Japan as 'Kozure Ōkami 子連れ狼') is a very violent jidaigeki film made for the American market and released in 1980. The film is considered a classic by many fans of the samurai-film genre. In 2006 it was restored and re-released on DVD in North America by AnimEigo.
''Shogun Assassin'' was edited and compiled from the first two films in the ''Baby Cart'' series, using 12 minutes of the first film, '' (''Kozure Ōkami: Kowokashi udekashi tsukamatsuru'' or ''Wolf with Child in Tow: Child and Expertise for Rent''), and most of '' (''Kozure Ōkami: Sanzu no kawa no ubaguruma'' or ''Wolf with Child in Tow: Perambulator of the River of Sanzu''). Both were originally released in 1972. There were six films in all in the series. These in turn were based on the long-running 1970s manga series, ''Lone Wolf and Cub'', created by the writer Kazuo Koike and the artist Goseki Kojima.
''Shogun Assassin'' was dubbed into English whereas the originals are in Japanese. The film, being compiled from separate stories, uses a much-simplified version of the situation. For instance, any mention of clan war is gone and the opponent Retsudo is simply called "The Shogun." A foreboding synthesizer score of the type popular at the time was applied. Sandra Bernhard provided one of the voices in the dubbed edition.
The title character, Ogami Ittō, is played by Tomisaburo Wakayama, brother of the producer, Shintaro Katsu, who is known for playing Zatoichi in a series of 26 films starting in the 1960s.
Several audio clips from ''Shogun Assassin'' are used on GZA's ''Liquid Swords'' (produced by RZA). In addition, the film is invoked in ''Kill Bill Vol. 2'' (for which RZA provided original music) in the end scenes where the protagonist and her daughter watch it as a bed-time story .

Contents

Sequel

Quotes

See also

External link

Sequel

AnimEigo has released a sequel, ''Shogun Assassin 2: Lightning Swords of Death'', which is actually the third film in the ''Baby Cart'' series, ''.

Quotes

The dubbing of the movie is typified by bad grammar as a result of literal translation and cultural misinterpretation. This has resulted in some quotable catchphrases from the movie:

★ "They shall pay. With rivers of blood!"

★ "Oh mad one! We see your trap!"

★ "I am the Supreme Ninja"

★ "Your technique is magnificent, when cut across the neck a sound like wailing winter winds is heard they say, I´d always hoped to cut someone like that some day, to hear that sound, but to have it happen to my own neck, is ridiculous"

★ "I have decided to escape, to defy the shogun. Today I will begin walking the road to hell. But you will choose your own path. So, soon you may be seeing heaven. Choose the sword, and you will join me. Choose the ball and you join your mother, in death. You don’t understand my words, but you must choose. So… come boy, choose life or death."

See also

★ ''Lone Wolf and Cub''

★ Jidaigeki

★ Exploitation film

External link

★