Weirdhouse Cinema: Shogun Assassin
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Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey, welcome to Weird House Cinema. This is Rob Lamb. And I am Joe McCormick. And today we're going to be talking about a film from the year 1980, the blood-drenched samurai film Shogun Assassin. Rob, this was your pick. How did you get to Shogun Assassin? Yeah.

Oh, wow. Mainly because I had subscribed to Criterion Channel in order to watch Face Behind the Mask for a previous episode. And they have all these little collections in there, little playlists of movies to check out. And they had one that was just called Synth Scores. So, of course, I had to dive in and see what kind of movies they had included there. And they included one film that I had—

heard of, but I'd never seen. And that's Shogun Assassin. And so I, I started playing it like I think I was eating lunch by myself at the time. And it was one of those films where before I knew what had happened, I'd watched most of the film, you know, like I had other things I really needed to do that day, but I was already like sucked into it.

It's just... If you've never seen it, I highly recommend diving in as well because I think it will captivate most people who watch it. It is...

Yeah, so I'm really excited to talk about it here today. I made sure to open up a can of my own.

My Suntory Boss Coffee here. I'll show it to you here, Joe. Did not buy it from a convenience machine on the streets of Japan. This one is just from Super H Mart. But they're not sponsoring this episode, by the way, but I will be drinking my Suntory Boss Coffee. Wait, is that just coffee or is it some kind of coffee plus? It's just a coffee. It's inexpensive, like cold brew black coffee in a can with a fun logo on it.

I have to try that one sometime. Uh, but, oh, so Shogun Assassin is a movie that, uh, I think we've done films of this kind before, though I can't think at the moment what they were, but this is a movie that is not an original artistic product, but rather is, is made out of other products that already existed. Yeah. We've talked about pictures on the show before that exist in different, sometimes drastically different cuts. Uh,

We recently did that with Reptilicus. But yeah, today's episode is an extreme case of something like this. 1980s Shogun Assassin is a Western film release edited together from the first two films in the famous Japanese Lone Wolf and Cub series. Those two films being both 1972 releases, Lone Wolf and Cub Sword of Vengeance, the first of six films, and Lone Wolf and Cub Berserk.

Baby Cart at the River Styx, the second of six films. Warning that a lot of these film titles, the translation is maybe a little rough, but that's part of its charm.

So essentially, the American filmmakers involved here set out to take the best parts from these two films and stitch them together into a single coherent narrative featuring the best action, the coolest visuals, and all of this built around a rather simplified plot. I'll describe the ways that they simplified the plots a little bit as we proceed. But in essence, they're just repackaging these two films for the grindhouse market.

I would say this movie is very loosely plotted. You barely need to follow what's going on with the plot or the machinations. It is more like a demo reel of sights and sounds. And those sights are samurai action with blood jets squirting. And the sounds are the dark synth stylings of our composers who we'll get to later.

Yeah, yeah. The plot is greatly reduced here. But in a way, it also makes it super fun to then dive into the full cuts of those first two Lone Wolf and Cub films, which is exactly what I did after watching Shogun Assassin. All of the Lone Wolf and Cub films are available on the Criterion channel as well as of this recording. But I'm curious, how significantly different is the mood between?

I think the mood is pretty much the same. And I think that's the really glorious thing about Shogun Assassin, is that it's easy to imagine all the ways that a project like this could go spectacularly wrong, the way that it could be disrespectful to the original pictures.

But I do think that the essential vibe is there. So if you go from Shogun Assassin and you're like, yeah, I would like more of this. Well, the lone wolf and cub series is more of this, you know, because it is, you know, the full plot, the full character development of everything that is in Shogun Assassin that you love. Except for the score, the different score, but still effective scores in the original pictures.

So regarding not the original films, but Shogun Assassin specifically, I've read this movie's aesthetic described in terms like poignant.

poetic exploitation violence. And I think that's a good way to put it because this movie feels like it has two souls at once. It is at once a work of art and a piece of trashy grindhouse gore. So on one hand, there really is a kind of poignant, almost literary quality to the way details are observed in a lot of scenes. Just one scene of many that comes to mind is

when the young boy is trying to bring water from the river to his badly wounded father, and he's trying to carry it in his hands and it keeps leaking out between his fingers. So he eventually carries the water in his mouth to his father. I mean, it's like a almost kind of beautiful novelistic detail. And also in terms of style, there is a quite exquisite vision that

play with the composition of the shots and very again memorable details strong mise-en-scene but at the same time there is a campy Tom Savini Friday the 13th sensibility operating in quite high gear in most of the action scenes with like a real desire to just see blood squirting and to get the camera all up in the ridiculous wounds the cloven heads and all that so I

It's an interesting combination. It's like some gore geek exploitation trash and a thoughtful, meditative, historical art film about a samurai father and son were merged into one entity. Yeah.

Yeah, like the arterial sprays, and there are quite a few of them, will make your jaw drop and exclaim aloud. But at the same time, yeah, there are such beautifully poetic scenes in this picture. Like I cried, I teared up at times, you know, I shed tears to

just to Shogun Assassin. So it is both things at once. I think it's a great point. Especially with the music. The music is a Daigoro's theme, especially that one was, it was making me a little misty. Yeah, that is a strong track. We'll come back to that one for sure.

Now, one thing I promise not to do in this episode is to painstakingly talk about all the differences between Shogun Assassin and the first two Lone Wolf and Cub movies. We'll come back to some of these details in a bit, but just in broad strokes, I do want to mention that

Uh, clips from the first film sort of vengeance apparently amount to only like 12 minutes of Shogun assassin, mostly dealing with the backstory of lone wolf and cup of, uh, of, uh, our, our Ronan character and the child. Oh, well, but that's a lot of what the movie is. I, uh, I would bet that when people watch this movie and then think back on it and reminisce about it, uh, uh,

The primary thing they probably remember is the feeling created by the opening five minutes or so. Not that the rest of the movie isn't good, but the feeling of this movie is really established strongly at the beginning. Again, powerfully moody with this strong synth bass melody that plays under Daigoro's voice.

the child's narration as he describes the backstory. And we see these scenes very rapidly cut together. They condense a lot of story into not much space. But it's quite effective, in my opinion. Yeah, that narration by the child is quite excellent. And that is something that is original to Shogun Assassin. There is not something like that in the Lone Wolf and Cub movies. We don't really have his insight or...

reflection on what happens here. Though his narration continues throughout this movie. I mean, like he gets to tell us how, you know, we see them pushing the cart through the jungle and they look around and see monkeys screaming at them and the kid says, this is how I get my education. Yeah. Yeah.

So I'll come back to some of the details about the differences, at least the ones that are really key to understanding what's happening in the picture or why things are proceeding the way they are. But yeah, basically, though, more time is spent with the characters, of course, more time is spent with the politics and the background.

More time is spent laying out the duties that Ogami Ito has. That's our main character, the shogun's executioner. In fact, the first 10 minutes or so of the first Lone Wolf and Cub movie is just Ogami Ito about to execute a young lord, like a child that is the same age as his own son, on the orders of the shogun.

This is, of course, the sort of thing that if you're a recent viewer of the excellent Hulu FX miniseries Shogun, which is, of course, more historically based perhaps in some ways than Shogun Assassin, you'll be familiar with this sort of thing. But it does just a great job in the original picture just laying out like this is the kind of work he has to do. You know, he has to do bloody deeds, revenge.

for the Shogun out of a sense of honor and duty. And at night, he prays for the souls of those that he has killed.

And then finally, I should also mention that both of these films had also already been released in the U.S. by Toho with subtitles. So it's interesting to think about that as well. This is not it's not like Shogun Assassin was the absolute first time U.S. audiences had a chance to see these films. You know, at least some moviegoers out there already were familiar with them. But this was kind of like a.

you know, a redistribution or repackaging of these films for a new audience. And it's certainly seemed to have found its audience.

Well, yeah, that makes me think. What is your understanding of the original reception history of this movie? Was it literally like a, you know, midnight movie, grindhouse kind of thing? That's my understanding. This was like a grindhouse sensation, you know, in which the expectations for cinema were, you know, at the extreme. People were tuning in to see those brilliant arterial sprays, the violence and some of the psychedelic sequences, you know, and.

But and it's through this that Shogun Assassin ended up really resonating with various, various folks, everyone from like, you know, Quentin Tarantino, members of the Wu-Tang Clan and so forth. There's a lot here that's been sampled elsewhere and so forth. So I think it also does a great job of just, you know, introducing the world of Lone Wolf and Cub to a different audience, a wider audience, if you will.

You can think of it kind of like one of those sitcom episodes where they do a clip show from the other episodes. But here it's a clip show of Lone Wolf and Cub. So you get a flavor of the different adventures. It's hard to imagine another project doing something like this, though. Can you imagine taking, say, Predator 1 and Predator 2 and then editing them together into one film? It would be easier if they had the same main character. Yeah. Yeah.

