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