O Lobo Solitário - O Samurai Assassino

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!

Installment #4 in the series comes in at a taut 81 minutes, and while a little undeveloped, it's satisfying nonetheless. Like the other films, unfortunately rape is yet again an element of the plot, and it's cringeworthy how "out of shame" the young woman (Michie Azuma) runs away afterwards and becomes an assassin. She's shown topless at every possible opportunity, with the giant tattoos providing an excuse to do so. It would have been nice had the film expanded her character a little more and made her the final battle, because you see, the lone wolf (Tomisaburo Wakayama) has been tasked with hunting her down. The film has its moments, including all sorts of dismemberment, a man with an improbable ability to mold his face into the shape of another's asked to commit hara-kiri for someone else, and a battle scene with guys who were camouflaged as statues (probably the film's best). The baby is now three years old and capable of wielding the cart's hidden machine guns, which comes in handy, as you'd hate to bring just a sword to a gun fight. The lone wolf has some sense of honor but is still just a mercenary, and moreover, one who isn't invulnerable, which makes him an interesting character, and Wakayama plays the part reasonably well. It's good, campy fun, and a film you wouldn't have had to see the first three to enjoy.

I don't know the history behind it but it seems quite odd that for this movie they picked a new director, Buichi Saito, while the first till third movie got all directed by Kenji Misumi, as did the following fifth movie. Perhaps it had something to do with his health, since Kenji Misumi died quite young, in 1975.

But whatever the reasons were, it's a choice that worked out great for this particular movie. Its definitely a change of style. It's a more snappy a fast going movie than any of its predecessors. It's edited greatly and also has some nice little tricks in it. The movie is more Hollywood like and less Japanese like, if you will. This is not always a good thing but for this particular movie, its concept and story, it does work out well.

Its fight sequences are often spectacular, though they are also certainly less bloody than was still the case in the previous movies. Its faster editing and camera-work and fresh style of directing keeps it all great to watch. It also all helps to make the movie incredibly entertaining to watch.

I also liked how this movie handled the lone wolf and cub relationship. The whole father son relationship plays quite an essential role within this movie, more so than ever had been the case in the previous movies. It makes the movie quite 'cute' and also emotionally stronger. It also seems like Tomisaburo Wakayama's acting is stronger than ever before. In all of the previous movies he was mostly exchanging hard long looks with his foes but in this movie he seems to have more lines and also shows more emotions and expressions in his face.

Another thing that keeps playing an essential role within this movie are its wonderful looking environments. The natural environments are great and this movie takes us to some wonderful places, to all add to the movie its adventurous feeling.

Such perfect fun to watch!

9/10

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This movie is the four in the series and continues the exploits of Ogami Itto and son as they continue there quest for vengeance against Lord Retsudo. Hired to kill Oyuki (deadly female martial artist) for his standard 500 gold pieces, this movie follows the by now normal storyline of flying ninjas, one on one sword duels and mass army destruction that would put a John Woo movie to shame, throw in the vast amount of blood and this movie is a classic within the series. These things in themselves do add to the overall plot and character development within the movie and that the cinematography helps to places with in the action right from the start (although some slight lighting problems do occur). The similarities between this movie and certain spaghetti westerns (Fist Full Of Dollars) is unmistakable. Overall a must see for both fans of martial arts and western movies.

This is a beautifully made movie, the cinematography is to die for. In this installment of LW&C, Lone Wolf is hired to kill a rogue defector of a powerful clan, a formidable martial artist who happens to be a woman on a killing spree. Her body has been heavily tattooed to distract & shock her enemies. Itto's son Daigoro gets lost (this kid gets into more trouble) and is confronted by the only man ever to defeat Itto in a sword fight, Yagyu Gunbei, played by Yoichi Hayashi. He's a stone-cold & ruthless Ronin with a serious grudge against Itto. Needless to say there's a showdown between the two, and this is the highlight of the movie. In this scene it is twilight, and the cinematography is simply breathtaking. This movie is exceptionally clean, and is a real pleasure to watch. This movie and "Hades" are the top two LW&C films IMHO. Rent it or buy it, you will not be disappointed.