The Movie: The first in a series of six films, Lone Wolf And Cub: Sword Of Vengeance follows the adventures of Ogami Ittō, a wandering assassin for hire who roams the Japanese countryside with his young son Daigoro in search of the hit squad who murdered his wife.
The Samurai: Ittō is a gruff, unsmiling sort, which is probably to be expected given what's happened to him. As for his parenting skills, he's fairly hardline. When Daigoro was a baby, Ittō gave him the choice between a ball or a sword. Had the youngster chosen the ball, Ittō had resolved to kill him. Good job he grabbed the sword then, isn't it?
Why It's Great: It's a ridiculously cool revenge story, and the final showdown provides everything you could hope for from such a scenario. Even Daigoro's baby carriage comes into play, harbouring an armoured underside and a host of concealed weaponry. Gratifyingly grisly, it's the samurai movie at its most down and dirty.
« Previous 4 of 15 Next »
© Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath BA1 2BW. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.
Try This...
Latest Reviews
The Company You Keep
Populaire
Blood
Comments
FBSHarrigan
May 3rd 2012, 7:33
This is a pretty solid list, and it is awesome to see Kurosawa not only on the list multiple times, but at the top of it. Miike's 13 Assassins is one of the instances of an excellent remake; it may even trounce the original. Though easily his most normal movie, it still has some of the unnerving Miike flair to it. This could be a good lesson to Hollywood on how to actually succeed at a remake. http://www.videodetective.com/movies/13-assassins/264830
Alert a moderator
MoodyMonkey
May 3rd 2012, 7:58
Ashamed to admit i have heard of hardly any of these but will definitely be checking all of them out, thanks TF. I think Twilight Samurai is on netflix at the moment.
Alert a moderator
wibble
May 3rd 2012, 8:25
No Zatoichi? Takeshi Kitano's masterpiece ought to be there.
Alert a moderator
wibble
May 3rd 2012, 8:38
Shame the list is limited to just 15, since Versus (yakuza v undead samurai) and Azumi are both guilty pleasures.
Alert a moderator
FBMThompso9
May 3rd 2012, 10:45
13 assassins should be first it blows away everything else
Alert a moderator
irish
May 3rd 2012, 11:26
I watched a very good one last night. illusion of blood http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061208/ A mixture of samurai and the supernatural I would also add to list of best samurai movies Zatôichi nidan-kiri
Alert a moderator
irish
May 3rd 2012, 11:30
ah i see illusion of blood is a remake of one called The-ghost-of-Yotsuya
Alert a moderator
FBMBurgess79
May 3rd 2012, 12:17
13 assassins is decent but does not beat Seven Samurai which is one of the greatest achievements in cinematic history. Remember it was made in the 50's. The techniques and action sequences are mind blowing for the time. So ahead of its time. My only argument with this list is none of the original Zatoichi films are in there or Lady Snowblood or Hanzo the Razor.
Alert a moderator
youngnedyoung
May 3rd 2012, 14:56
Sad there's no Zatoichi, old or new. One of my favourites, regardless of genre.
Alert a moderator
Hadouken76
May 3rd 2012, 17:08
Ninja Scroll! :D
Alert a moderator
McSerious
May 3rd 2012, 19:22
Ghost Dog is an absolutely awful film! I'm a huge Whitaker fan but that was disgraceful! Azumi and Versus are good fun, but perhaps don't deserve to be on this list like Zatoichi does... It divides opinion but I do think The Last Samurai deserves to be here,
Alert a moderator
FBCSiple
May 3rd 2012, 20:09
"For a Fistful of Dollars" was a scene-for-scene remake of "Yojimbo."
Alert a moderator
FBCSiple
May 3rd 2012, 20:12
...a Western based on a samurai picture made by an Italian in Spain.
Alert a moderator
FBSBrand
May 3rd 2012, 21:39
Really good list. I would have liked to see Sword of Doom there, but having Samurai Rebellion at a high spot makes me happy.
Alert a moderator
FBCRamirez
May 7th 2012, 3:46
solid list. all the important ones are there and in place.
Alert a moderator
senormusashi
Aug 14th 2012, 23:11
Zatoichi isn't on this list as Zatoichi is not a samurai.
Alert a moderator