Shôgun Iemitsu no ranshin: Gekitotsu

This was a cool samurai/adventure film. Lots of swordplay action, and lots of other cool action scenes too. Too bad Sonny Chiba's not in it more than he is though. He plays the main villain, so we don't get to follow him as much as the team of heroes.

The story is about a child who is the heir to become the next shogun, but the bad guys doesn't want that. They want some other kid to become the next shogun instead. Anyway, to become the next shogun the kid has to be in a certain temple at a certain time, and it's up to the good guys to get him there, and the bad guys try to stop them.

This is pop-samurai action at its best. Go look for it.

Another one in a line of beautifully crafted Asian movies. Brilliant cast, brilliant direction, and well written. Like other movies such as Farewell My Concubine, this is a real treat for anyone who likes quality Asian cinema.

It has a well balanced amount of drama and humour, but also some well choreographed action, which again is part of this style. I will not dwell too much of the plot itself as it is better to just watch the movie. However, the movie is not very predictable, and its characters are very three dimensional with both likeable characters, some great anti-heroes and brilliant villains.

Don't wait, give it a watch.

I love this movie! This is a fast-paced action movie from 1989. Even though it can be considered a jidaigeki (Edo period drama), in many aspects (pacing, character development, gore) it reminds me of the Shaw brothers wuxia movies. What it lacks in depth and intricacy, Shogun's Shadow more than makes up in action sequences, above average camera-work and matching soundtrack. For samurai buffs, who like hardcore, slow-paced Edo-epics, this might be a bit cheesy, but for people (including myself) who love movies such as The Five Deadly Venoms or Invincible Shaolin, Shogun's Shadow will be an entertaining 1 hour 46 minutes with sword-slashing ronin, epic standoffs and some banging J-rock interludes.

At first this movie is a Sword battle, it then turns into a Drama/Action movie.

The characters are great, and the fight scenes are almost Unreal. This unrealism makes it even more exciting. Sword fighters jumping from Trees 100 feet to the ground. Intense slashing scenes coupled with nice disciplined moves.

There are great characters in the movie and it has a real feel to it. I almost at one point felt like I was in the 1800's following in on the action.

All in all I would say this movie is just nothing but great!

The action starts right away and only gets better. Story moves along well and has many great action sequences. Sony Chiba was an exception villain. Could have done better to give him more screen time but did get just enough of him. About 2/3rds into the movie an 80s rock song starts playing out of nowhere amd didn't know how to feel at first because it gave the movie a new vibe but it was awesome gave the movie and heroes an even better vibe like fight scenes from blood sport or other cult 80s classics. The movies conclusion was beautifully executed both with the fighting acting and ending. It was a great watch I highly recommend and will add to my samurai dvd collection of classics.