I guess, or how about Godfather 1 and 2 edited into a single 90-minute film? Call it Mafia Assassin. Brilliant. I love it. That's maybe more apt because in an effort like that, you would have to boil out, reduce it, and remove most of the politics and get down to just an ultra-simplified plot, which is what we have in Shogun Assassin. Hmm.

Well, on that note, why don't we go ahead and listen to a little trailer audio? This is the trailer, to be clear, to Shogun Assassin, not the original Lone Wolf and Cub films. We're not going to listen to all of it because it's kind of long, but I want to make sure we get a little bit of that music and, of course, the narrator saying the title of the picture. Return to the vanished kingdoms of ancient time. Journey through a lost empire of mad wizards.

and barbaric passions. Behold the saga of a legendary warrior, a loving father who has the power of a dozen armies in one sweep of his mystic blade. This is a story of honor, disgrace, vengeance, massacre,

And the man who became a demon. Shogun Assassin. All right. So if you would like to watch Shogun Assassin and perhaps all six Lone Wolf and Cub films, it's all currently streaming on the Criterion channel. I've been really digging this resource recently. There's also a great looking Criterion collection box set of the six films.

Shogun Assassin itself has been released on Blu-ray and DVD, but I think that one might be harder to grab right now. But of course, if you have some sort of rental service at your disposal, be it Videodrome here in Atlanta, whatever your local video rental option is, or even maybe the public library, as a listener brought up in the recent Listener Mail episode, yeah, don't discount your public library. They might have some Shogun Assassin waiting for you.

All right, we're all set for the party. I've trimmed the tree, hung the mistletoe, and paired all those weird-shaped knives and forks with the appropriate cheeses. And I plugged in the Bartesian. Bartesian? It's a home cocktail maker that makes over 60 premium cocktails, plus a whole lot of seasonal favorites, too. I just got it for

50 off. So how about a closmopolitan or a mistletoe margarita? I'm thirsty. Watch. I just pop in a capsule, choose my strength and wow. It's beginning to feel more seasonal in here already. If your holiday party doesn't have a bartender, then you become the bartender. Unless you've got a Bartesian because Bartesian crafts every cocktail perfectly in as little as 30 seconds. And I just got it for $50 off. Tis the season to be jollier.

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All right. Well, let's talk about some of the people involved here before we get into the plot and so forth. So, again, this is a 1980 film release composed, edited together from two 1972 films. We can't do justice to all the folks involved in these different projects. So I want to mostly single out some of the key folks from the first two Lone Wolf and Cub films, as well as keep people responsible for the Shogun Assassin cut. OK.

All right. So starting, I think, at the top where credit is deserved, the director of both Lone Wolf and Cub films one and two. This is Kenji Misumi, who lived 1921 through 1975.

Very well regarded Japanese film director, best known certainly internationally for his work on four of the six Lone Wolf and Cub films. That's one, two, three and five, as well as his Zatoichi films.

His other movies also include 1972's Hanzo the Razor, Sword of Justice, and 1966's Return of Dimejin. This is a tokusatsu film about a giant demon god. I haven't seen these films, but this was the second in a series that had started earlier that same year. Like a big statue type dude. Well, like a giant statue of a samurai warrior. Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

With a scowl on his face and so forth. See screenshots of one scene where he appears to be walking through a parted sea. Ooh. I don't know. I'll have to flag this one. Come back to it. All right. Uh, we also have to credit, uh, the creators of lone wolf and cub. Um, uh,

two individuals worth singling out here. The first is Kazuo Kouki, who lived 1936 through 2019, writer, creator. He's a legendary Japanese manga writer, novelist, screenwriter, lyricist, and entrepreneur, apparently. Best known for co-creating the Lone Wolf and Cub series, not only writing it, but also adapting it for the screen in both of these, the pictures that are used to create Shogun Assassin.

He continued to do this with numerous other works of his that were adapted to the screen, including 1972's Hanzo the Razor. He also wrote a Wolverine story for Marvel. I think it's from 2003, X-Men Unlimited Volume 1, Issue 50.

And he is a member of the Eisner Hall of Fame. And then the manga artist that worked with him on this was Goseki Kojima, who lived 1928 through 2000. Yeah, he worked with him on the Lone Wolf and Cub film. So very much a part of the original alchemy of bringing this idea to life on the page. All right, now turning to the folks heading up Shogun Assassin...

We have the Shogun Assassin director and writer Robert Houston, born 1955. So this individual is an Academy Award winning director for a 2004 short form documentary titled Mighty Times, The Children's March. This was produced by HBO and the Southern Poverty Law Center dealing with the Birmingham, Alabama civil rights marches of the 1960s. Hmm.

Long before this, though, he played Bobby in Wes Craven's 1977 mutant mayhem movie, The Hills Have Eyes. What? I included a still for you here, Joe. If anyone remembers, he's the blonde kid in the T-shirt. Okay. Yep.

That's him. That's our director. Wow. Paths crossing. I had no idea. Yeah. He appeared in a handful of late 70s and early 80s pictures before heading up the Shogun Assassin project for producer David Weissman, which would ultimately be released by Roger Corman's New World Pictures. His subsequent directorial and writing credits include...

An array of thrillers, erotica, an episode of Doogie Howser, M.D., and, of course, Academy Award-winning documentary shorts. How strange. Yeah. All right. Now, David Weissman, who I just mentioned, he is credited as a writer and a producer on this. He lived 1942 through 2019. He was apparently part of a splinter group from Andy Warhol's factory back in the 60s, and he went on to produce such films as 1985's Kiss of the Spider Woman.

All right, now getting back into the original Japanese cast, the actors who bring this picture to life. It's Lone Wolf and Cub, so let's start with Lone Wolf, the character of Ogami Ito, the shogun's executioner turned ronin. He's played by Tomisaburo Wakayama, and he lived 1929 through 1992.

He brings a lot to this movie in that he is an absolutely lethal action hero, but he does not... I don't know. He doesn't have a very active aura. He brings a lot of stillness and patience. Do you know what I'm getting at here? Yeah, yeah. And I think it's something that's easy to sort of...

Not really process all the way, especially if you're just watching Shogun Assassin and maybe if you just sort of have it on in the background or something. But it begins to make more and more sense once you really absorb the character because, you know, he...

He doesn't talk much, but it is a full body performance of kind of this mix of silent honor and determination, but all of it burning within this scowling husk of shame and sorrow. Like he is a man who's been brought low, who's been betrayed, who is marked for death.

You know, and all of these circumstances are out of his control. But inwardly, he's remaining true to his principles while the whole world either turns their backs on him or turns their blades on him. And then when he does unleash his fury, oh man, it's just this fluid artery severing machinery, you know. And right down to when he's finished like the fluid sheathing of his sword. You know, it's like a final signature on a regal contract of death. Yeah.

Yes. His presence in the action scenes is very much like he is a machine where the valve is closed and then suddenly it explodes open and there is a release of activity and then it closes again. Yeah, it's such a great performance. And when you learn a little bit more about Wakayama, his background makes sense when you see this because he was an accomplished kabuki actor before.

and a judo practitioner that ended up then getting into film acting. So I can see that, like that control of the body, fluid movements, and then his ability to use these often just smoldering facial expressions, where he's not just scowling. He's not just like, well, I'm going to look like a badass for this scene. No, there's stuff going on behind the eyes, and you can sense it.

Yeah, there's something more sad and also in a way threatening about the kind of the blankness that he often brings. Mm hmm.

So, yeah, just just a wonderful performance. You know, he he's mostly known for, you know, for these films, the lone wolf and cub films. He's in all of these original six pictures. He also had some starring roles in some other Toho martial arts films. But outside of Japan, he only ever appeared in two Western films.

He pops up as a coach in 1978's The Bad News Bears Go to Japan. What? Yeah. Um...

I haven't seen that one. But then he also has a turn as a key Yakuza boss in Ridley Scott's Black Rain from 1989. Now, I haven't seen that one either. It's one of Ridley's non-sci-fi fantasy films, so I've never gotten around to it. But I've seen some stills. He looks like he has a really smoldering presence. And I think he gets to deliver a monologue that features the title of the picture.

Oh, wow. 1989, Michael Douglas, Andy Garcia, Kate Capshaw. Yeah. Oh, this looks worth seeing. I remember seeing trailers for it as a kid and thinking like, oh, it's more Blade Runner. And then I realized, oh, wait, it's not Blade Runner. This takes place in the real world. And then I don't watch it. But hey, the poster is hilarious. See Michael Douglas there with his arms folded like, yeah, what do you want?

Yeah, it's like something like an American cop must go to Japan to track a Yakuza killer or something. I don't know. But it may be great. If you love it, write in and let us know.

All right. So that's our lone wolf, our cub. Sorry, I'm sorry. I'm imagining Michael Douglas doing like fish out of water scenes where he like tries sushi for the first time. He's like, oh, what is this? I mean, it was the 1980s, but I hope that's not what Black Rain is. But, you know, maybe so.

