Revenge is a dish best served cold. True. Another way to serve the dish however is to bring you the dish, slam your face into the plate of revenge, cut your head off with my blade and then walk away slowly with my son tucked safely in his carriage.
The story of Lone Wolf and Cub was first published as a manga in 1970 and eventually adapted into six blood soaked films. The first film in that series is SWORD OF VENGEANCE. It would later be cut and edited (only 12min of the first film) with the second film in the series, BABY CART AT THE RIVER STYX, for American audiences and retitled SHOGUN ASSASSIN.
I dig all six films in the Lone Wolf series, but SHOGUN ASSASSIN was my first exposure to the series and my default when I want to jump back into the character who is all kinds of badass. Lone wolf and son. The greatest team in the history of mass slaughter.
See you on forty deuce,
G
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Like you, Shogun Assassin was my first exposure to the Lone Wolf and Cub series, so it’ll always hold a special place in my heart. It’s also quite a notable accomplishment, since if you told me that you could make a quality film by re-editing two others, stripping out the audio and replacing it, and giving it a new musical score, I really wouldn’t believe it.
But it really works. The dubbing is done well, particularly Daigoro, and the music is great! It’s definitely more of a grindhouse film than the slower moving, more deliberate originals, but I can’t help but love it.