Sword of Doom 1966

The actions of a man can describe the man's true identity, as the identity of righteousness and moral character are a reflection of a man's actions. Bushido expresses honor before living, which was the way of the samurai. This honor seemed to fade away, as large numbers of samurai without masters accrued in cities and other locations around Japan during the 1860s. At the end of the shogunate in 1868, which also changed the importance of the samurai in the Japanese society, warfare began a drastic change from swords to guns and cannons. The end of samurai also indicated an end to bushido, which lead many samurai into a more corrupt lifestyle where honor no longer had the same meaning.Sword of Doom opens in the spring of 1860 where a young woman and her grandfather climb a mountain pass where the grandfather is ruthlessly murdered without any apparent reason by the film's antihero, Ryunosuke Tsukue (Tatsuya Nakadai). Ryunosuke is the symbolic embodiment of the unification of steel and man, as it often was taught by sword masters that one must become one with the sword in order to reach perfection. When Ryunosuke callously let his sword fall over the girl's grandfather a small bell falls on the rocks, which unsettles him. However, it seems to be the last time that Ryunosuke will show emotion.Later in the story the audience gets to meet the sword master and teacher Toranosuke Shimada (Toshirô Mifune) who suggests, "The sword is the soul. Study the soul to know the sword. Evil mind, evil sword." Fundamentally, Toranosuke points out the old way of the samurai where the samurai is one with the sword, as the sword is only an extension of the samurai. Thus, if the man is evil then the sword does evil. It also implies that the sword is as guilty as the samurai Further interpretations of Toranosuke's statement could suggest that substantial responsibility and honor come with carrying a sword, as one carries life at the end of the sword. Toranosuke embraces the values of Bushido as he teaches his student the way of the samurai through fencing.A more contemporary notion suggests that the mind guides the sword to its target, as the sword is cold, distant, and without judgment. Nonetheless, the sword and other weapons continue to reap new victims such as the grandfather in the beginning of the film. Ryunosuke's fencing technique, which many do not recognize as the samurai are all of the old and traditional ways, appears cold, strange, and uncanny to those who see him fight, as they wonder where the source of his technique originates. This brings the notion to the beginning of the film where Ryunosuke kills the grandfather, which seems to be the moment when he perfects his fencing style, a style that seems detached, callous, and without empathy, which seems to be derived from the sword itself. The story develops this idea even further by displaying Ryunosuke as a calculated and unsympathetic sociopath.After Ryunosuke returns from the mountain pass he is to fight in a sword contest the following day against Bunnojo Utsuki (Ichirô Nakaya). Bunnojo's wife, Hama (Michiyo Aratama), visits with Ryunosuke in order to convince him that her husband must win in order to save her family's face. This meeting leads Hama to face Ryunosuke's coldhearted personality, as he demands her to offer herself to him. After much contemplation Hama visits Ryunosuke in a mill during the night before his sword contest. In the morning Hama is approached by Bunnojo who tells her that he has announced their divorce earlier the same morning, as he knows about what she had done. Anger and pride consume Bunnojo who decides to kill Ryunosuke in the sword contest as payment for his insolence. However, Bunnojo has no chance against Ryunosuke's strange and distant fencing style.The story continues to surround Ryunosuke who goes into hiding with Hama, as he continues to lend out his sword to those who are willing to pay. It leads the audience into a downward spiraling tale in which the audience can sense the outcome of Ryunosuke's life. Nonetheless, it is never certain what will happen as director Kihachi Okamoto continues to darken the atmosphere while the tale unfolds. Death is dealt without consideration to whomever he is told to slay, as he stares down the eyes of those who gradually sink to the ground with a deep and deadly cut in their flesh.In the backdrop of Ryunosuke there is a samurai uprising that he seems to be involved in while the brother of Bunnojo intends to seek an honorable revenge by killing him. The young woman who found her grandfather dead in the mountain pass enters the story, as the past seems to catch up with Ryunosuke. These elements are tied together through Ryunosuke's existence, as he continues to kill for the highest payer. The continuation of Ryunosuke ruthlessness encourages the audience to think that his destiny must eventually catch up with him and make a full circle. Lastly, Ryunosuke seems to be a personification of the shogunate, which we know died at the end of the 1860s.Sword of Doom is a marvelously framed film with several intriguing shots that show a meticulous eye for details. Many of the scenes have wonderful mise-en-scene that elevates the authenticity of the story, which is brought together with a well-performing cast. The contrasts between Tatsuya Nakadai's character Ryunosuke and Toshirô Mifune's performance as Toranosuke visually bring out the different personalities in these two characters. It is essential to see this contrast, as it provides an insightful view into how different these two are while being very much the same. Much of the film's chemistry rests on these two characters, even though Toshirô Mifune is used sparsely throughout the film. The unfolding Sword of Doom brings the audience a violent cinematic experience, which offers a historical tale with depth and reflection.

