Baby Cart: L'âme d'un père, le coeur d'un fils

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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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.

Number four in the series and a new director but the product is still well up to scratch. Not sure I would necessarily have noticed the change at the helm so seamlessly does this continue the theme but there is a little more stress upon the vulnerability both of the main protagonist and his cub. Fire also features here, with a blazing sword, whatever that might mean and an amazingly shot blazing field that surrounds the young cub. Elephant in the room here though is the tattooed lady. Absolutely magnificent designs front and back of the bare lady assassin and these are to have their desired affect in the combat to come, even if her bare breasts wouldn't be distracting enough. So, much as before with a little extra and wonderfully photographed throughout. The ending is not unlike that of the previous outing but even here just a little bit extra for our continued astonishment and pleasure.

I am a huge fan of samurai movies and for fans of the genre, this will not disappoint. For newcomers too, this film has much to offer, by the way of a great storyline and fantastic swordplay. The story is particularly sensitive and heartfelt compared to other Lone Wolf And Cub films, and is a wonderful example of Japanese mentality that there is no black-and-white. I loved the character of Oyuki, she has great depth and feeling to her and I felt myself rooting for both her and Lone Wolf, despite the fact that he is hired to kill her. Top class Samurai film. 5/5.

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.