Asesino Shogun

This is not an actual movie but a re-edited version of the first couple of Japanese 'Kozure Ôkami' movies, with English voices added to it. Nevertheless this doesn't prevent Robert Houston from giving himself full credit for directing and writing this.

It's not like I hated watching this but it all also seemed pretty pointless to me at the same time. This version got obviously made to aim more toward the American market but that of course just doesn't give you the right to just take a bunch of movies and edit them into one and cash in on it.

This re-editing of course also takes away a lot out of the movie. The storytelling isn't always anything too great now and scenes often too rapidly follow each other, without making much sense. It's like a re-edited version of only the action sequences. Guess it's good for the pace of the movie but there is a reason why Japanese movies are often such slow moving ones. It takes its time to build up the story and put down its characters. This of course just isn't very much the case with this movie.

But even so, this still remains a good watch, due to it's great source material. It's action sequences especially stand out and it's one of those movies with exaggerated fight sequences and squirting blood. The fans of the genre will still get a kick out of it, though they would of course most likely prefer the original movies. This movie really made me want to watch the originals as well, so I guess this movie is still good for something.

7/10

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'Shogun Assassin' is actually re-edited footage from two of the early 1970s Japanese Lone Wolf and Cub movies, dubbed into English. The brains behind this idea were Robert Houston, one of the stars of Wes Craven's horror classic 'The Hills Have Eyes', and David Weisman, the writer/director of the Edie Sedgwick cult classic 'Ciao Manhattan'. On paper this really shouldn't have worked, but it does. It not only "works", it's one of the greatest action movies ever made, and a source of inspiration for both John Carpenter and Quentin Tarantino. I only hope that Tarantino's references to 'Shogun Assassin' in 'Kill Bill' introduce it to a whole new audience. Martial arts veteran Tomisaburo Wakayama plays Ogami Itto, aka "Lone Wolf", a samurai who refuses to serve the evil Shogun. After the murder of his wife he hits the road with his young son, who he pushes along in a souped up baby cart. Lone Wolf has one thing on his mind - vengeance. Along the way many assassins and Ninja try to stop him, but he is a relentless one man killing machine. His journey finally leads him to a confrontation with the three Masters Of Death, who are escorting the Shogun's brother. Lone Wolf is one of the coolest figures in action movie history, and the baby cart gimmick really works, especially as his infant son narrates the story. The frequent fight sequences are exciting and very brutal, and there isn't a dull moment in the whole movie. I can't recommend 'Shogun Assassin' highly enough. For me it stands alongside 'Mad Max', 'The Driver', 'For A Few Dollars More' and (the original version of) 'The Getaway' as one of the most entertaining action movies of all time.

I loved this movie but I couldn't even begin to explain why. On paper it is terrible. The movie is made with bits of footage from other movies. It's dubbed. The story line is basic and irrelevant to why I like the movie. Not a great start and yet, once I started watching it, I couldn't stop.

I used to listen to Wu Tang CDs when I was a kid and the Genius GZA album Liquid swords borrows a bunch of lines from this movie. I always thought they were cool but I didn't know they came from this movie.

The part that is hard to explain, is that my wife, who doesn't like martial arts flicks or gore, also liked this movie.

This isn't the kind of movie that you see by accident on TV. You'll probably have to buy it on DVD to see it. I waited for it to be on Netflix but eventually gave up and ordered a copy for $10.

I'm glad I did. This movie inspired other movie makers and despite its age, it is very cool from start to finish. I promise you won't get bored. People talk about how the footage from taken from other movies but it is the new sound track that is added that makes it special and deserving of being judged as a movie in its own right.

It ends very suddenly and I wasn't 100% satisfied with where they left it but in general, its and entertaining experience that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to movie fans. In a world where it is hard to find something different, sometimes you have to look to the past to find something new.

Released today, film fans across the world would be throwing copies of Shogun Assassin onto bonfires because technically, it is 100x worse than the type of 'rip offs' that people keep accusing Tarantino of lately. Essentially, Shogun is the first fifteen minutes or so of Sword of Vengeance followed by the majority of Babycart at the River Styx copy and pasted into an 80 minute film, with the addition of bad dubbing and some seriously cool music. But, as it stands, Shogun Assassin was 'made' in 1980 and did the full trip around grind house theatres so it has gained a cult following. So today it is looked back on as classic hack and slash cinema, as Kill Bill will probably be in twenty years time as much as some purists hate to admit it.

Speaking from my current state of mind I would say screw Shogun Assassin and go for the six Lone Wolf and Cub films. Even as a cure for film geeks lust for blood and guts, Shogun Assassin seems kind of strange. I never really understood why Houston didn't c & p some of the much more epic scenes of carnage from Babycart to Hades or Babycart in Peril. Still, the fight with the Hidari brothers (or 'Masters of Death' as they are known in Shogun) is one of the coolest in all six films. John Carpenter later used the brothers as prototypes for his '3 Storms' in Big Trouble in Little China, but if he was 'homaging' River Styx or Shogun Assassin we will probably never know.

Ultimately, Shogun Assassin works in the same way as Kill Bill, as a gateway to grind house cinema for the masses. How many people realise, respect and take advantage of this is where the problems start. Regarding Kill Bill, thousands of people see the films and see them as original without realising their true purpose. But it is difficult to argue that both films are not taking advantage of underseen cinema.

Alas, three paragraphs and I haven't actually said if the film is any good. The truth is, I will probably never watch it again because there isn't much point if you are into the LW & C films. But I won't have been introduced to 70s Japanese samurai 'grind house' cinema, which I regard as the best action genre there is, if it wasn't for Shogun. So I can't say it is rubbish, and to be fair, if you haven't seen LW & C it is far from crap, showcasing some of the coolest fight scenes ever filmed along with some seriously awesome music (which is the main reason I still have love for Shogun). Of course, the dubbing completely ruins Wakayama's performance and the Yagyu female ninja leader is turned into a useless loose end.

But Shogun's existence is important and a godsend is stopping 70s Jap samurai cinema from falling into nothingness in the west. If you don't know samurai cinema, watch Shogun once and you will turn into a nerd like me and become instantly obsessed with Japanese cinema. I would never know and love a lot of the films I do now if it wasn't for Shogun, and for that I hold it in the highest regard. Well, sort of.

I think this film is almost as famous for its tour de force editing,taking a min-series and making it into a coherent masterpiece of 86 min as it is for its action sequences.

The basic story is about a Lone Wolf. A very proud samurai who worked as the official decapitator for the shogun.The paranoid shogun sends out his ninja to kill lone wolf, but get his wife instead.At this point there is the classic "choose the(toy) ball and join your mother, choose the sword and join me" the son joins him and we hear the story from his eyes from this point.It is pure carnage from here on in, as the evil shogun sets his ninja out on Lone Wolf along with the brutal Masters of death.

There is a lot of carnage and blood in this movie...I MEAN a lot. But the father son relationship is touching and strongly developed.

This movie is a classic that is only just starting to show its age, my 8 might be a bit low of a vote really.

If you like fast sword play and quick deaths watch this movie.