Sheldon Aubut I'd just recently discovered the "Lone Wolf and Cub" series and having just watched all of them I found them to be some of the best of the genre that I'd ever encountered. I watched them in Japanese with English subtitles and found every one of them to be exceptional. When I saw that "Shogun Assassin" was based on the "Lone Wolf and Cub" series I was excited to see it, but oh what a letdown it turned out to be. Some hacks have taken the original series and cut clips out of each of them, then re-edited those clips into the most god-awful movie I've ever seen, and then claimed to be the "writers". I knew that something was off as soon as I saw that Retsudo, from the real series was shown as the "Shogun". In the originals he was the head of a clan who had stolen the post of royal executioner from Ogami Itto through deception. In the original Daigoro (the son) hardly ever speaks more than the word "Pa", yet in here he is the narrator. The dialog is just plain insipid and has no relationship to the original story. Skip this worthless dreck and find the original "Lone Wolf and Cub" series.In reading all the glowing reviews I have to wonder if they were written by friends of the people who put this together, or by people who have never seen the original series or other great Samurai series such as the Zatoichi movies or other greats of the genre.

winner55 This is neither as a good a film as some reviewers claim, nor is it as bad as others remark.The "Lone Wolf and Cub" chambara (sword fight) films have a strong cult following. The first I saw was "Kozure Ôkami: Shinikazeni mukau ubaguruma", on an English-dub VHS with the ridiculously redundant title "Lupine Wolf" (a Latinate-Germanic bastardization which properly translates as "Wolfly Wolf"?!); I couldn't tell whether to laugh or feel shocked. These are indeed rather odd films, because the film-makers have not failed to include every cliché of the genre they could, and yet boldly include wild innovations that are completely anachronistic, having absolutely nothing to do with the Chambara tradition, nor with the older tradition of samurai-folklore. In that respect, they paved the way for many of the fantasy ninja and samurai films that followed, and which constitute most of the "B-movie" entries in the Japanese cinema of the past ten years. While the anachronisms most noticeable are the gimmicky weapons (packed inside the baby-cart, no less), what may truly offend a traditionalist here (and I guess I'm one of these) are the personalities of the characters involved, who talk and act like 1960s street yakusa pretending to be samurai.But what makes these anachronisms striking is that they are presented in films that take themselves just SO seriously, there is hardly ever a moment's humor, and rarely does any character even smile. And to be sure, the Japan depicted in these films is so dark, so filled with vile corruptions - physical, legal, spiritual - that it's difficult to understand why all these characters just don't commit seppuku and get it over with.This particular film has recently been re-released on DVD. It is actually a re-edit of the first two films. The DVD costs less than half the price of any of the original films, and is more widely available than any of them (I got my copy at Wal-Mart). Consequently, it will probably be the first of these films younger American viewers are likely to see. Is it faithful to the original series? Not quite. The story tends to get lost among the action scenes, and the original films actually have strong, if rather complicated, story-lines. And most confusing of all is the loss of the sense of anachronism which was the special gift this series made to the Japanese action film.Still, it is a film entertaining in its own violent way; and at the price, it may be worth viewing as a sampler, to get the taste of the original series.I should warn the reader that every review concerning the violence in this film (and in the original series) is completely true. The violence in these films is graphic almost beyond belief; Lone Wolf cultists are clearly impressed with it, others may feel it is so overdone it borders on self-parody. (For comparison, check out the final Katsu "Zatoichi" film, which has a shattering final sword-fight that uses touches of wit here and there without losing any of its credibility.) Not to every taste, not even among chambara fans, but it may be to yours.

Darth-Helmet In the 19th century in Japan, a lone ronin nicknamed LoneWolf and his son travel the countryside to fight off deadly ninja assassins so he can avenge the death of his beloved wife, a powerful shogun sends out deadly minions to eliminate LoneWolf for good but can the one-man army himself deal with all of them? One of the most violent and goriest movies ever made! this Japanese-American action production is actually three films from the Japanese "LoneWolf and Cub" Series into one movie and dubbed into English. Considered a favorite of Quentin Tarantino and inspired his "Kill Bill" films, this entertaining and gory-as-hell film is a visual action feast with some laughable English dubbing ( i assume the Japanese "LoneWolf and Cub" series is better which i haven't seen) and non-stop ultraviolence such as heads split open, arms being sliced, etc.I can see why this movie has a cult following! if you want a good old fashioned Asian blood feast then maybe you should watch this.Also recommended: "Ninja Scroll", "The Toxic Avenger", "Ichi The Killer", "Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky", "Shogun Assassin", "Kill Bill Vol. 1", "Kill Bill Vol. 2", "Fist of the North Star (Anime)", "Versus", "Battle Royale", "Cannibal Ferox", "Conan The Barbarian", "Princess Mononoke", "Street Trash", "From Dusk Till Dawn", "Running Scared", "Crank", "Bad Boys 2", "Vampire Hunter D", "The Last Samurai", "Ran", "Seven Samurai", "Rashomon", "The Punisher (1989 and 2004)", "Samurai Fiction", and "Blade Trilogy".

kglsugarman I heard about this movie from a guy I worked with at HMV Trocadero in London, and being a fan of Samurai flicks and violent Asian cinema (Kuroswa, Takeshi Kitano, John Woo, all the usual guys), I couldn't wait to see it. I first saw a dubbed VHS version about 10 years ago and it blew me away, so you can imagine my reaction when I saw it in the original Japanese language on DVD. Even better is the recently released DVD box set of all 6 Lone Wolf & Cub movies, the ultimate in Samurai slasher action. The first two movies in the series, 'Sword Of Vengeance' & 'Baby Cart At The River Styx', were edited together to make 'Shogun Assassin' and once you've seen these two you can't really go back and watch 'Shogun..' again as it just doesn't compare with the originals. However, if you can't get hold of the 6 full movies, 'Shogun Assassin' is a must for any fan of the Samurai genre. I never thought I'd ever see an on-screen swordsman who could compete with Toshiro Mifune, but Wakayama matches him for skill, style and, most crucially, cool. You should also check out Takeshi Kitano in his recent remake of Zatoichi.