All right. Daigoro is played by Akihiro Tamakawa, born 1968. Child actor. Cute kid. But these are pretty much his only credits. But still, I cannot stress enough how cute this kid is. Just such a cute kid. Show any clip that features Lone Wolf and Cub to anyone in your vicinity, and that will at least be one of their comments. Cute kid.

A lot of spraying blood and so forth. He's even cute when he's operating like the switchblade knives in his baby carriage. Yeah, he gets to kill too, which is one of the interesting details. All right. The chief antagonist of this picture is, this is kind of confusing. Yeah, I was mighty confused by this.

Because when you watch Shogun Assassin, they talk a lot about the Shogun and they present the Shogun is kind of like this evil, paranoid, corrupted ruler who is just exacting his vengeance and paranoia on on the entire nation.

That's very much the read, and it works within the context of Shogun Assassin. But the character who they identify as the Shogun is absolutely not the Shogun in the Lone Wolf and Cub series. I was so confused because the movie, the way it's edited, makes it clear that he's supposed to be the Shogun. Because when the narration mentions the Shogun, they always show this guy's face.

And then I was reading summaries of the plot that like say, no, this guy isn't the Shogun. He's like the head of the ninja assassins. And I was like, well, that kind of makes sense because he doesn't really look like he doesn't have Shogun regalia. No, not at all. And so, yeah, it was I had no idea what was going on here, but I did call him the Shogun in my plot summary. So, yeah, that's what we're going to go with. Yeah, it's totally fair to call him the Shogun within the confines of Shogun assassin.

But within the confines of the larger Lone Wolf and Cub series and the other six movies, this character is Yagyu Rotsudo. And he is, yes, he's the head of this group of ninja assassins. He is not the shogun. He's one of the shogun's many vassals. But he is working his own political agenda within the system.

He really just doesn't have Shogun energy either. He does have big, bad energy, but for a Western equivalent, he feels more like a Rasputin type character. Like he's supposed to be a wicked, mad monk or something. Yeah, because that's the look he has, like this demon white hair and scowl. Like he out scowls our Ronan here, you know, like it's a scowl off between these two.

But yeah, Retsudo is such a great villain in this picture, even though he's largely an orchestrator. We don't see him directly do anything. And that's ultimately kind of the tragedy here because this character is the long-term antagonist of the series. There's not going to be any payoff with him. This guy is not getting assassinated. Despite the title Shogun Assassined, the Shogun's not getting it in this picture. Yeah.

Yeah, the target of our protagonist in the last scene in the movie is some guy that's like, who is this? I think in Shogun Assassin, they present him as the Shogun's brother. Yes. But in the actual movie, the second Lone Wolf and Cub film, it's like a guy who is...

betraying an indigo company in order to give trade secrets to the Shogun. Oh. So it's like an entire subplot that doesn't really direct, I mean, it does impact the Shogun, but it's not the Shogun's brother. No, in Shogun Assassin, they describe him as this evil lord who's the brother of the Shogun and is oppressing the people who hire the lone wolf. Now, he's like a corporate defector. Yeah.

But like, I don't recall if we ever meet him much in the movie before this. I mean, maybe a little, but yeah. Yeah. So at any rate, you can call him Shogun, you can call him Ratsudo, but this character is played by Yunosuke Ito, who lived 1919 through 1980. A well-regarded Japanese character actor who appeared in more than 200 films before

from between 1932 and 1979, with parts ranging from hammy performances, which I'm to understand are referred to as radish performances in Japanese culture. Because, yeah, apparently he wrote a memoir and it was like, you know, like a memoir of a radish performer or something, you know.

But he played everything from comedic characters to memorable villains. His credits include Kurosawa's films Ikiru in 52, Sanjuro in 62, High and Low in 63.

He's also known for a dual role in the classic ninja film Shinobi no Mono, which I think this is one that we mentioned in passing in our episodes on the ninjas. This is a picture from 1962, and it was an award-winning performance. There's also a picture called O-Bomb! from 1964. That's said to be a great example of his comedic work.

I included a still from O-Bomb where you can see him like plugging his ears with his fingers and, you know, clear comedic performance here. You're doing kind of a Don Knotts face. Yeah. Yeah. It's that style of comedy.

So, yeah, I love Ito so much in this as the villain Retsudo. But sadly, he did not return to play the part in subsequent films. But here we have just this brooding, demonic visage of a man just grating with hatred. And I have to say the English dub in Shogun Assassin, I feel it does very accurately capture the essence of his original Japanese language dialogue as well. Just that grating, like...

teeth grinding level of venom in his voice. Yeah, it's like you want this guy or maybe you don't want this guy to show up outside your door every time you do something wrong to put you in your place. Yeah, they...

They fit him in well as the Shogun with the narration, at least, because as Daigoro explains, the Shogun was paranoid and saw enemies everywhere. And this guy looks like that. His eyes are always shifting back and forth real quick to see enemies coming from any corner. He looks suspicious and frightened and angry and enraged.

It also has that general look of someone who's like the not wellness of their mind has affected their body. Like he looks kind of decrepit in some way. Absolutely. So again, Shogun Assassin does not have time for all the politics. They simplify everything. But it's a good edit in terms of just presenting a picture that the Grindhouse audience can enjoy and a villain they can ooh and ah at.

This movie has so many villains. Oh, yeah, because we also have... We have numerous heads of different ninja assassin clans. And I'm not even... We can't even get into all of those. But one of the key ones... I would say the key one that also ends up becoming...

an ally of sorts, is the supreme ninja. This is Yagyu Sayaka, played by Keio Matsuo, born 1943. Our female ninja master of exceptional skill. She's perhaps best known for this role, but she was also in 1969's Outlaw Gangster VIP, 1964's Gate of Flesh, and 1970's The Vampire Doll.

So she plays the head of a clan of ninja who are all women who sort of they do the operate in disguise and sneak attack stuff. And her ninja are said to be the best. And she is, I would say, of all the enemies that that lone wolf faces in the movie, she is the one who gets closest to getting the better of him. That's right. That's right. But also, I think she gets a little too close to his heart. Yeah. Yeah.

She gets him with a net. It's hard to beat a net, you know? Yeah. Yeah. She's effective in combat against them. They have a great fight scene. I mean, all the fight scenes are great. But other thing worth mentioning is that in Shogun Assassin, she is, I believe, dubbed by comedian and actress Sandra Bernhardt in 1955. I'm not saying it's a great dub, but apparently this is Sandra Bernhardt.

All right. There are some other heads of different ninja groups that we could mention if we had more time. But I do want to mention that we have not one, not two, but three masters of death in this picture that show up late in the movie as essentially like the main bosses.

Their outfits, in particular their hats, might be quite familiar to fans of Big Trouble in Little China. Yeah, the three storms in Big Trouble in Little China are clearly based in part, in large part, on the look of the Masters of Death, a.k.a. the Monks of Death, a.k.a. the Hidari Brothers.

They're not sorcerers like the Three Storms. They are just masters of martial arts, and they depend on particular weapons. Let's see, what is it? Like the flying maces, the...

Spike gloves. Yeah, there's like a gardening claws kind of thing. There's like a glove with spikes on the fist and there's a club with nails in it. Yeah. So yeah, these are the Masters of Death. The lead Master of Death is Binma Hidari, played by Minoru Oki.

who lived 1923 through 2009, Japanese actor, best known for his work in the Lone Wolf and Cub films, because not only does he play the lead master or monk of death here, but he returned to the Lone Wolf and Cub series in films five and six to play his own version of the chief villain, Yagyu Rutsudo. Oh, okay. So he replaces the actor who in this movie is Ritsudo,

is twisted into being the Shogun. Right. Yeah. So the character shows up much later. And so I believe he is the actor playing the character when vengeance and or assassination finally does occur. Okay. He was also in 1969's Horrors of Malformed Men, which we've mentioned on the show before.

And I'll also mention that one of the other masters of death, this is the Kuruma Hidari. I forget which weapon he uses. He's played by Shin Kishida, who lived 1939 through 1982. A supporting actor, best known for this film, as well as Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla from 74, Lady Snowblood 2, and...

And then two different Dracula films, 1971's Lake of Dracula and 1974's Evil of Dracula, which I think you could also maybe refer to as Principle of Dracula. That's one that's on my list now. I really want to see Evil of Dracula. Okay. All right. But let's get back to the music here. Again, this is what drew me into watching Shogun Assassin in the first place. And we've already talked a little bit just about how effective the synth score is.

Now, the original films were scored by Aiken Sakura and Hideika Sakurai. And I think some of their original music remains in Shogun Assassin. I could be wrong on that. But more to the point, we have this just deliriously great synth score added to the picture. And this is the work of Mark Lindsay, born 1942, and W. Michael Lewis.

