Shogun Assassin

1980
R
1h 25m

IMDb RATING

7.3/10

12K

YOUR RATING

Tomisaburô Wakayama and Akihiro Tomikawa in Shogun Assassin (1980)

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Samurai Action Adventure

When the wife of the Shogun's Decapitator is murdered and he is ordered to commit suicide by the paranoid Shogun, he and his four-year-old son escape and become assassins for hire, embarking... Read allWhen the wife of the Shogun's Decapitator is murdered and he is ordered to commit suicide by the paranoid Shogun, he and his four-year-old son escape and become assassins for hire, embarking on a journey of blood and violent death.When the wife of the Shogun's Decapitator is murdered and he is ordered to commit suicide by the paranoid Shogun, he and his four-year-old son escape and become assassins for hire, embarking on a journey of blood and violent death.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.3/10

12K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Daigoro
(as Masahiro Tomikawa)

Lamont Johnson

Voice
(voice)

Marshall Efron

Voice
(voice)

Sandra Bernhard

Voice
(voice)

Vic Davis

Voice
(voice)

Lennie Weinrib

Voice
(voice)

Lainie Cooke

Voice
(voice)
(as Lainie Cook)

Sam Weisman

Voice
(voice)

Mark Lindsay

Voice
(voice)

Robert Houston

Voice
(voice)

David Weisman

Voice
(voice)

Gibran Evans

Voice of Daigoro
(voice)

Reiko Kasahara

Azami

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Many of the lines from this movie are sampled by hip-hop artist and Wu-Tang Clan member the GZA on his album "Liquid Swords".

Quotes
Voice of Daigoro: When I was little, my father was famous. He was the greatest Samurai in the empire, and he was the Shogun's decapitator. He cut off the heads of 131 lords for the Shogun. It was a bad time for the empire. The Shogun just stayed inside his castle and he never came out. People said his brain was infected by devils, and that he was rotting with evil. The Shogun said the people were not loyal. He said he had a lot of enemies, but he killed more people than that. It was a bad time. Everybody living in fear, but still we were happy. My father would come home to mother, and when he had seen her, he would forget about the killings. He wasn't scared of the Shogun, but the Shogun was scared of him. Maybe that was the problem. At night, mother would sing for us, while father would go into his temple and pray for peace. He'd pray for things to get better. Then, one night the Shogun sent his ninja spies to our house. They were supposed to kill my father, but they didn't. That was the night everything changed, forever. That was when my father left his samurai life and became a demon. He became an assassin who walks the road of vengeance. And he took me with him. I don't remember most of this myself. I only remember the Shogun's ninja hunting us wherever we go. And the bodies falling. And the blood.

Alternate versions
Shogun Assassin is actually an amalgam of two 1972 films titled Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance (1972) ("Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance") and Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx (1972) (Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx"). The producer decided to join the best bits of these two films (using around 10 minutes of the first film as a pre-credits flashback sequence to introduce the characters) and create "Shogun Assassin". The English-language dubbing included voice-over narration, ostensibly spoken by the child Daigoro.

Connections
Edited from Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance (1972)

User reviews103

Review

Featured review

One of the most entertaining action movies of all time. Lone Wolf is a relentless one man killing machine!

'Shogun Assassin' is actually re-edited footage from two of the early 1970s Japanese Lone Wolf and Cub movies, dubbed into English. The brains behind this idea were Robert Houston, one of the stars of Wes Craven's horror classic 'The Hills Have Eyes', and David Weisman, the writer/director of the Edie Sedgwick cult classic 'Ciao Manhattan'. On paper this really shouldn't have worked, but it does. It not only "works", it's one of the greatest action movies ever made, and a source of inspiration for both John Carpenter and Quentin Tarantino. I only hope that Tarantino's references to 'Shogun Assassin' in 'Kill Bill' introduce it to a whole new audience. Martial arts veteran Tomisaburo Wakayama plays Ogami Itto, aka "Lone Wolf", a samurai who refuses to serve the evil Shogun. After the murder of his wife he hits the road with his young son, who he pushes along in a souped up baby cart. Lone Wolf has one thing on his mind - vengeance. Along the way many assassins and Ninja try to stop him, but he is a relentless one man killing machine. His journey finally leads him to a confrontation with the three Masters Of Death, who are escorting the Shogun's brother. Lone Wolf is one of the coolest figures in action movie history, and the baby cart gimmick really works, especially as his infant son narrates the story. The frequent fight sequences are exciting and very brutal, and there isn't a dull moment in the whole movie. I can't recommend 'Shogun Assassin' highly enough. For me it stands alongside 'Mad Max', 'The Driver', 'For A Few Dollars More' and (the original version of) 'The Getaway' as one of the most entertaining action movies of all time.