ShangLuda Admirable film.

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Abbigail Bush what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Yashua Kimbrough (jimniexperience) Bloody tale of a Ronin gone mad , entrusting all faith of humanity into an evil sword that he uses to chop down anybody standing in his way. As he treks his path of merciless slayings he gathers allies, enemies, and vengeful spirits along the way: a pair of pilgrims and a compassionate thief, the fornicated wife from a slain husband and a brother seeking revenge, group of masterless samurai strongarming Shogunate officials, and the rival master swordsman whom only swings his sword for justice and honor - contradictory to the main character's beliefs.Typical villainous movie . Simple plot filled with tension and evil deeds, excellent choreographed sword fights. Supreme body count for the era of Japanese Golden Cinema. Original in the killer samurai genre.

Hereticked An old man kneels to pray on the mountaintop trail of his pilgrimage. He pleads to Buddha for death so that he will no longer be a burden to his granddaughter. Appearing from a pure white cloud, seeming to step out of the sky itself, Ryunosuke arrives, dressed in pure black, ready to carry out the old man's wish. Is he just a wandering samurai? Is he the angel of death? Or is he, as the original title "Dai-bosatsu tôge" (The Great Bodhisattva Pass) might suggest, a "Danava": a dark Asura from Buddhist mythology. This question is never answered directly and The Sword of Doom is a much better film for it. The mystery of Ryunosuke is far more compelling than any answer to his origin and purpose could possibly be.From the opening scenes it's established that, mortal or not, Ryunosuke is an empty vessel with no compassion. His father, in their only encounter in the film, tells him to his face that he's cruel and disturbed. Ryunosuke agrees to an act of mercy on behalf of a fellow student only if the student's wife will sleep with him. Ryunosuke seems to approach the world with relentless selfishness and single minded ferocity, finding fulfillment only in conquest and death. He is, to put it mildly, a sociopath, which puts him at odds with the whole of Japanese society, a people culturally fixated on morals, shared responsibility, sacrifice and putting others first.But who's to say that a sociopath can't be a great samurai? Like European chivalry, the code of Bushido had much to say about social ritual and character development, but in the end they were doctrines engaged in the futile attempt to make war, to some extent, "civil." What if a man with no scruples and nothing at his core but a thirst for violence was to cast aside the moral platitudes of that system but still play, in a technical sense, by its rules? Would the world be a better place? Or would it be much worse?The key to understanding Ryunosuke and the themes of The Sword of Doom lies, I believe, in a scene that takes place in the middle of the film. Having rented his skills out to the Shinsengumi (a secret force employed by the Shogunate), Ryunosuke and his party ambush a government official on a snowy winter night. They descend on their target only to discover that it's the wrong man. Rather than the political figure they were after, out steps Toranosuke Shimada, one of the greatest swordsmen in all of Japan. All but Ryunosuke attack him and Shimada cuts down their entire party in short order, leaving dozens of bodies strewn in the bloody snow. Ryunosuke watches in awe, but does not act. Shimada, sensing that he's no threat, sheathes his sword and speaks cryptically to Ryunosuke about good and evil.Why?!? Until this point Ryunosuke has never shown a hint of hesitation. Most seem to attribute his actions to fear, but that's unlikely. We know he's a sociopath, we've already seen his supernatural skill, we're keenly aware that he finds an almost orgasmic bliss in violent confrontation and as a committed samurai, he's not afraid to die. This is not typical fear, this encounter has disturbed him on a much deeper level. So why doesn't he attack? The answer is simple: he can't. "Honor" forbids it.Not only is he the wrong target, but Shimada never attacks him and so Ryunosuke can't respond. It should also be noted that Ryunosuke's cruel style of combat relies on baiting his opponents into striking first which he can read/sense with uncanny efficiency and counter-attack for a kill. But now he's met a virtuous samurai who won't be baited. Shimada is an "Aditya" (benevolent Asura) to his "Danava" and Ryunosuke is shaken for the first time.If you study the film and review each violent incident that Ryunosuke is party to, you will notice one critical similarity. At no point does Ryunosuke ever violate Bushido:1. Old man on the mountain prays to Buddha for death (mercy kill) 2. Official match vs Bunnojo (Bunnojo threatens his life with an illegal move, Ryunosuke kills him in defense) 3. Mountain ambush (self defense) 4. Assassination of clan official (Ryunosuke waits for the official to attack first, then kills him) 5. Assassination #2: (Shimada never threatens him so Ryunosuke doesn't act) 6. Killing his mistress (Hama attempts to murder him in his sleep, self defense) 7. Clan massacre/final scene (self defense)Since Ryunosuke is an utter sociopath he has no way to internalize the morality that Bushido attempts to impart to its adherents, but nevertheless uses it as a system to govern his actions. He's someone who follows the rules of honorable conduct in combat while completely ignoring the spirit of Bushido. You could say he's the ultimate "lawful evil" character.And yet, if we strip away Ryunosuke's sinister personality and simply compare his actions to the vast majority of samurai throughout history, are they really so different? It's in this frame that The Sword of Doom can be viewed as a criticism of Bushido and a dissection of the moral failings of Japan's (often glorified) samurai caste. Indeed, perhaps all samurai hold "the sword of doom" in their hands, no matter what philosophy they may incorporate to justify their actions. Ryunosuke is simply the most pure distillation of that reality laying bare the ugly truth.Since this is a review in addition to an analysis, I want to focus on the aesthetics of the film for a bit. The Sword of Doom is one of the most beautiful films I've ever laid eyes on. The sets are immaculately conceived, the camera angles are diverse and the shots amazingly composed. It's use of black and white is so stunning that I wouldn't even want to see it in color.The script is tight and, with the exception of a few historical footnotes, narrowly focused on moving the plot forward. The characters are well defined and even the minor ones impart meaningful dialogue. Tatsuya Nakadai portrays a brooding nihilist more skillfully than anyone I can think of and the movie is full of good performances from its supporting cast as well.There are many period pieces where the action contains cartoonishly extended clashes between two characters, but The Sword of Doom's action set pieces are conducted smoothly with a dead seriousness that's only too appropriate for the movie's tone. Every face-off between two characters is over in moments, much like it would be in real life.Most notably, the sound in The Sword of Doom is incredible. It uses music only when appropriate and its use of sound effects stands out in the best possible way. There are several moments where the sound from one scene bleeds into the next, creating haunting transitions that give the film an ethereal quality.From the nonstop pounding of a water mill's hammer alluding to the illicit sex happening just off screen to the dizzying use of light and shadow in the lead-up to the grand finale, The Sword of Doom is also full of skillful visual tricks and metaphors. I've seen the film a dozen times and still feel like I've yet to discover all that's hidden in the depths of its images.In the final scene Ryunosuke's past has caught up to him. His previous victims assail him psychically. He is trapped in a hall of shadows and assaulted on all sides by an endless stream of samurai as fire begins to rage around him. It's hard not to see this as symbolic of hell and yet his maniacal laughter informs us that he welcomes the chaos. Ryunosuke is trapped in an endless cycle of violence. "Honor" will not lead him out of it. Bushido cannot give him the basic humanity required to cultivate the virtues it prescribes. It can only justify his killing.It's a shame we'll never get to see the next two films (The Sword of Doom was meant to be part one of a trilogy), but in a way I'm glad it ended where it did. There's no guarantee that subsequent entries would have been as good or that Ryunosuke's evolution would have been as interesting as the character study we're given. The Sword of Doom stands as a dark masterpiece and, in my opinion, the ultimate samurai film.