So I don't know if I've ever used this term applied to music before, but sometimes we say of an actor that we admire that they're really committed to the role, meaning that they're not holding back anything for fear of embarrassment. They're not trying to be more subtle than is required. They just go headfirst all the way in. This is the first movie I've ever seen where I would say that about the music that

The music is just committed to the feeling. They are not holding back anything. There's just unabashed, pure feeling made into vibrations. Absolutely. Yeah. It's just a terrific score. Yeah.

And it's interesting looking at these two individuals. So Mark Lindsay was the vocalist and sax player for the American rock band Paul Revere and the Raiders from 1958 through 1975. Joe, are you familiar at all with Paul Revere and the Raiders? Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, this was some of my parents' music. I remember when I was younger, like, I remember kicks, you know, kicks just keep getting harder to find. Mm-hmm.

This was also some of my parents' music. I specifically remember going through the records at my grandmother's house. It would have been like the records of my mom's and also her sister's and finding a Paul Revere and the Raiders album in there. And I remember just thinking, man, the 1960s just looks so lame.

Like, this is the lamest thing I've ever seen because, if you're not familiar, their whole shtick visually was dressing up as Revolutionary War soldiers. You know, they had these Revolutionary War costumes, which...

I mean, I guess maybe... That's not the best bit I've ever heard. Like, was it cool at the time? I guess it was. People dug it. But I remember just thinking, this just looks super lame. Is there supposed to be a, like... So if it's Paul Revere, is it like the British are coming? Like British invasion music? Is that something? I guess it's like, yeah, it's like a counter to the British invasion. And that would have been lost on me as a child looking at this. All I knew at the time was that...

What's the most boring thing in school? It's American history. At the time, I'm not saying that as an adult. American history is fascinating. But at the time, the idea of Revolutionary War-themed music was not like a great sell. But to be clear, Paul Revere and the Raiders, not super lame. They had some real gems, some real jams, if you will.

I understand it from the school perspective. Yeah, it's like the band is where their theme is. They're all math textbooks. Yeah, it was. It was like they were textbook themed. So anyway, yeah, they have some they have some they have some great music. I went I'd never really gone into their stuff, but I did make sure that I listened to some some of their tracks. They have a great 1971 cover of Indian Reservation. So solid group.

Mark turned to film scoring in the 1970s for a bit. W. Michael Lewis, for his part, was a music producer who got into scoring with 1978's Secrets of the Bermuda Triangle. And he'd go on to score 1980's New Year's Evil, 1981's Enter the Ninja, and also the TV series In Search Of, starring Leonard Nimoy. Oh, I saw that when I looked him up. Mm-hmm.

plus a couple of 1987 releases, Maximum Potential and Hot Child in the City.

Sorry, I had to stop and remember what the name of this other Bermuda Triangle movie I was thinking of was. No, the one I was thinking of is a made-for-TV movie from 19, also from 1978, called The Bermuda Depths, which starred Carl Weathers in the shortest shorts ever made. And also had Burl Ives as, I think, a marine biologist or something. But it's ultimately, it's about a giant turtle that attacks a boat.

I think you made me watch the climax from this picture. Yeah. And it looked incredible. Not the best. It looked incredible. Maybe we'll come back to it. Maybe.

So anyway, yeah, the music for Shogun Assassin, I think it's just tremendous. Again, Degoro's theme is not only, I think, the best track on the score, but it's just an amazing and emotional number in its own right. Like, it's one of these where I was listening to it earlier today, and I was like, is this one of my favorite songs now? I think this is currently one of the greatest musical compositions of all time. My opinions will change, obviously, but right now it's really doing it for me.

It's so good. Like I said, not holding anything back. You can imagine somebody being like, oh, is this music? I don't know. Should we make it a little more subtle? But no, it's just the raw power of feeling unleashed. Something feels unique.

absolutely unabashed about it and I love it and it's perfect for a film that again is a samurai reduction you know it is yeah it had two films reduced into one uh you know just the the most dizzying moments of uh psychedelia or or bloody violence condensed into a single picture that that

I mean, it's really, again, it's a testament to the American filmmakers here that they were able to take part one and part two in this series and make a single picture out of it that works this well. The score here, by the way, to Shogun Assassin is available wherever you stream your music, and there are CD and vinyl versions as well. I do not know if there is like a blood-red vinyl edition of this soundtrack, but there needs to be. If you listen to it, at least the version...

that i heard on spotify it includes some of the narration from the movie as well yeah it's so good that also made me tear up like on an airplane listening to this you know people are like are you okay and i'm like i'm just listening to the shogun assassin soundtrack man that's all that's all that's going on here i'm good this is funny how similar our experiences were i i also had embarrassing emotional episodes digoros theme specifically yeah

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All right. Well, we have already mentioned how strong the movie kicks off. So the introductory segment has a child's voice narrating as we see a montage of scenes play out. And this is the voice of Daigoro, the cub of Lone Wolf and Cub. So the introductory narration plays over this dark melody on synthesizer bass, the sound of absolute doom.

And we hear the child's voice say, 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.

And as this narration is going on, we see our protagonist walk into the frame, the silent Ogami Ito. His eyes are downcast. He moves slowly. He has a blank, lugubrious expression. And then we see Ito's blade twisting and gleaming in the light.

And then suddenly there's like a shadow play lit entirely in red and just the silhouettes of the human figures in the foreground. And we see a man kneeling to receive a death sentence and another man, presumably our protagonist here, bringing a sword down on his neck. And to be clear, if you have to have your head cut off, this is the guy you want to do it. This guy is the ultimate pro.

It reminds me of our series on the invention of the guillotine, where we were talking about how bad a lot of professional executioners were and like they just couldn't like it took them way too many tries to get it done. Yeah. Agami Ito, one one swipe every time. Guaranteed. If you want some real oof historical reading, look up Jack Ketch. Oh, yeah. I remember some of these details.

And I recently revisited the Tower of London, so I got to read more about some of these execution facts. But they did not have the shogun's master decapitator on hand.

So Daigoro's narration goes on. He says, "...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."

Then we see a castle, the gate swing open, revealing sort of a court, a bunch of entourage of people and a ruler. And here's where I was originally going to break and discuss. Wait a minute. Is the guy we're seeing here, the Shogun, but we already had that conversation before.

Not originally, but in Shogun Assassin, that is what is implied. He is the Shogun. Yes. Yeah. So we're just going to continue referring to him as the Shogun just for the simplicity's sake here. And, you know, I do love this narration that...

Because there is a simplicity to it that also works not only for the project that is Shogun Assassin, but also the idea that this is a child's recollection. And that the child is working from a much simpler view of right and wrong and good and evil in his known universe. Interesting, yeah. And I guess implied by that, you're saying this might be sort of a child's memory of the Shogun in which he looks almost like a monster. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. I think you could lean into that kind of interpretation. So he's got wild, uncombed white hair and beard that's blowing around in the wind like a mass of cobwebs. Also, he has flaring white eyebrows. His teeth are clenched. He's got dark eyes. His eyes just keep jerking back and forth suspiciously. The Shogun is not well.

And then we see the Shogun soldiers leading bound men up a mountainside with their hands tied behind their back to a chaotic mass execution in the gravel beside a small tarn.

The narration goes on. 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.

And so here we see a brief glimpse of the family's life at home, the mother nursing the baby son at their house, rain pouring into the small bamboo forest outside. And I think sort of weather is a metaphor here. There's love and comfort inside, but not outside where the weather is bad. And the father comes home and undresses. He takes his baby in his arms and the mother says that she had a bad dream. But the father calms her and says to the baby, what a time you chose to be born, Daigoro.

The narration goes on. 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.

Here we see ninja scaling the wall and sneaking into their home. And if you go back to our ninja episodes from a while back, we see some stuff we talked about there, some equipment like the ninja carrying swords between their teeth. Ouch. And they climb up on ropes, on grappling hooks. And so the father is praying in his temple with the baby in his arms. And then he hears his wife scream from the other end of the house.

By the time he gets there, she's mortally wounded and the ninja are gone. And the dying mother tells the father that he must protect their son. The narration tells us, 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.

And then at this moment, we see a scene of the dynamic that will be treated as sort of the ground reality for the rest of the movie. The father trudging along lonely, desolate roads, pushing a wooden cart, and the baby son riding in the cart. Daigoro says, 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.

Yeah, and this is the key component of Lone Wolf and Cub that has been highly influential. So if you out there are a fan of the Mandalorian series, like the Mandalorian is quite clearly, and the creators are very upfront about this, very much inspired by Lone Wolf and Cub. You know, a warrior protecting a child, you know, the

hunted by enemies, but standing by the child to protect them. And especially with Lone Wolf and Cub, I couldn't help but also compare it to the 2006 novel by Cormac McCarthy, The Road, in which a father and his son traverse a doomed landscape where there's ever-present danger. And the father's entire existence is distilled down to the protection of his son.

quote, he knew only that his child was his warrant. He said, if he is not the word of God, God never spoke, you know, that kind of vibe. So, I mean, I don't know that McCarthy ever watched Shogun Assassin, but, you know, I think they're scratching the same itch here. But I think it's something that, you know, a lot of us can relate to, you know, certainly if there is a child in your life or there has been a child in your life,

where you had this role as a protector. It's easy to sort of lean into this, I think, ultimately very distilled idea of what your responsibility is. In the same way that zombie films are enthralling because it simplifies good and evil into an us versus them, it's like this kind of the lone wolf and cub model reduces everything down to I must protect my child from ninjas.

