The Sword of Doom
1966 ‘Dai-bosatsu tôge’ Directed by Kihachi Okamoto
Synopsis
Tatsuya Nakadai and Toshiro Mifune star in the story of a wandering samurai who exists in a maelstrom of violence. A gifted swordsman—plying his trade during the turbulent final days of Shogunate rule—Ryunosuke (Nakadai) kills without remorse, without mercy. It is a way of life that ultimately leads to madness.
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Pretty cool to see this so recently after having seen Yojimbo again, because in many ways this is the anti-Yojimbo, as well as a kind of proactive anti-the-countless-movies-inspired-by-Yojimbo. Unlike Sanuro the ronin with the heart of gold, Tatsuya Nakadai (the bad guy in Yojimbo!) plays the rogue samurai who broke your girlfriend's heart before she settled for you. He's just a complete psychopath, killing people for little to no reason and just being a wrecking ball towards everyone around him. Perhaps you know the type - be thankful your guy doesn't know how to use a sword.
The chief critical line on this seems to be that its visually stunning and very influential in its depiction of screen violence, but…
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If "Sword of Doom" were a title for a fantasy for sci-fi film, it would be awful. But if it's a samurai film, you've got to give it a chance, because it could be great.
And I'm glad I did. It is amazing. The darkest samurai film yet. Samurai-noir. The Psycho of samurai films.
Ryunosuke Tatsue is cruel. It is the adjective applied to him again and again. And it cannot be denied that if there is a way to grant more dishonor to his opponent, he will take it. And he has a really unique style of swordplay, in which he mimics a fish out of water, ready to be gutted and just as his opponent comes close, he…
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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Lets set one thing straight right from the off; If you are not familiar with the nuances and(at least to Western eyes) oddities of Japanese national cinema, Sword of Doom will be a perplexing and at times frustrating watch. The narrative is episodic in the extreme, it contains huge temporal ellipses that can be very confusing, and it uses title cards to introduce chapters that bear little to no relevance to the characters or action you are seeing on screen. Possibly the most difficult thing however, is the central character. Ryunosuke is EVIL, pure unfiltered, unflinching, murderous EVIL. He is also(happily) a Badass. If you want to get into Japanese cinema and are looking for an entry point, don't pick…
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Awesome cinematography and fight scenes (especially that wicked one-take ambush scene), but the story doesn't really go anywhere and all the characters and their motivations get lost in the shuffle. It's a shame, because god damn, those fight scenes were great.
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Okamoto's nihilistic samurai tale set near the end of the Tokugawa era is a mixed bag. There's a lot to like here: the masterful use of light and shadows (especially near the end), Nakadai's typically intense performance, the ambush in the snow with Mifune in fine form, etc. On the other hand, the storytelling at times comes across as sloppy (there are a couple of huge leaps in time that are so jarring as to almost feel like narrative jump cuts), and the abrupt ending can't help but disappoint. Still, definitely worth a look.
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If "Sword of Doom" were a title for a fantasy for sci-fi film, it would be awful. But if it's a samurai film, you've got to give it a chance, because it could be great.
And I'm glad I did. It is amazing. The darkest samurai film yet. Samurai-noir. The Psycho of samurai films.
Ryunosuke Tatsue is cruel. It is the adjective applied to him again and again. And it cannot be denied that if there is a way to grant more dishonor to his opponent, he will take it. And he has a really unique style of swordplay, in which he mimics a fish out of water, ready to be gutted and just as his opponent comes close, he…
-
Lets set one thing straight right from the off; If you are not familiar with the nuances and(at least to Western eyes) oddities of Japanese national cinema, Sword of Doom will be a perplexing and at times frustrating watch. The narrative is episodic in the extreme, it contains huge temporal ellipses that can be very confusing, and it uses title cards to introduce chapters that bear little to no relevance to the characters or action you are seeing on screen. Possibly the most difficult thing however, is the central character. Ryunosuke is EVIL, pure unfiltered, unflinching, murderous EVIL. He is also(happily) a Badass. If you want to get into Japanese cinema and are looking for an entry point, don't pick…
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A sociopathic ronin (Nakadai Tatsuya) suffers the torments of bad karma as he wanders Japan of the 1860s, causing mayhem and heartbreak with his unbeatable fencing style.
Nakadai gives an extraordinary performance. It just happens that I watched this film shortly after the classic "Harakiri," another samurai film, in which he plays a completely different type of character. I am filled with admiration for his acting ability as well as his prowess with a sword. In this film, he is a cypher, an embodiment of pure evil except for those moments when his fear or loneliness overwhelm him and he takes on a lost look. Unfortunately, this is the first film of a trilogy that was never completed, so intriguing plot threads including many interesting characters are left dangling. Nevertheless, director Okamoto Kihachi has made a powerful, often beautiful film in stunning black and white.
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This film follows the most evil prick known to man. He has no conscience. He cannot be reasoned with. One problem: he is the ultimate bad ass mofo.
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"When I fight, I have no family."
An amoral ronin (Tatsuya Nakadai) comes face-to-face with his own demons, but even his expert swordsmanship cannot vanquish the past. The end to this film carries a harrowing kind of ferocity, a man fighting against all odds, against any and all enemies, in search of a purpose. His sword is his soul, fighting is all he knows, so to stop fighting is to die. To die is to admit defeat.
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Pretty cool to see this so recently after having seen Yojimbo again, because in many ways this is the anti-Yojimbo, as well as a kind of proactive anti-the-countless-movies-inspired-by-Yojimbo. Unlike Sanuro the ronin with the heart of gold, Tatsuya Nakadai (the bad guy in Yojimbo!) plays the rogue samurai who broke your girlfriend's heart before she settled for you. He's just a complete psychopath, killing people for little to no reason and just being a wrecking ball towards everyone around him. Perhaps you know the type - be thankful your guy doesn't know how to use a sword.
The chief critical line on this seems to be that its visually stunning and very influential in its depiction of screen violence, but…
-
Sword of Doom surrounds Ryunosuke, a master swordsman without much care or remorse for the people he kills. He seeks out foes to destroy for not much more than an apparent joy of it. Asking for no understanding himself, his forced mistress struggles to understand his wicked ways. Appearingly, Ryu is pure evil, and following him is intoxicating.
A simple story of an incredibly driven and crazed being. It is full of vengeance, fear, and power-lust. An ideal plot for a Samurai film.
My little quarrels with it lie in the action. With the swordplay being so important to the film, it should be flawless. And while the feeling of the action was never dull and the scenes were grand…
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This is a dark and moody samurai tale. Tatsuya Nakadai has a great face and expressions for obscure angles and lighting. He's perfectly cast as Samurai with no morals, who's slowly descending into madness.
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This movie... is Awesome.
I honestly don't really know what more to say. This is an awesome brutal and bloody samurai movie. Tatsuya Nakadai is the epitome of pure evil in this and I love it. Toshirō Mifune makes an appearance in the film and he's freaking awesome as always. The Sword of Doom features some of the best sword fighting I've seen. And its got a great story on how the desire to be the best can consume you whole until you stop caring about anything or anyone else. And the ending of this film... my goodness, so good!
This is the first film I've seen directed by Kihachi Okamoto but I'm very anxious to see his other films based on the sheer awesomeness of The Sword of Doom.