elvircorhodzic THE SWORD OF DOOM is a action drama about a tradition, family and honor, which are connected by a bloody sword. A melodramatic story suggests some form of madness in a lecherous society. It is based on the serial novel of the same title by Kaizan Nakazato.Ryunosuke Tsukue is an amoral and bloodthirsty master swordsman with an unorthodox style. He kills, in cold blood, an elderly Buddhist pilgrim who he finds praying for death. Later, he kills an opponent in self-defense in a fencing competition that was intended to be non-lethal, but became a duel after he coerced his opponent's wife to have sex with him in exchange for throwing the match and allowing her husband to win. He is, for murder, banished from the city. His opponent's ex-wife goes with him. In order to support his wife and child, Ryunosuke joins a mercenary service, which is composed of ronins. Eventually, he learns that the younger brother of the man he killed in the fencing match is looking for him, intent on revenge...It is an isolated and wild action, which has peaks in various forms of killings and bloodshed. The atmosphere is very anxious in an impressive environment. Social categories are distorted in many ways, therefore, this movie reminds on an amoral game, where the winner is only weapon - the sword. A traditional spirit has had a decisive influence on a very good characterization.Tatsuya Nakadai as Ryunosuke Tsukue is an intelligent assassin. He certainly does not show emotion. This is evident in the scenes where he looks his family with a touch of quiet contempt. He is an unconscionable character, but his spirit is shaken when he met his match swordsman. Mr. Nakadai has offered a good performance.His support are Michiyo Aratama (Ohama) as his frightened mistress, Yuzo Kayama (Hyoma Utsuki) as a vengeful, but sensible young man, Yoko Naito (Omatsu) as a young beauty, who is a victim of a sick society and Toshiro Mifune (Toranosuke Shimada) as the master swordsman in the true sense of the word.The film's abrupt ending leaves many plot elements unresolved. Mr. Okamoto has left us to think about destiny, justice, romance and bloody sword.

carstenw Slow at times, breathtakingly fast at others, the plot sometimes seems well connected, yet is sometimes extremely hard to follow. It would surely help to be Japanese to understand all the little subplots and details.The cinematography is flawless, the visuals stark, yet elegant. The action shots are well- choreographed and acted, if somewhat dated, and not always fully convincing. The plot builds steadily towards the end, with a few holes on the way, easily bridged by the generous viewer.Still, there are some rather large leaps of faith. The connections between the main players is at times a little hard to fathom.This film plays out like a virtual opposite to "Seven Samurai". Silent, dark, filmed largely at night, in the rain or in dimly lit locations, with little talk, much silence and equal amounts of action, a study of insanity and evil rather than greed and tactics.One important thing makes this film less satisfying than "Seven Samurai": the ending. It is as if the film ends 10 minutes before it should. There are at least two major subplots which never properly finish, by western tastes at least. Apparently the film was meant to be part of a larger work, the filming of one of the longest, if not the longest, series of novels ever written. Still, highly visually satisfying, it is well worth watching. Just be prepared to mentally add the appropriate ending in your mind afterward.