Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance (1972)

The story of a Ronin (i.e. a masterless samurai) who wanders the countryside of Japan with his small child, having various adventures.

Director:

Kenji Misumi

Writers:

Kazuo Koike (manga), Goseki Kojima (manga)

Stars:

Tomisaburô Wakayama, Fumio Watanabe, Gô Katô

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tomisaburô Wakayama	...	Ogami Itto
Fumio Watanabe	...	Bizennokami Yagyû
Gô Katô	...	Ikiyu
Tomoko Mayama	...	Osen (whore)
Yûko Hama
Shigeru Tsuyuguchi	...	Kurando Yagyû
Asao Uchida	...	Kenmotsu Sugito
Taketoshi Naitô	...	Ichige
Yoshi Katô	...	Danjô Tonami
Keiko Fujita	...	Azami Ogami
Isao Yamagata
Reiko Kasahara	...	Crazy Woman
Ichirô Nakae
Michitarô Mizushima
Akihiro Tomikawa	...	Daigoro

Storyline

In this first film of the Lone Wolf and Cub series, adapted from the manga by Kazuo Koike, we are told the story of the Lone Wolf and Cub's origin. Ogami Itto, the official Shogunate executioner, has been framed for disloyalty to the Shogunate by the Yagyu clan, against whom he now is waging a one-man war, along with his infant son, Daigoro.

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Plot Keywords:

samurai | revenge | undressing | rape | ninja | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Footage from the first two Lone Wolf and Cub films (Sword of Vengeance and Baby Cart on the River Styx) from 1972 (Japan) would years later be re-edited into an American film called Shogun Assassin (1980). This merger of the two films would go on to earn its place in American pop culture as one of the most notorious exploitation films of the early 80s.

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Quotes

Sugito: Lately, I've been having awful nightmares. The voices may be the souls of those you've beheaded... they curse me from ponds of blood... or mountains of spikes... from ghastly places... I can hear them as they send chills down my spine. They say that they'll put a curse upon the Ogami line and they keep repeating that over and over. I am consumed with fear for our child's safety.

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Alternate Versions

The 1999 UK video was cut by 6 secs by the BBFC to edit a scene where a woman is stripped topless, and the Artsmagic DVD featured the same print. The 2009 Eureka release (featured in the "Lone Wolf & Cub Collection") is fully uncut.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Movie Ninjas (2014)

User Reviews

Good, decent Samurai film...first of a series.

Sword of Vengeance is the first film in a series about a noble samurai and his son fallen from grace through a conspiracy, and now under a constant fear of death by assassination. This movie by itself is a fine example of how a more modern, 'slasher' style Samurai film and 'old' values like honor and '1-good-Samurai-defeats-army-of-bad-Samurai' can be put together to make a solid, entertaining film. The later films are sometimes better, sometimes worse than this movie, but I found all of them to be very entertaining and worthwhile.

If you like to see some classic Samurai action, check out the whole serie of six films. Years later they took all the juicy bits out of the first four films and stitched them together to form the film 'Shogun Assassin', a film I suspect made for export to western countries: Less story, more blood.

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

23 August 1973 (USA)

Also Known As:

Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance

Filming Locations:

Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Katsu Production, Toho Company, Toho Film (Eiga) Co. Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1