Watch Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance For Free

Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The acting in this movie is really good.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

After being framed for treason and losing his wife to an after-hours assault, a former state executioner seeks revenge as a ronin, walking the dusty trails of rural Japan with his three-year-old son in tow. The hallmarks of a generic '70s samurai/kung fu movie are all over this one, from the exploitative camera-work to the bad makeup and sprays of hyper-saturated blood, but despite the obvious tropes it delivers some deep, ruminative storytelling and efficiently lays the groundwork for the five sequels which are soon to follow. Often, we're shocked by an act that seems vile and emotionless, only for a subsequent explanation to flip the script and offer unexpected rationalization. The audience constantly sees Ittō (the protagonist) in different lights, filling the character out from all angles while the man himself (stoically played by a convincing Tomisaburo Wakayama) maintains a stiff, honorable composure. Despite the eccentricities mentioned above, I was impressed by the fight scenes, which are shockingly - yet appropriately - swift and decisive. With his blade drawn bare, Ittō doesn't fool around: he kills with immediacy and precision, though he's often fighting such steep odds that the battles aren't over too quickly. A real jewel for fans of the genre, which storms through a few clunky patches and sets itself up to soar in later installments.

I first heard about these movie after one of my friend's recommended me to watch it.so I purchased the DVD off amazon and I have to say I am not disappointed, I love action movies especially those of die hard and terminator 2. the kill count in these movies make die hard look like a Disney film lol. the gore is over the top but when I say that over the top with brilliance. the story is easy to understand and well written also brilliantly executed.overall this movie deserves 10 out of 10 this movie should have more reviews because it is awesome!!!!

The foremost reason why this is a standout movie-series is because of it's unusual and highly original main concept. There are plenty of Japanese movies about a shogun, ronin or a samurai fulfilling their destinies and travel through the country, getting into all kind of adventures and troubles. The Kozure Ôkami-series has an original take on this type of movies by letting the main character carry and drive around his infant son in an armed and dangerous baby cart. His infant son even helps him in battle sometime. No big surprise that this all is being based on a manga-series, by Kazuo Koike, who also contributed to this movie its script.It also becomes obvious that this movie is being based on a manga when you look at its violence. It's really deliberately being over-the-top and the entire series is well known for featuring fountains of blood, whenever someone gets struck down or gets a limb or head cut off. It's a pretty bloody movie but because it all gets down in such an over-the-top way, it's nothing too shocking to watch, even when you don't have the stomach for it.It are really its action sequences that stand out and there is plenty of action in this one. All of the fights got nicely choreographed and brought to the screen and above all things they also often have something original to offer. Often Itto uses some tricks to fool his opponents and can strike down the best trained and most powerful shogun with one strike because of some clever and unexpected moves and tricks, sometimes helped by his infant son Daigorô.The movie is good looking, thanks to its fine directing, that provides the movie with some nicely done sequences but also due to its great looking environments. The movie often uses nature elements and environments as a key part of the movie its climatic battles, such as water or the sun.All in all, a great start of the series!8/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Even before seeing the "Kozure Ôkami" (aka. "Lone Wolf And Cub") films, I was already a fan of director Kenji Misumi, for entries to the popular "Zatoichi" series, and even more so, for his sleazy and brilliant 1972 Samurai-Exploitation masterpiece "Goyôkiba" (aka. "Hanzo The Razor - Sword Of Justice") starring the great Shintaro Katsu. At the latest when I first saw this first part to the "Kozure Okami" cycle, Misumi irrevocably became one of my favorite directors of all-times. He directed the first, second, third and fifth film of what is arguably the most brilliant Samurai-saga ever brought to screen, and this "Kozure Ôkami: Kowokashi udekashi tsukamatsuru" aka. "Lone Wolf And Cub: Sword Of Vengeance" of 1972 is the first of these incomparably brilliant films. Tomisaburo Wakayama, elder brother of the more famous and equally great Shintaro Katsu ("Zatôichi", "Hanzo The Razor"), is brilliant in the role of his life as Ogami Itto, my personal favorite (anti-)hero character in the history of motion pictures.Ogami Itto, the 'Kaishakunin' (highest executioner) of the Shogunate, falls victim to a conspiracy by the powerful Yagyu-clan. After his wife is murdered, Itto is supposed to commit seppuku with his infant son Daigoro. He waits for his accusers in mourning dress. Not in order to kill himself, however, but to announce that he and his son will henceforth walk the 'path of hell' as an assassin, killing for 500 ryu as the 'Lone Wolf with his child', in order to clear his name and avenge his wife's death...Tomisaburo Wakayama as Itto Ogami is, as mentioned above, in my opinion one of the greatest (and most bad-ass) characters in motion picture history. Even though the 'Ôkami' films are based on a comic book series, it seems like the role of Ogami Itto was written especially for Tomisaburo Wakayama, and as if Wakayama was born to play this particular role. Sheer brilliance also comes from Akihiro Tomikawa, who plays Ogami Itto's infant son Daigoro, and who never played another role after the "Lone Wolf and Cub" series. Never have I seen a greater child-character nor a greater child-performance in a film. In this first film, Daigoro is still a toddler who doesn't speak a word, and yet it is him who is responsible for some of the most ingenious and witty moments in the film. The film is blood-soaked throughout (and the successors become even more violent) and yet the father-son relationship of Ogami Itto and Daigoro gives these ultra-violent Chambara-highlights a sort of heart-warming touch at times. The ingenious score by Hideaki Sakudai is equally impressive as the brilliant editing and prefect cinematography. Hardly have sequences made an impact on me as in the 'Ôkami' films when the music suddenly stops and hardly a sound is heard. Simply everything about "Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance" is perfection in my eyes: the unique atmosphere, the feeling, the brilliant performance and characters (above all Ogami Itto and Daigoro), the impressive locations, the swordplay sequences and incomparably stylish gore, the score... I could keep on praising this film for a long time, but I'll simply conclude with an advice: Get this film now! The entire "Kozure Okami" cycle ranks high on my personal all-time favorite list, and this first film is particularly essential! The American director Robert Houston edited the first two 'Okami' films together as "Shogun Assassin" in 1980 (I haven't seen it yet), but, as far as I am considered the Japanese Language is an absolutely essential factor here, and I strongly advise everybody to go for the (subtiteled) Japanese version. I first saw this film when I got all six 'Okami' films on DVD about a month ago, and I have seen the entire cycle three times by now, so you can imagine how deep an impact this has made on me. In short: "Kozure Ôkami: Kowokashi udekashi tsukamatsuru" is a masterpiece that is absolutely essential for any lover of film to see! 10/10!