And, you know, to some degree that is accurate. Yeah. And so, and we get that demonstrated here because here we go to the very first action scene in the film, the attack by ninja wearing baskets over their heads, which is amazingly creepy and memorable. So it begins with one man running toward the father and son from a distance. They're on the road. He's pushing the cart. They're just in the middle of nowhere. And,

And there's someone running toward them, sword in hand, his head completely covered in a basket, like a helmet with a mask. In the front, there's kind of a grating in the basket, but you can't see his face.

And there's a long buildup as the ninja draws closer. And then finally, when he's in within striking distance, the father just suddenly flicks his sword and cleaves the ninja's head through the basket with the ninja catching the blade between his hands as he dies. And then a second ninja leaps out from behind the first and

springs from his dying partner's shoulders and tries to land a killing stroke while the father's sword is stuck. But the father is too crafty. He pulls a hidden second weapon from the cart, which is a bamboo pole with a retractable blade in it, and he skewers the attacker in midair. And so then as the first ninja collapses, with his dying breath, he tells the father, you are marked for death. Wherever you go, you cannot escape the shogun.

Oh, it's such a strong start. This scene is not only is it from the second film, Lone Wolf and Cub, Baby Cart at the River Styx, it is the cold open to that picture. Like you just go straight to this encounter. And it's a little longer in the original cut, obviously. But yeah.

I have several thoughts in this. First of all, in the Shogun-Assassin cut, I believe the secondary assassin that leaps over the shoulders of the first, I believe he says ninja as he attacks. Which is great within the context of Shogun-Assassin, but of course, in reality, I don't know that as a ninja, you would say ninja as you attack somebody. But still, I love it. Secondly, yeah, okay,

Back to the first assassin, though. Yeah, he apparently tries to pull off this maneuver that is known in Japanese manga, anime and cinema as a shinken shiradori. This is where you catch the blade with between your palms before it can cut into you. And then if you're really savvy, maybe you do a special twist to sort of like throw the attacker to the side.

This has become like a standard, not only in manga and Japanese cinema, but throughout like action picture, the action picture world. Like for instance, in Blade II, the day walker pulls this move off kind of late in the picture to great effect.

But in reality, I'm to understand this is impossible for a human swordsman to pull off. I think there's a Mythbusters episode where they look into it. And I think the word, the term shinken shiradori, I think it originally referred to some sort of maneuver that keeps your opponent from even drawing their sword.

So that's the time to stop it, not when it's coming through the air at your head. But what makes this sequence so amazing is that, you know, you're going up against the greatest swordsman that's ever lived. You're trying to counter his deathly sword strike, and he does not get all of that counter move. It's like maybe he stops it from cleaving his head all the way through, but it has already entered the brain at this point.

But it almost seems like this was the plan. Like the plan is that the father will get his sword stuck in the first ninja and the second one will use that moment to strike. Did you read it the same way? Absolutely. And that's a little more clear in the original cut of this action sequence. But I think it still comes through in Shogun Assassin as well. But yeah, it's a great start to the combat because this is going to set the tone.

So after the intro, we see the father and son sitting together at a campfire in the middle of a thick forest.

They're eating something wide. I think it's rice balls or maybe buns or something. And they're just sitting there staring blankly into the fire. And the child's voiceover continues. He says, my father hardly ever talks anymore. We just go a little farther every day. At night we make a fire and have our tea and we listen for the ninja who never make a sound. I like that part. Same. Yeah.

Daigoro says, sometimes he tells me about the past and about mother. I try not to think about it, but my father can't help it. Sometimes he gets lost in the past. And here we're about to see a couple of flashback scenes from before Lone Wolf and Cub went on the run. The first is after the death of Azami, Daigoro's mother. This is the sword and ball scene where the father dies.

He's grieving. He's not in his right mind. And he has Daigro with him in his temple. They're both dressed in white. And the father says, today I begin walking the road to hell, but you will choose your own path.

And he offers a sword and a toy ball. And so the idea is, he says, choose the sword and the child will join his father on the road to hell. Choose the toy and the child will join his mother in heaven. And there's some suspense, but the cub, he crawls and he reaches for the sword. And the father is both troubled and relieved. And he hugs his son and says that his mother would be proud and they will defy the Shogun together. Assassin with son. It's a great sequence.

He says that like it's like the name of their business. Well, it is. It does. I forget exactly what the wording is, but they have that banner on their cart that's like sword for hire, son for hire. You need to hold a toddler? Got you covered. You need a local enemy cut in half? We can talk.

So the other flashback is what followed that immediately, which is the moment of defiance. So the shogun's emissary comes to the father and reads a decree that he must either swear eternal loyalty to the shogun or commit harakiri with his son.

And obviously he's going to do neither one. He's, he's got his head down and he starts to laugh and then slowly raises his face up looking very stern and almost evil. And he says, you are wrong. I have a third choice. And then the other guys, they immediately get like freaked out. Oh, and in one arm, he picks up his infant son. And then the other arm, he draws his sword and

The officials who read the decree, they call for guards. They're like, oh, stop him. Can't you see he's a devil? I'm not sure quite what was meant by that, but it's yeah. Now they're seeing him as some kind of demon, uh,

And this leads to a brutal sword fight, one against many, to escape the building. And the father has his son in the crook of one arm the whole time. It's very stylized violence. We see a sword blade break off inside a guard's neck. There are jets of bright red blood that erupt like geysers from the adversary's wounds. You can see why this was effective on the midnight movie circuit.

Yeah, I don't know if arterial sprays like this are realistic or hyper-realistic. I thankfully do not know. But it certainly sizzles on the screen. And you get this idea that a human's lifeblood is just this high-pressure substance absolutely straining for release by a skilled swordsman like Ogami Ito.

Yeah, a lot of blood jets in this movie. However, as the father cuts his way out of the compound, he is suddenly faced with the Shogun and his entourage. The Shogun, so he like cuts through the gate and the gate opens and the Shogun is there with all of his men. The Shogun calls him Mad One and says he can never escape his fate, but he offers him a deal that

He says, you agree to a one-on-one duel with my son, with the Shogun's son. And if Lone Wolf can win this duel, he will be awarded his freedom. And Lone Wolf accepts. Now, again, I'm not going to go into a lot of detail about the differences between the original pictures and Shogun Assassin, but I do feel like I need to jump in on this one.

and point out that in the original, again, Ogami is cornered not by the shogun, but by Retsudo and his men. And he's given a choice here. He's like, okay, this is the way it can go down for you, Ogami. Either you go ahead and commit your honorable suicide right now, or my soldiers are going to cut you down with their, quote, wall of swords.

And Ogami says, no, neither of those is going to happen. And he tears off these outer white robes and reveals that he wears black robes with the hollyhock crest of the Tokugawa shogunate. So he's like, look, I'm wearing the colors and the crest of the shogun. You can't kill me. You can't even point your swords at me without dishonoring yourself. And so they're at a standstill. And so a compromise is made. Okay, you remove those robes

And we will settle this via a formal duel. Because otherwise you might say, well, why didn't they just cut him down? Well, in the original picture, it made more sense. Yeah. So we go to the duel from here. The duel takes place in the afternoon in a meadow of tall grass blowing in the wind. And we see the two samurai square off at a distance. The shogun's son is scowling, hateful, determined. The lone wolf wears the cub on a basket on his back.

And they draw their swords and charge at one another. But Lone Wolf has a trick up his sleeve here. Right when they are about to meet on the field, Lone Wolf bows his head and reveals a mirror mounted on Daigoro's head, which reflects the low sun and blinds their enemy.

And then Lone Wolf chops off the Lord Sun's head and his body is just standing there headless with jets of blood blasting out of the next dump in slow motion in the golden sunset. It's beautiful. In a grisly way, it is so beautiful. And one thing that's pointed out in the... Sorry, I'm going to do one more of these. Something that's pointed out in the original picture is that

This is like a swordsman that is of comparable ability to Ogami. But he has the sun to his back, and therefore he has an advantage and will probably prevail. But Ogami, via the cub and his mirror, turns his advantage into a disadvantage by reflecting the sunlight back into his eyes.

That does make more sense of it because this part I was thinking, well, he's just like cutting, he's slicing through everybody like butter. Why is he, why is this guy such a challenge? But it would make sense if we know something about him and that he has an advantage. And yeah, though they do show the sun, they don't talk about it, but they do show the sun being low and in his face. Yeah. Either way, even if you don't know all those details, it is another super stylistically violent execution. Yeah.

