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| Shogun Assassin | |
|---|---|
| File:Don'tshowhereShogun assassin.jpg Cover of the UK DVD. | |
| Directed by | Robert Houston |
| Written by | Kazuo Koike Goseki Kojima |
| Produced by | Shintaro Katsu Robert Houston |
| Starring | Tomisaburo Wakayama |
| Cinematography | Chishi Makiura |
| Edited by | Lee Percy Toshio Taniguchi |
| Music by | Hideaki Sakurai |
| Distributed by | Toho |
Release date | 1980 |
Running time | 86 min. |
| Country | Japan/US |
| Language | English (dubbed) |
Shogun Assassin (known in Japan as Kozure Ōkami 子連れ狼) is a jidaigeki movie made for the American market and released in 1980. The plot revolves around master swordsman Ogami Itto, the former Kogi Kaishakunin, who is forced into life as a Ronin and assassin for hire with his young son after being betrayed by the Shogun.
Shogun Assassin was edited and compiled from the first two films in the Baby Cart series, using 12 minutes of the first film, Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance (Kozure Ōkami: Kowokashi udekashi tsukamatsuru or Wolf with Child in Tow: Child and Expertise for Rent), and most of Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx (Kozure Ōkami: Sanzu no kawa no ubaguruma or Wolf with Child in Tow: Perambulator of the River of Sanzu). Both were originally released in 1972. These in turn were based on the long-running 1970s manga series, Lone Wolf and Cub, created by the writer Kazuo Koike and the artist Goseki Kojima.
Plot
[edit]Production
[edit]Shogun Assassin was dubbed into English whereas the originals are in Japanese.
Reception
[edit]Differences from the source films
[edit]The film, being compiled from separate stories, uses a much-simplified version of the situation. For instance, any mention of clan war is gone and the opponent Retsudo is simply called "The Shogun." A foreboding synthesizer score of the type popular at the time was applied. Sandra Bernhard provided one of the voices in the dubbed edition.
The title character, Ogami Ittō, is played by Tomisaburo Wakayama, brother of the producer, Shintaro Katsu, who is known for playing Zatoichi in a series of 26 films starting in the 1960s.
References in other Media
[edit]Several audio clips from Shogun Assassin are used on GZA's Liquid Swords (produced by RZA). In addition, the film is invoked in Kill Bill Vol. 2 (for which RZA provided original music) in the end scenes where the protagonist and her daughter watch it as a bed-time story .