Shogun's Shadow: The Sonny Chiba Collection [DVD]

The shogun’s heir, Takechiyo, is a young boy who is threatened by a series of assassins sent by Lord Abe a powerful government official. Takechiyo’s protector Lord Masamori Hotta (Tetsuo Tamba) hires Igo Gyobu (Ken Igata) and his crew of fighters to protect the heir. Sonny Chiba plays Shoza, a henchmen of Lord Abe tasked with killing Takechiyo during a trip to Edo.The movie is half action, half adventure. The opening scene where Takechiyo is attacked at a hot springs shows what the fighting will be like. This is not the stylized and choreographed samurai battles of the past, but more like Hong Kong Kung Fu flicks with lots of people, lots of swords, lots of death. The adventure part comes as Igo and his crew have to escape an entire army sent to hunt them down forcing them to go through forests, across huge gorges, etc.Unfortunately, things quickly devolve into endless chases, fight scenes that go on too long, etc. and the movie goes nowhere as a result.C

Sonny Chiba picked up where Mifune left behind, gave credit to authentic Japanese samurai drama. True enjoyment

Very stylish opening sequence which introduces the various key characters well. Sonny Chiba as baddie is as convincing as the usual Heroic roles. I only feel that too many heroes are in it and they all deserve more elaborate development. Of course, it is not possible due to the film's length etc etc. It is still a nice weekend home couch treat, however, watch out for a couple of VERY DIRECT VISUAL Impacts.... Enjoy, my movie loving friends..

Just terrible. Poor script, unimspired acting, awful green-screen, and a late-entry modern soundtrack that made me CRINGE!I want my damn money back, you can HAVE this absolute DRECK.

was a gift

Fun video with lots of sword action and humor

Sonny Chiba - nuff said.

This is as 80's of a samurai film as you are going to get. Loud, expensive, even has heavy metal music towards the end. Sounds stupid, but it works!