Classic. Way back in 1982 I had a great running conversation with a Japanese Zen priest when I was in college, (I was at the know-it-all age of 19 at the time), on the subject of great Japanese samurai movies. We were fellow students in the same introduction to philosophy class taught by a great professor who believed in dialectic as a way of learning about an introduction to philosophy. He would just talk about a different subject each class and let the students debate, then at the end of class he would write down a list of suggested writers and philosophers for continued study. Even at the tender young age of 19 I had read most of Vonnegut, several books on Existentialism, works by Carl Sagan, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Steinbeck...and I felt like I could debate any philosophical sophistry with the best of the class. One day in class a debate arose in class with this old seasoned 50 year old Japanese Zen priest taking the lead in the discussion as to the greatest samurai movie ever made. Of course I said Seven Samurai was the greatest but he insisted that the title should go to The Sword of Doom. He claimed Seven Samurai was more of a movie emphasizing Western values and that it was anti-hero in The Sword of Doom which showed the perfect Zen conundrum of the individual floating in the absurd void which is existence. An individual devoid of moral judgement who was Part Nietzsche Superman, part existential nihilist and 100% Zen anti-hero. Heck, today I saw it again for the third time and get it; Yes, it took me 31 years to understand what that old bouzu talking about.

This was my first time seeing a Kihachi Hokamoto film. I love Kurosawa films and anything with Toshiro Mifune, so I picked this up. The story is fragmented and kind of sad. Ryunosuke, the protagonist, is not a hero like in most samurai epics. He's a gifted swordsman cursed by his skill and pride. He keeps getting into situations where he has to kill people. First, his family wants him to lose a sparing duel to a fencing school trainer who is heir apparent to the school so that the status quo can continue. He not only wins, but he sleeps with the guy's wife and kills him in the non-lethal match. After that, things get worse as honor throws more and more people after him...but he's too good, and kills them all. Toshiro Mifune's part is tertiary, and he only has 3-4 scenes. He is the honorable type counter to Ryunosuke's tortured ronin. The special feature explains that this was supposed to be a multi-part story, based on a serial ...but, it just ends abruptly and was never returned to. Great build-up, lots of tension and good scenes...then it just ends with no closure. It's interesting, as a case study in Japanese film making from the 1950's, and the samurai epics...but it leaves you a bit frustrated.

How can a man wearing a waste paper basket on his noodle be so scary? Easy when he is ready at the drop of a hat (basket) wave his katana, wakizashi, odachi or whatever at you. So it starts of with a bumping off and moves on to bottles of saki being guzzled - hero depressed. Next question is just how deep a voice would you expect said scary boy to have - well very deep in fact think of Barry White but on 60 a day plus - actually I am suprised the other characters don't comment - clearly the mores of Japanese socity allow sword wielding psychopaths to sound like they want - "Sure put a basket on your head" "Yes you look great - and the deep voice is great". Things move on. Toshiro Mifune puts in an appearence but is soon off.The film is about some kind of wierd defence in samuri sword play - more Sake - then lotsa of folk end up brown bread naturally including - hero - his girl friend - the baby and everybody else.

This film is a study of how a great talent, in a body whose controlling mind lacks an equivalent moral and social power of judgement, can get sucked into a downward spiral of evil.The contrasting characters show there is a choice.This is clear especially in a superb fight in the snow in which an assassination attempt against Shimada Toranosuke (Toshiro Mifune) goes wrong because of the latter’s immense moral courage, that underpins his superb swordsmanship.The wide range of worries that surround the evil central character - social, personal, national, professional, of clan and family, point up the complex resonance of this superb film.It is full of arresting images and sequences; but it is not about them, but concerns a deeper range of social and psychological issues.

Sword of Doom is the thrilling and shocking story of Ryunosuke Tsukue played intensely by Tatsuya Nakadai (Harakiri, Ran) who is a wandering samurai who has no qualms for killing defenceless people. This nihilistic film chronicles the different things that happen to him: he gets involved in a duel and viciously murders his opponent, joins an assassination attempt and while all the time descenting further into senseless killing and madness. Japanese super star Toshiro Mifune gets a small yet pivotal role as master swordsman that he encounters (although not in a showdown). Alot of Samurai Films are quite slow-paced yet remain gripping building up the tension slowly, Sword of Doom is the opposite a fast-paced and violent film boasting some of the best sword fights committed to samurai film. The film also boasts brilliant directon from Kihachi Okamoto, impressive music and very good supporting cast. The ending has been criticised as it is abrupt and ambiguous but I felt it was a perfect, unconventional, shocking and leaves you gasping for more. The DVD boasts another top notch transfer from Criterion. A word of warning to those who cannot play multi-region DVDs such as this Region 1 Criterion: Do not buy alternative UK release from the Studio Warrior it has one the worst transfers ever that looks like a terrible VHS quality print and is in letter-boxed format if you do not have multi-region player seek out the region 0 Sword of Doom available on Ebay or Amazon.com

If you want a review of the fim go to IMDb. If you want a review of the Blu-Ray go to Blu-ray.com. I'll provide a small review of this version however; It's not a great cut of the film, but it's the best out there this far (2021). I love the film itself. The fight scene in the snow is worth the price of admission alone. Not a great wealth of extras, but I'm happy to own this-it's one of the best samurai films ever made in my opinion.

This version does not english sub