Rating: 
Summary: It's a good "spaghetti" samuri film, but ...
Review: 5 stars! No *way*. That can only be reserved for Kurosawa's "The Seven Samuri," the penultimate samuri movie. Or "The Hidden Fortress", "Yojimbo", etc.Now having said that, these are enjoyable, well-directed films, good for an evening of light escapism. Personally though, I find it hard to reconcile the occasional moments of cinematic excellence with the very liberal usage of whatever special effects technology shoots fake blood out 10 to 15 feet from a sword wound. And I could have done without the gratuitous breast shots and rape scenes too. Zatochi, in his travels, didn't run into such incidents ... what is it about the Lone Wolf that attracts such goings on?
Rating: 
Summary: The beginning of a classic series
Review: :This review is basically for the entire series: I first came across this film on the International Channel featuring a samurai film festival, from the first few minutes of it I was amazed. It had great acting, story line, and amazing choreography. The action was one of the best I had ever seen from a true samurai epic. If you enjoy good, gritty(very bloody!) samurai films, then you are garunteed a good time here. This film falls somewhere in between 'Wu Tang' syle action and serious drama, avoiding both extremes. The directing is just short of brilliant, and cinematogaphy is beautiful at times. Warning; expect to be spending a lot of money for the entire set, these are very good, addicting films, you'll want to see them all. The only major flaw in the series is that the ending seems lacking, other than that I enjoyed them all. Highly recomended.
Rating: 
Summary: The movie is great. But the DVD transfer is trash!
Review: Don't buy it! The DVD transfer is like trash, although the movie is fantastic. Shame on the DVD producers... That's strange because they had made a really good job with the transfer of the second DVD: Lone Wolf and Cub 2: Baby Cart at the River Styx , which I highly recommend, both in technical and artistic terms.
Rating: 
Summary: LWaC Fans Rejoice!
Review: For fans of the Lone Wolf and Cub manga, this is a dream come true! The movies follow the story of LWaC very well. Obviously, even when transferring the story into six films, some of the 8000+ page story had to be cut out, but all of the important plot points are there. The DVD transfers for these films are amazing. The picture is crisp, the audio is great and the subtitles are some of the best I have seen. The DVD also comes with a booklet that explains important aspects in 16th century Japanese society for American audiences to better understand the story. Animeigo (Samurai Cinema) is currently transferring their entire Samurai catalog into DVD format and this was their first release and it is very well done. Unfortunately, many people have been tricked into getting the "Shogun Assassin" movie, which is a poor edit of the first few Lone Wolf and Cub films into a single and fairly nonsensical film released by another production company. There is just too much to be told in a single film and it is only with the entire six part story (which this film begins) that one can fully appreciate the ultimate tale of revenge that is Lone Wolf and Cub.
Rating:
Summary: Child & expertise for rent
Review: I am a huge fan of the characters in the Lone Wolf and Cub series. Only the character Fong Sai Yuk in the martial arts movies matches the aura that goes along with the main character Itto Ogami. I am in the process of watching this whole series.
As for Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance, it is not nearly as good as Shogun Assassin. In Shogun Assassin the whole story is narrated by the son of Ogami, this manner of telling the story only adds to the aura of Ogami. Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance was the first time I heard him speak, and really show emotions, and though it only slightly takes away from his greatness, and takes a little away from the film, it was still a joy to watch.
Kenji Misumi, who is known for his work on both the Lone Wolf and Cub series, as well as his work in the Zatôichi series, directs this film. Misumi films action sequences are marvelous, however he places a lot of focus in his films to the story. There are also long amounts of time that he spends in the film without action that helps depicts a certain aspect of his characters; whether it may be their discipline, how poor they are, their strengths, their weaknesses, etc, etc. I think this aspect of Misumi films really adds to the story, however, I could see how some movie watchers may think his stories progress too slow, I personally think it is just right, as that is the genre of his films. His characters (Zatôichi and Ogami) are larger then life characters that needs to have their traits described, and he does it to perfection.
Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance is a must have in your Samurai movie collection. Yes, I said Samurai movie collection, I believe there is a strong distinction between a martial arts movie and a Samurai movie, and I'll leave that argument for another day. This is very good, I would definitely recommend viewing Shogun Assassin first, then this film.
Grade: A-
Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: I first got introduced to the lone wolf series in the early eighties when I saw Shogun Assasin. I thought it was great, but to actually find the original Japanese series has been fantastic.
