Kozure Ôkami: Jigoku e ikuzo! Daigorô

The series goes out with a bang, not a whimper, with its 6th and final film. It vies with film #2 (River Styx) for my favorite of the bunch, with its very cool subterranean warriors and those fantastic scenes out on the snowy hillside. The cinematography is excellent, and there are some great warriors, starting with a badass woman who juggles daggers and calmly kills three practice partners before heading out to face the Lone Wolf. The real star is the bastard son, however, who unearths three warriors who've been buried for 42 days after a death rite to be resurrected as "violent, immortal souls." They burrow underground and kill anyone the Lone Wolf comes in contact with, and I loved how he really seems in danger more than once, with real fear in his eyes, in contrast to his ordinary calm demeanor.

There are wonderfully framed fight sequences, including one out on a dock at night that then leads out into the reeds, with the Lone Wolf almost being sucked into the marsh. There's also an unfortunate (and unnecessary) scene of incest/rape, in there seemingly for shock value and to get some nudity into the film, but mercifully it's brief. It has a lean, uncomplicated story, one that works to the film's advantage, which leads to a memorable skiing sequence out in the snow, with the Lone Wolf pursued by a horde of attackers. At that point the film has a James Bond vibe, even playing a little bit of the 007 theme song. It's unfortunate that Tomisaburo Wakayama walked away from the franchise, upset that he wasn't given the role in the TV series that had started up, because it ends with an unresolved feeling, though it's not one that spoiled my enjoyment of the film.

Honestly, I think that the Lone Wolf and Cub series is the greatest samurai series ever. EVER. Although some of the events are, ahem, not the most plausible things in the world, the journeys of Ogami Itto and Daigoro are fascinating to watch. Actually, the perfection of the direction and cinematography makes even a machine gunning baby cart seem perfectly normal. A great movie.

These movies were infamous for their incredibly brutal and bloody swordplay sequences, but equally impressive IMHO was the leading actor- Tomisaburo Wakayama a.k.a. "Lone Wolf" was surely the greatest martial arts star ever. The command and authority with which he wielded a sword (and other weapons) was just phenomenal. The blade truly was an extension of himself, and his use of it was the definition of lethal, with none of the unnecessary/show-off flourishes so desperately thrown about by today's wannabes. He had incredible presence and charisma- easily on a par with the likes of say Eastwood or Bronson- with eyes that reflected pure death, and the desolation in his soul. There were moments in the "Babycart" series where you'd swear he was the personification of his namesake, the Wolf. You never doubted for one second that he WAS shogun executioner, masterless samurai, assassin for hire. One look at him in action, and you could readily understand why his enemies trembled at the mention of his name, and ran from him in sheer terror. Alas, Lone Wolf is one with void now, but his legend will live on forever in these films.

Forget Toshiro Mifune. Forget Takakura Ken. Forget Sonny Chiba. Forget Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, and any of those wire-reliant ballet dancers from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. And CERTAINLY forget any American martial artists that you could care to name. Tomisaburo Wakayama was, is, and forever shall be, THE MAN!

The sixth and last of the "Lone Wolf and Cub/Baby Cart" series of films shows how artistically well-done films can make even the most ludicrous ideas work. During Ogami Itto's journey to the final showdown with his arch-enemy Retsudo, leader of the evil Yagyu clan, we witness everything from incest bordering on necrophilia, zombie samurai who can burrow in the ground like worms, the usual assortment of mutilations, a battle on snow skis, and the most elaborate baby cart weaponry yet--including automatic armor plating! As usual, the images are beautifully composed, the action is splendidly choreographed, the plot ideas are wonderfully outrageous, and the funky music score is cool perfection. Any of this out of context would be silly; in context, it's almost sublime.

Fabulous conclusion to a fine series with less dubious samurai philosophy and more creative and marvellously choreographed fighting sequences. The stupendous snow scenes that open and close the film are jaw dropping and whilst watching could only imagine the filming difficulties. Subsequently I discover that these relatively short scenes took some six weeks to film with the youngster playing the cub crying at the pain of the cold and his 'Papa' near to collapse on several occasions. It is a remarkable episode in many respects and not least with regard to the cinematography which seems even finer here with some truly wonderful moments. i think I actually gasped when the opposing forces appeared on the brow of the snow clad mountain-side. The ending here differs from that in the manga partly because the film actually came before the story had been concluded - so keen apparently were the film makers to carry on with the series. Far from being a let down, as I feared it might be, this sixth and final film in the series is a fine way to conclude what, overall, is a most enjoyable and magical experience - with rather a lot of bloody violence.