Dai-bosatsu tôge

Imagine your favorite action movie, then take out all the cheesy one-liners ("Asta la vista, baby!"), the irritating sidekick, the love interest, the techno-porn, and the off-handed moralistic ending. Then add a Commando-league body count, incredible swordplay, and great photography, and you've got Sword of Doom. This is a wrenching, visceral drama about an antagonist armed not with a stolen nuclear device, but with the best sword-fighting skills in Japan and a psychopath's indifference to human life. Unlike other more recent movies that try to portray the same raw, killing-machine kind of character, Sword of Doom does not resort to grimy photography or an adolescent delight in visual assault. Instead you get pure, distilled, ultra-kinetic fighting suffused with a thrilling coldness.

A classic Samurai picture that is as confusing as it is violent. Ryunosuke Tsukue is the main character, a Samurai with a dark and merciless nature. You might even call him evil. The path he takes (with multiple subplots that don't always seem to be resolved) leads him to madness. The confusing aspects may be due to the fact that there were supposed to be sequels, as well as the fact that the story was a famous one in Japan and hence, certain parts were to be assumed by that audience. Nonetheless, it was still a fairly compelling watch, especially with the action, a precursor to the violence in such films as the excellent Lone Wolf and Cub series. Hands and fingers are cut off, blood is shed, and the climatic ending features a body count along the lines of The House of Blue Leaves!

Here, in one of Nakadai's best performances, he plays a young, seemingly evil Samurai who lives by his own moral code. He ruthlessly slays anyone who he thinks should die, and it's hard to say whether his killings are unjust or deserved, even though his actions might seem despicable at first. For example, in the beginning of the film, he encounters an ageing pilgrim praying for a quick death. Upon hearing this, Nadakai's character kills him in one swift move. This scene sets the tone for the rest of the movie.

Nakadai's fighting style echo's his attitude to an extent, it's an ultra defensive style in which he never strikes the first blow. In an iconic scene later on in the film, Mifune's older and wiser samurai tells Nakadai, "The sword is the soul. Study the soul to know the sword. Evil mind, evil sword." In Japanese culture, the sword and style of a samurai could be seen as a window to his soul and "Sword of Doom" beautifully yet brutally echoes this sentiment. In the penultimate scene of the film, Nakadai's samurai is haunted by his past actions and starts to hallucinate, he is clearly a broken man and regrets some of his actions.

The ending of the film is surely a controversial one but I personally loved it. Nothing is resolved, apparently there were sequels planned but they never came to light for one reason or another. Nevertheless, it didn't take away anything from the film and for me it actually added to the mystique and moral ambiguity of Nakadai's character.

Impeccably shot and beautifully choreographed, the film is a feast for the eyes. Nakadai's performance as a self destructive samurai was highly intense and full of emotion, his shift in character alone was astonishing and really displayed Nakadai's talent as a versatile actor. Mifune is also in the film and has his fair share of excellent scenes and lines. In summary, an excellent film that I'd recommend to anyone with a remote interest in Samurai movies.

Three years before The Wild Bunch(1969) and the same year as Django(1966) came a film called Dai-Bosatsu Toge/Sword of Doom(1966) which was one of first body count action dramas in 1966. Not only a terrific samurai film but also a terrifing portrait of a samurai warrior who's on the brink of madness. Tatsuya Nakadai gives one of his best performances that is surpassed only by his excellent performances in the following Kurosawa films, Kagemusha(1980) and Ran(1984). Sword of Doom(1966) contains elements that reminds me of Henry:Portrait of a Serial Killer(1986) because Ryunosuke also kills at random and is a very scary person. Toshiro Mifune is magnificent in his role as the wise samurai teacher, Shimada. The high body count ending would influences people like Sam Peckinpah and John Woo as well as the Lone Wolf and Cub films. Dai-Bosatsu Toge is about a lone samurai warrior who is unable to live outside of his sword. The cinematography is great and the story is very interesting. The film has some scenes of graphic violence that must have shocked Japanese audiences back in 1966. The film ends on an amazing body count blood bath battle that is ahead of its time. One of the most underrated Samurai pics of all time.

"The Sword of Doom" is one of Tatsuya Nakadai's best performances. His best in my opinion was in the role of Hidatora in Kurosawa's "RAN." Tatsuya is an unusually sensitive actor compared to other actors of his generation who seemed to spit out their lines. His facial gestures and body movement conveyed as much as words at times.The film contains one of the most memorable scenes ever shot; the fight pitting Toshiro Mifune against some 20 assassins in a snow storm borrowed by Quentin Tarantino for "Kill Bill." It is a moving narrative and at times Tatsuya reminds me of Marlon Brando in his early films in his moody performance.

It is too bad the trilogy was never finished. This was to be the first film of the trilogy which is why it leaves much of the story untold. One would have to consult the original work by the author in order to follow the story to its conclusion.