If you like martial arts movies with weaponry and great stories and characters this is a must to have. The original Japanese version is far superior to the Shogun Assasin release. I have purchased every one in the series and have yet to be dissappointed in them.Itto Ogami is great with the sword and if your a martial arts movie fan this is for you.Daigoro!
Rating:
Summary: A CLASSIC
Review: I have spent 3 years now looking for this film, and it was definitely worth it. As known the outline of the story is not for an Oscar, they kill his wife and he kills the shogun. But this film represents in it's maximum the ancient values of Japanese society; analysing the film the philosophy behind the fighting scenes can be integrated in the lifes of those practising martial arts. The use of the sword is close to perfection and it is a film which must be owned, certainly being a classic in its genre
Rating:
Summary: Kazuo Koike adapts Lone Wolf & Cub to the big screen
Review: I have spent the last 138 days reading one chapter of the manga epic "Lone Wolf and Cub" by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima, only to discover the 28th and final volume has been delayed in publication. To while the time I have turned to the six films adapted from the celebrated comic book. "Kozure Ôkami: Kowokashi udekashi tsukamatsuru" ("Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance") is the first of these films and it is fascinating to look at what specific stories Koike decide to use as the basis for this first film. The basic narrative framework of "Sword of Vengeance" is taken from the eighth episode, "Wings to the Bird Fangs to the Beast," where Okami Itto (Tomisaburo Wakayama) and Daigoro (Akihiro Tomikawa) cross a rickety bridge and enter the Gomori-Juku Hot Springs Spa. The place has been taken over by brigands and Lone Wolf seems oblivious to what is going on until he decides to come to the aid of Osen (Tomoko Mayama), a prostitute pickpocket. This is an extremely interesting choice to be the main story for this film since it has nothing to do with why Ogami Itto is walking the assassin's road. "Sword of Vengeance" also includes the two pivotal backstory episodes from the magna series (although there are elements from a few others, mostly involving foreshadowing). In "The White Path Between the Rivers" (the seventeenth), Ogami Itto serves as the Kogi Kaishakunin execution to act as second to a young lord's seppuku and then finds himself the victim of Yagyu intrique that results in the death of his wife, Azani (Reiko Kasahara) and his implication in an act of treason. Then in "The Assassin's Road" (the ninth) where Daigoro choose to walk the path with his father, refuses to commit seppuku, and confronts Retsudo Yagyu (Tokio Oki) for the first time. Koike and director Kenji Misumi keep the sex and violence from the manga intact. There are lots of fountains of spurting blood as Ogmai Itto slays his foes with his Dotanuku sword. Tomisaburo Wakayama is a stockier Ogami Itto than what was drawn (I thank Frank Miller's cover for Volume 3 of the manga is clearly based more on the actor than Kojima's drawings of Lone Wolf), but he captures the deadly silence of the assassin. Tokio Oki looks more like a Kabuki figure as Retsudo, but that is certainly within the tradition of samurai films (at least of those I have seen not made by Akira Kurosawa). Still, it is the script that I keep coming back to when I mull over this film, espeically Koike's decision to make "Wings to the Bird Fangs to the Beast" the centerpiece of the film. It makes me wonder what Stan Lee would have done if he had written the Spider-Man movie. I doubt he would have been able to bring the story to the screen as intact as Koike is able to do with "Sword of Vengenace." No film could be as good as the original manga, but this certainly does not do the Lone Wolf and Cub story.
Rating:
Summary: Please Buy This Video!
Review: I rented this film at the video store on a whim, and it mesmerized me. The art direction and choreography is gorgeous. There isn't a better samurai series available. Not for kids though. Lots of blood. The other videos are just as good. Tomisaburo is god. His fight choreography is insane. He is Ogami Itto.
Rating:
Summary: Aspect Ratio Confusion
Review: I think this may be an explanation for the aspect ratio problem. I am using a standard television, and my DVD player is configured properly. However, there is some bug in the disc that seems to interact with certain DVD players. On my player, after the menu kicks in, the initial video setup setting is changed automatically on the player from "letterbox" to "pan and scan." This leads the film to be shown at about a 1.85:1 ratio. To get it to play at the correct aspect ratio, I need to stop the disc at the Toho logo, get into the initial setup menu, change the video setting back to "letterbox," and hit "play." If, during the film, I ever go back to the menu, it will kick back to "pan and scan."
I don't think this is the case for all players, though. So those of you who have problems with only getting the film in 1.85:1,try my solution.
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