So this scene fades back into a scene of lone wolf and cub at a campfire in the wilderness. And the camera slowly pulls back from them as father turns his head. And then on the soundtrack, they had to add this in. We get a guttural animalistic growl. It's a wolf growling. Probably just a dog, right? Yeah.

Anyway, here the introductory I would say this is the part where the introductory part of the movie gives way to the main plot, though, as we said earlier, the idea that this movie has a plot, it's very loose plot.

Basically, the plot is the father wanders the country, pushing his son in a wooden cart. They stop at places where the father can take contracts. He works as an assassin and he makes money. He makes money to live this way, but he doesn't seem to really want to become rich or like find a way out. He sort of seems to squander the money he makes from what I can tell.

Yeah, I mean, I think part of it is like he's I mean, he has no future. Like his son is the only future that matters and he will do everything for him. But like he has lost all honor. He's a wandering Ronin.

What is he going to do with this money except, you know, pay for the next night's sleep, pay for the next, you know, bath and so forth. Yeah. So meanwhile, the Shogun keeps hiring new ninjas and assassins to send after him and his son. So we follow several episodes of that where assassins are sent after them. The main thing

mission of this film, especially in the second half, is a job that the lone wolf takes from a group of locals asking him to kill a Lord Kiru, the shogun's cruel brother who is oppressing them. But Lord Kiru is guarded by three ninja brothers known as the Masters of Death, whom we mentioned earlier, kind of the

the visual inspiration clearly, or at least part of the DNA that inspired the three storms from Big Trouble in Little China. The large, wide hats, the specialized weapons, and the deadly auras. Yeah, and they do just cut everyone to ribbons when they jump into action. The masters of death are awesome.

Yeah. And so the final showdown at the end of the movie will be the father versus the three masters of death in a scene in the desert. Strangely, I was kind of wondering where that's supposed to take place. Yeah, I've never been to any of these, but there are a few different sand dunes in Japan. And I'm not sure which one we're looking at here, but I think I've seen it pop up in a few different Japanese films and TV shows over the years.

All right, we're all set for the party. I've trimmed the tree, hung the mistletoe, and paired all those weird-shaped knives and forks with the appropriate cheeses. And I plugged in the partition. Partition? It's a home cocktail maker that makes over 60 premium cocktails, plus a whole lot of seasonal favorites, too. I just got it for $5.

So how about a Closmopolitan or a mistletoe margarita? I'm thirsty. Watch. I just pop in a capsule, choose my strength, and... Wow. It's beginning to feel more seasonal in here already. If your holiday party doesn't have a bartender, then you become the bartender. Unless you've got a Bartesian. Because Bartesian crafts every cocktail perfectly in as little as 30 seconds. And I just got it for $50 off. Tis the season to be jollier. ♪

Add some holiday flavor to every celebration with the sleek, sophisticated home cocktail maker, Bartesian. Pick up your phone and shake it to get $50 off any cocktail maker. Yes, you heard me. Shake your phone and get $50 off. Don't delay. Did you know Tide has been upgraded to provide an even better clean in cold water? Tide is specifically designed to fight any stain you throw at it, even in cold. Butter? Yep. Chocolate ice cream? Sure.

Sure thing. Barbecue sauce? Tide's got you covered. You don't need to use warm water. Additionally, Tide Pods let you confidently fight tough stains with new cold-zyme technology. Just remember, if it's gotta be clean, it's gotta be Tide. Running low on time? Let a shopper with ship same-day delivery go the extra mile to help you get more out of the holidays.

More time building a beautiful brunch spread? Not shopping for it, because you got groceries through same-day delivery. More time decorating the house? Not waiting in line. After all, you got lights from Lowe's delivered same day.

More time prepping for the ugly sweater party, not battling traffic. Because you, you smart cookie, you got Sephora delivered to your door. You can even send a shopper to PetSmart for treats and toys, leaving you and Duke with more time for Frisbee in the park. Yes, dogs and cats love shipped same-day delivery too. So go ahead, do the things that matter most this holiday season. While you're living your life, a shopper with Shipt will update you as they shop to ensure you get exactly what you want.

Because less time shopping means more time for what truly matters. Get more this holiday season. Download the Shipt app and start shopping today.

Hi everyone, it's Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb from the Today Show. We love this time of year. There's so much to celebrate. That's right. Nobody does the holidays quite like today. All season long, join us for special performances with the brightest stars. Plus, festive recipes to whip up the perfect holiday feast and great deals on the hottest toys and gifts for everyone on your list. So join us every morning on NBC to make today your home for the hot.

This is Danielle Robay from The Bright Side. Because you're worth it. Growing up, I remember hearing that famous L'Oreal Paris tagline and feeling empowered. With those four words, L'Oreal Paris broke the mold. Beauty was for all of us. For me, knowing my worth means being able to be my authentic self. It's more than just getting that perfect lash. Knowing your worth is embracing the things that make you beautiful, inside and out.

With a commitment to innovation and quality, L'Oreal Paris delivers groundbreaking products that help you take on the world. Through their Women of Worth program, they recognize 10 exceptional female nonprofit leaders each year, offering grants, mentorship, and a platform to share their inspiring stories. Discover more about these extraordinary women and embrace your beauty with L'Oreal Paris. Because you're worth it.

OK, well, I guess we've sort of sketched the general outline of the plot, but maybe we can talk about a few scenes that we just wanted to explore in a little bit of detail. One that I wanted to mention is closer to the beginning, and it's the scene where Lone Wolf and Cub visit a bathhouse in town.

Uh, because, uh, so Daigoro is explaining in the narration that visiting a town is dangerous because they don't fit in and the Shogun's ninja are everywhere. But then he says, uh, but sometimes you have to take a chance if you want to take a bath.

So they go to this bathhouse and the manager tries to turn them away, thinking that they are penniless beggars. But then Lone Wolf flashes his wad of gold. He does have a lot. He gets it out of the cart and the guy changes his tune. He eagerly goes to wash Digerot's feet and then Digerot kicks water in the guy's face. And I like this scene because of the...

Little moments of of the child almost playing like the way he stomps around in the tub It's clear that for the rest of his life. There is very little room for play, but here you get to see him play Yeah, these little moments of play there. They're very effective here and They've of course been very effective in the Mandalorian very much copying this blueprint, you know the cuteness of the child the baby Yoda the Grogu and

you know, very much patterned on this. Yeah. Also, there's a moment here at the, so they're like taking a bath, they're soaking in this big wash tub and it's supposed to be relaxing. You see the steam rising and they're kind of reclined, but there's an interesting moment where like the camera pulls back and reveals the father's arm is draped outside the tub and he's like gripping his sword like, and there's never any attack in this scene. It's just that this is who he must be now. Yeah.

Yeah. Ogami can never truly rest. He always has his sword at his side and in a moment that peace can disappear. And so there are more plots like there is a theme established that that lone wolf's enemies want to take his son away from him. They think this will take away his power.

And so there's one plot to steal Daigoro. And this leads to a fight scene in a river where like these guys come and say like, where is your son? We're going to take him. And then the father goes to fight them. And then it's discovered that they're like hiding armor underneath their clothing, but he fights them anyway. And it turns out,

turns into like a final duel between him and one of the Lords who opposes him, uh, standing in the middle of a river at the base of this, I was going to say waterfall, but I think it might actually be a kind of, uh, uh, manmade like spillway sort of thing. Um, um, and a lone wolf wins this fight by hiding his blade beneath the water before he, he turns to move it. Yeah. So we get another like super stylistic kill here. Yeah. Yeah.

Also, after this duel is just the Shogun's just standing on a bridge over the water like, oh, I will get you. Yeah, they keep the dream of an encounter occurring with the Shogun alive, though. It's again, it's not going to happen. Not in this film.

Uh, there's another great scene, uh, which is the scene of recruiting the ninja women. So one of the bad guys, I think this is Lord Kurogawa working for the Shogun. Uh, he meets with a woman who calls herself the Supreme Ninja, uh,

the supreme ninja she commands an army of women who are all themselves ninja warriors and the Lord shows up to task them with destroying lone wolf and cub but she well first of all she they tell her that he fought a duel with the Shogun's heir and she says what was the outcome of the duel and he says terrible

But the Supreme Ninja offers the Shogun's emissary a demonstration of the prowess of her lady warriors. So she's like, show me your strongest man. And this silent fighter in a brown cloak and a conical hat comes forward. We learn this is Junai, the strongest fighter of, I think it's Lord Kurogawa here. Yeah.

And so the Supreme Ninja addresses Junai and says, okay, you've got to try to find a way to escape from this room. But like, as she says this, her women are gathering around him and things are about to go very poorly for Junai. Yeah.

He tries to escape using a grappling hook in the rafters. He throws it up to the ceiling and swing out of the chamber. But the women cut the rope. They rip off his cloak. They pull swords out of their dresses. And then they just run around slicing pieces off of this dude one at a time. So like we see his fingers hit the floor and then the skin from his face falls down to the floor like a rubber mask. It's rough.

