Tomisaburo Wakayama most certainly would, so we will choose this as tonight's feature...
(The trailer is somewhat NSFW - so watch accordingly)
Starting out as a very popular manga in 1970, this didn't take long to get adapted to film, premiering as Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance in 1972. The story has disgraced ronin samurai Ogami Itto roaming the Japanese countryside sometime during the Edo period (1608-1868) with his young son in a baby cart. They get into and out of trouble - mainly thanks to Ogami's near-supernatural skill with his dotanuki sword. The movie was so popular they made three sequels in 1972 alone (!) then two more in the next two successive years.
More interesting factoids - star Tomisaburo Wayayama is the brother of Shintaro Katsu - star of the 26 Zatoichi movies - another master swordsman on a never ending journey around ancient Japan. Katsu also was a producer of Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance!
This is a wild flick, with near balletic fight scenes and blood spraying in artful gouts - definitely an influence on Quentin Tarantino for his Kill Bill movies. I have the whole Lone Wolf and Cub movie series in a nice slim Blu-Ray set and we could be watching the Itto boys anytime - even tonight - if you wanted to come over and check it out with me.
Until next post, you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!
Big fan of the series, and like a lot of people, I was introduced to it via Shogun Assassin. Bloody fun for a saturday night!
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention it - but that was my real introduction too - the VHS release of Shogun Assassin I watched back in the early to mid 80's. As much fun as that version is - I'm pleased to have the real releases available now.
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