They cut him into a lot of pieces. Yeah, this scene is so grisly and wonderful. They just systematically take him apart, reducing him to a limbless, faceless husk that rolls across the floor. And then there's nothing left to do but dispatch him.

And then the Supreme Ninja says, this is your best man. Lone Wolf would swallow him. And then begin the most deranged Harley Quinn laughter. It goes on for a long time and then stops quite suddenly. And she's calm. And she says, my women will execute him. Yeah.

So basically, this lays the groundwork for the next trio of sequences as three different groups of the female ninjas attempt to take out Lone Wolf and Cup. Yeah, so...

First, well, this is outside. They're on the road. Eventually, they're pushing the cart between daikon fields. And I like how at the daikon fields, the women are like down in the stream washing the daikon in the water. And there's this creepy scarecrow with this like wide eyed face drawn on its head sack. It's interesting environmental details there.

But actually, before they get to the daikon fields, there's an ambush by traveling entertainers on the roadside. And I thought this was funny because in our in our ninja episode, we were talking about some classic story of of ninja running around and spying by by pretending to be traveling entertainers. Yeah, it's a perfect cover.

So in this case, the father and son go by and the entertainers are, they're like dancers or acrobats of some kind. They're jumping around cartwheeling and somersaulting and stuff. Whatever these people are, I think they somehow hypnotize Lone Wolf with the

spinning patterns on their clothing as they spin around. So it gets very strawberry alarm clock for a minute here. But of course, these are really the Supreme Ninja's assassins in disguise. And they try to launch a sneak attack, but Lone Wolf is too quick, even though he was

briefly hypnotized by the clothing, his sword flashes and they are done. And this is the scene where Daigoro starts counting the dead ninja. You know, he says, I try to count them so I can pray for their souls. Father tells me not to count them, but I have to, to know how many to pray for. And then he, I think he says they're up to 345 ninja. It's quite a count. Yeah. Yeah.

So then we get to the attack at the daikon fields. So, uh, they're like going down the road in the cart and these women come up in, in different waves. Like the first wave of women throws these flying killer hats with blades on them, the blades on the brim. Um,

And Lone Wolf fights them off, kills them. And then the next wave has knives hidden inside the daikon. Yes. Okay. I love it. The daikons are like piercing the cart and all. Oh, and I have to mention in the original, the second Lone Wolf picture, when they're preparing the daikons by the river, they're singing a little song. And the lyrics are something like, what's the side dish for tonight? Oh, it's daikon. Yeah.

But so, yeah, there are these little a lot of little tricks and secrets and reveals in this fight scene, like secret knives popping out of the baby carriage. And our protagonists fight through it all until they get to the Supreme Ninja. She herself comes out to to administer the final attack on Lone Wolf here, which she does with a net. That's right. She nets him. The net prevents him from immediately being able to draw his sword.

And of course, he does eventually draw his sword, but they engage in this short, intense, close combat sword fight where it's clear that they're pretty evenly matched. And we get to see her effectively pull off that sword clap Shinken Shiradori maneuver against Ogami, clapping his sword blade before it can hit her. And then she even does the twist and sends him sprawling.

So it's a fun little, you know, evenly matched, you know, very close confines battle here. But then it gets kind of Looney Tunes right at the end. Like they sort of fight to a draw. But when Lone Wolf is finally ready to like land a sword blow on her,

He like hits her, but it doesn't actually hit her. She avoids it by jumping out of her clothes. She's not naked. She's like still wearing some kind of full body stocking, but just leaves her original clothes standing there and leaps up in the air out of them, lands in a field nearby and then starts jumping.

Fast motion running backwards as if the tape were in reverse up a hill. Yes. Oh, my God. This outcome is so wild. I can't stress enough how bonkers it is. I think Looney Tunes is the right word because it's not like she...

out of her clothing in a realistic manner. It is like her outer garments are a jet fighter and she has ejected from them. Yes, yeah. And then runs backwards. She's like a spring snake in a can. Yes, like a spring snake. And then the running backwards, I guess the idea is like she can't lose sight of her opponent.

So, yeah, she's just running backwards and doesn't take her eyes off of Lone Wolf for quite a while, like at least a half a mile running backwards across the field. It's amazing. But she's going really fast, so you don't have to watch her go normal speed to a half mile. And he just sort of looks at her, just watches her. He arrows his focus. I've seen that trick before. Yeah.

Well matched. Uh, then they also have to fight some more Ninja in the woods. Uh, this is a more, I don't know, is a bunch of guys in the, in the hats again. And, uh, in this fight, they use the cart as a weapon. Like it's got blades that come out the sides and chop all the Ninja's legs off. Yeah. Um, but after all this, we come to the part, I mentioned this near the top of the episode, we come to the part where lone wolf is injured, uh,

Uh, and this leads to a sequence where the boy has to take care of his father. Like his father's hiding in this little hut and, um,

So I mentioned the scene earlier of the boy trying to bring him water from the river and he ends up having to carry it in his mouth. But there are also he goes looking for food and he finds a food offering at a shrine. But then he and he wants to take it, but he doesn't want to be disrespectful. So he leaves an offering of his own in its place. He takes off some of his clothing and leaves it at the shrine.

Yeah, this is a very sweet section. And of course, we have that great Daigoro's theme playing. And we see him bring water and then food back to Ogami as Ogami lays, perhaps dying. We don't know at this point, but helping him to recuperate. Yeah.

All right, we're all set for the party. I've trimmed the tree, hung the mistletoe, and paired all those weird-shaped knives and forks with the appropriate cheeses. And I plugged in the Bartesian. Bartesian? It's a home cocktail maker that makes over 60 premium cocktails, plus a whole lot of seasonal favorites, too. I just got it for $5.

So how about a Closmopolitan or a mistletoe margarita? I'm thirsty. Watch. I just pop in a capsule, choose my strength, and... Wow. It's beginning to feel more seasonal in here already. If your holiday party doesn't have a bartender, then you become the bartender. Unless you've got a Bartesian, because Bartesian crafts every cocktail perfectly in as little as 30 seconds. And I just got it for $50 off. Tis the season to be jollier.

Add some holiday flavor to every celebration with the sleek, sophisticated home cocktail maker, Bartesian. Pick up your phone and shake it to get $50 off any cocktail maker. Yes, you heard me. Shake your phone and get $50 off. Don't delay. Did you know Tide has been upgraded to provide an even better clean in cold water? Tide is specifically designed to fight any stain you throw at it, even in cold. Butter? Yep. Chocolate ice cream? Sure.

Sure thing. Barbecue sauce? Tide's got you covered. You don't need to use warm water. Additionally, Tide Pods let you confidently fight tough stains with new cold-zyme technology. Just remember, if it's got to be clean, it's got to be Tide. Running low on time? Let a shopper with ship same-day delivery go the extra mile to help you get more out of the holidays.

More time building a beautiful brunch spread? Not shopping for it, because you got groceries through same-day delivery. More time decorating the house? Not waiting in line. After all, you got lights from Lowe's delivered same day.

More time prepping for the ugly sweater party, not battling traffic. Because you, you smart cookie, you got Sephora delivered to your door. You can even send a shopper to PetSmart for treats and toys, leaving you and Duke with more time for Frisbee in the park. Yes, dogs and cats love shipped same-day delivery too. So go ahead, do the things that matter most this holiday season. While you're living your life, a shopper with Shipt will update you as they shop to ensure you get exactly what you want.

Because less time shopping means more time for what truly matters. Get more this holiday season. Download the Shipt app and start shopping today.

Hi everyone, it's Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb from the Today Show. We love this time of year. There's so much to celebrate. That's right. Nobody does the holidays quite like today. All season long, join us for special performances with the brightest stars. Plus, festive recipes to whip up the perfect holiday feast and great deals on the hottest toys and gifts for everyone on your list. So join us every morning on NBC to make today your home for the holidays.

This is Danielle Robay from The Bright Side. Because you're worth it. Growing up, I remember hearing that famous L'Oreal Paris tagline and feeling empowered. With those four words, L'Oreal Paris broke the mold. Beauty was for all of us. For me, knowing my worth means being able to be my authentic self. It's more than just getting that perfect lash. Knowing your worth is embracing the things that make you beautiful, inside and out.

With a commitment to innovation and quality, L'Oreal Paris delivers groundbreaking products that help you take on the world. Through their Women of Worth program, they recognize 10 exceptional female nonprofit leaders each year, offering grants, mentorship, and a platform to share their inspiring stories. Discover more about these extraordinary women and embrace your beauty with L'Oreal Paris. Because you're worth it.

Oh, this leads to the part where Daigoro gets kidnapped. The Supreme Ninja and the Shogun's Lord, they decide, okay, we've got to steal him to steal the lone wolf's power. So they take Daigoro away and they lure the lone wolf out to find them in the middle of the night. And he finds them standing around a well where Daigoro is suspended by a rope over the opening to the well. How's lone wolf going to get out of this one?

Well, he, uh, so I think there's a clever little thing that I missed the first time around, but I was rewatching the scene and I realized what it was. So he says something to Digerot and then Digerot like kicks his sandal off and it falls down the well.

And I think that is letting the father know how long the drop is, like the timing of the drop. Because what happens is he draws his sword and he quickly slashes a bunch of the bad guys and then stomps on the rope as Daigoro is falling to stop him from falling, to stop him before he hits the water at the bottom. Yeah, yeah. And this is another thing where it's, I mean, the

The editing here is tight and effective in the original film. I think maybe it more instantly makes makes sense what's happening. But yeah, you still get the sense of it here.

Yeah. So he slashes all of his enemies here, except for the Supreme Ninja, who's just standing there watching. But she does not attack and neither does Lone Wolf. And they kind of regard each other. And then Lone Wolf frees his son and they walk away. And Daigoro says in the narration, that was the first time I ever saw my father spare an enemy. So I think there's some mutual respect. Absolutely. Yeah. And we will come back to this character again, too.

But from here, we kind of proceed into mostly dealing with the masters of death. Yeah.

Yeah. There's a long sequence on a boat. I don't think we need to go into all the details of the boat journey and the fight on the boat, but there's like rebels who are fighting against someone and the masters of death mess them up on a boat. There's eventually a fire and everybody has to jump off the boat. Yeah. And after everyone has to jump off the boat, this is, I think, where we eventually get this sequence where the Supreme Ninja, Lone Wolf, and Cub meet up again. And they're all wet and

and cold, and they huddle together for warmth, which is a scene where you don't really know where this scene is going at first. Is this going to be like some sort of, you know, just pure exploitation moment? But it ends up being quite sweet in its own way. Like, I mean, it's these three lost individuals huddling for warmth in a dark world. Well, yeah, it's complex there because so he doesn't harm the Supreme Ninja, and she doesn't want to harm him anymore, right?

But she has to go away and he knows that that means her death when she goes back to the show to like report what has happened. Yeah. So it's bittersweet. And this is, of course, another thing where this is a little more complex and nuanced than the second film. But we get a nice, you know, edited down version of it here.

But I think they ultimately spare us nothing of the violence inflicted by and upon the masters of death. All of that makes it to the finished picture. Oh, yeah, yeah. So the final conflict in the film is we get...

The Masters of Death leading their person they're serving as a bodyguard for in this sort of caravan through the desert. They're going up and down these sand dunes. And then suddenly there is an attack, first, I think, by some rebels against this group. And the Masters of Death just...

chop them up. They don't do well. Are these the ones that they're initially hiding under the sand to pop up and get the Masters of Death? The Masters of Death are just like stabbing them in the sand. Yeah, it's kind of Dune. Yeah. But this finally leads to the Masters of Death must face off against Lone Wolf. And I mentioned this earlier, but in this part, the music infuses it with such vigor. There is this

relentless synthesizer vamp and a high lead over this galloping drum beat. It's really good. Like, um, the movie itself, I think predates this convention in video games, but it feels like boss music. It's like in Mega Man. It's the kind of music that kicks in in Mega Man when you like enter the chamber to fight Spark Mandrill. Yeah.

Don't you know what I mean? Like, it's like it picks up the tempo and it's like really trying to get your blood pumping now. Yeah, yeah, it is pretty relentless. At the end of the day, we know this can only go down one way. They may be masters of death, but they are not going to come out on top against Ogami Ito. His skill and his heart is just too powerful for them to overcome. Yeah.

So he stylishly defeats one of the three brothers, then the other of the three brothers. And finally, he's squaring off with the final of the Masters of Death. This is the guy with the claws. The claws, yeah. Yeah. And they have a nice back and forth. And then ultimately...

uh lone wolf cuts him on the neck with this like perfect cut um that and the spray the arterial spray out of this cut is like a fine mist uh this part of the the of the film this is another like just super weird great moment it's like this serene eroticism of death a cut so perfect that one's lifeblood leaves the body in a kind of like high pressure howling mist like a dream and

Such a cut is like the ultimate aspiration of any killer. And oh, the irony, the master of death himself dies by this cut without ever getting to inflict its perfection himself. Yeah, there's a line in the film where they're talking about about like the sound of a winter wind blowing or something. Yeah, he says, I have the quote here.

When cut across the neck, a sound like wailing winter winds is heard, they say. I'd always hope to cut someone like that someday, to hear that sound. But to have it happen to my own neck is ridiculous. Ridiculous. It's wonderful. But doesn't he also say something like, he's like, it was an honor to have been killed by you. Yeah, yeah.

Because again, if you want to have your neck sliced, this is the guy you want doing it. You want it in the hands of a master. Oh, but then we also do, in a kind of anticlimactic way, we get to see Lone Wolf doing a grisly finish to his contract. And then the movie's just kind of over. Yeah, yeah. We get like one final line from the boy. He says, I guess I wish it was different, but a wish is only a wish.

No justice for the Shogun. No. Again, if you were attracted to this film because you thought a Shogun was going to be assassinated, no, doesn't happen. And the character that is labeled the Shogun, he also does not get his comeuppance in this film. I think it ultimately happens later on in the series, but played by a different actor. Yeah.

But now I kind of want to finish that journey. I'm going to have to, you know, on my own time, go through the next four of these pictures. I enjoy the first two and, of course, Shogun Assassin so much. Well, that sounds great. I might have to check them out, too. It's a fun ride. A demon ride to hell.

Oh, hey, but one last thought. I think I said this earlier, but even if you don't watch this movie, which, you know, it's a hyper violent kind of thing, it might not be your style and that's fine. I would recommend checking out the soundtrack if you can. The music is great, especially if you love synthesizer stuff. Absolutely. Terrific score. But I have to warn you, the score, it may suck you in. The next thing you know, you're watching Shogun Assassin. Then you're watching the Lone Wolf and Cub series. That's that's how it gets started. Mm hmm.

All right. Well, this was a lot of fun. I'd love to hear from everyone out there. I know we have listeners who are very well acquainted with the Lone Wolf and Cub series and are more familiar with samurai and ninja pictures than we are. So, hey, write in. We would love to hear from you. We'd love your thoughts on Shogun Assassin, Lone Wolf and Cub, the series. Oh, if you've read the manga, write in about that as well. I have not, so I don't have any familiarity with it. But, of course, it is considered legendary in its own right.

Just a reminder that Stuff to Blow Your Mind is primarily a science and culture podcast with core episodes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but on Fridays we set aside most serious concerns to just talk about a weird film on Weird House Cinema.

And if you want to keep up with what we're doing on Weird House Cinema, you can always follow us on Letterboxd.com. Our username there is Weird House. You'll find a list of all the films we've done so far and sometimes a peek ahead at what's coming out next. And hey, we are in December, so you know what that means. We're going to get at least one Christmas movie in there. Is it going to have Santa in it? Can make no promises. Will there be a Christmas tree somewhere in the background of a scene? Probably. That's probably how it's going to go down.

Has it been a year since I Come in Peace? It has. Yeah, that was our Christmas action film from last year, wasn't it? That one had Christmas music in it. I think it was, Christmas was more a part of the texture of the picture than some people give it credit.

Huge thanks, as always, to our excellent audio producer, JJ Posway. If you would like to get in touch with us with feedback on this episode or any other, to suggest a topic for the future, or just to say hello, you can email us at contact at stufftoblowyourmind.com.

Stuff to Blow Your Mind is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app. Apple Podcasts are wherever you listen to your favorite shows. All right, we're all set for the party. I've trimmed the tree, hung the mistletoe, and paired all those weird-shaped knives and forks with the appropriate cheeses. And I plugged in the partition. Partition? It's a home cocktail maker that makes over 60 premium cocktails, plus a whole lot of seasonal favorites, too. I just got it for

So how about a Closmopolitan or a mistletoe margarita? I'm thirsty. Watch. I just pop in a capsule, choose my strength, and... Wow. It's beginning to feel more seasonal in here already. If your holiday party doesn't have a bartender, then you become the bartender. Unless you've got a Bartesian, because Bartesian crafts every cocktail perfectly in as little as 30 seconds. And I just got it for $50 off. Tis the season to be jollier. ♪

Add some holiday flavor to every celebration with the sleek, sophisticated home cocktail maker, Bartesian. Pick up your phone and shake it to get $50 off any cocktail maker. Yes, you heard me. Shake your phone and get $50 off. Don't delay. Did you know Tide has been upgraded to provide an even better clean in cold water? Tide is specifically designed to fight any stain you throw at it, even in cold.

Butter? Yep. Chocolate ice cream? Sure thing. Barbecue sauce? Tide's got you covered. You don't need to use warm water. Additionally, Tide Pods let you confidently fight tough stains with new Coldzyme technology. Just remember,

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