Tuesday, 21 June 2011

Angry Movie Lurker Honest Review 40: Sword of Doom (1966) (4 STARS)






Ryunosuke is a sociopathic samurai without compassion or scruples. When he is scheduled for an exhibition match at his fencing school, the wife of his opponent begs Ryunosuke to throw the match, offering her own virtue in trade. Ryunosuke accepts her offer, but kills her husband in the match. Over time, Ryunosuke is pursued by the brother of the man he killed. The brother trains with the master fencer Shimada. In the meantime, however, Ryunosuke earns the enmity of the band of assassins he runs with, and it becomes a question of who shall face him in final conflict.


As I said before when I wargame a period in history I try and get some eye candy through movies of the period, some are easier to find than others and some period movies are less accurate than others.This is a great movie but a bloody grim movie about our anti-hero Ryunosuke who kills a man in a competition duel after his opponent learns that Ryunosuke slept with his wife, he kills more of his friends and escapes the town with his opponents ex-wife (who he treats terribly) joins a semi official police force that carry out murders ans assassinations for the Tokugawa Shogunate. 


The younger brother of the man killed in the duel at the beginning trains to fight our anti-hero and challenges him to a duel but in the meantime Ryunosuke confidence is shattered by a botched assassination attempd on a master swordsman Shimada Toranosuke (Toshire Mifune in an amazing scene of swordplay) and an attempt by his mistress to kill him. Anyway after all this and other things he rejoins the assassins and ends up in a haunted room and starts to see the ghosts of all his victims and starts lashing out at the rest of the assassins and we get 7 mins of amazing sword fighting that never really ends (if you get a chance to see it you will understand), there were supposed to be 2 more movies but they never happened. There is nothing to like about Ryonosuke at all and a grim, bleak movie awaits you but a magnificent movie for characters and action to watch especially if you love the Samurai period.
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53 comments:

  1. Jaccstev21 June 2011 at 11:30

    Impressive review! Never saw or heard about this classic samurai film.

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  2. Paul O'G21 June 2011 at 11:45

    Sounds like a really interesting movie. I too have to get associated eye candy when gaming a period to get into the swing of things, and movies are the best. I also need theme/period music to paint and game to!

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  3. mekelnborg21 June 2011 at 11:51

    Unscrupulous to take both like that.

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  4. JayPower21 June 2011 at 12:02

    This looks awesome, cant wait to check it out ;D

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  5. Christopher(aka Axebreaker)21 June 2011 at 12:18

    Sounds very interesting! I'll start collecting Samurai movies next year when I start my Samurai project as like you I immerse myself in the period I'm painting.

    Christopher

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  6. Giano21 June 2011 at 12:26

    It seems definitely worth a look. I'll watch it as soon as possible!
    Many thanks for the review :)

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  7. Anonymous21 June 2011 at 12:34

    Sounds cool, I wouldn't even know where to look to watch it though.

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  8. Zombie Ad21 June 2011 at 12:42

    Sounds like a fantastic anti-hero movie.

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  9. Trey21 June 2011 at 12:45

    This is indeed a great samurai film.

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  10. Jack21 June 2011 at 13:24

    I love samurai films, i'll check this out now.

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  11. Anonymous21 June 2011 at 13:32

    Great review, love old school samurai films like works by Akira Kurosawa so I'll check this out

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  12. DEZMOND21 June 2011 at 13:41

    a sociopathic samurai? Now who wouldn't like to watch something like that :))

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  13. Anonymous21 June 2011 at 13:47

    Sounds like a good one, thanks for the nod :)

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  14. Zombie21 June 2011 at 13:51

    Oh I love a good samurai movie! I will be sure to check this one out! :D

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  15. Jay21 June 2011 at 13:58

    sounds awesome!

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  16. DFP21 June 2011 at 14:52

    The cover artwork looks familiar on this. I think I have the high res black and white photo that it comes from. I'll check it out, loved the old JP films, especially by Akira Kurosawa.

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  17. Porky21 June 2011 at 14:55

    That immersion makes sense, going deep into a subject to be sure we understand it and don't miss anything.

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  18. Bob Ross Afro Blog21 June 2011 at 14:59

    Tom Cruise isn't in this? I can't watch it, just cant.

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  19. Kicking Rocks21 June 2011 at 15:03

    ^wtf??? for that reason only, I AM watching it!!!

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  20. Meowlissa21 June 2011 at 15:13

    Great review. I never saw this one but definitely will :)

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  21. CBax 21 June 2011 at 15:47

    Samurai movies rule

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  22. T. Banacek21 June 2011 at 15:59

    I can't remember if I've seen this or not. I went on a chambara marathon for a week once and they all blur together for me now.

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  23. Tony Van Helsing21 June 2011 at 16:07

    Never heard of this one, you can't argue with a title like that can you?

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  24. Daniel21 June 2011 at 16:56

    never heard of this one too.
    obviously can not be found

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  25. RedHeadRob21 June 2011 at 17:16

    Sounds like a good flick.

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  26. Zerloon21 June 2011 at 17:21

    I'm not very intro japanese samurai film, but you have awaken my curiosity.

    I will search it.

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  27. todd carr21 June 2011 at 18:02

    I may try to see this....I took your advice and watched the mechanic and really enjoyed it.

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  28. Pool Fool21 June 2011 at 18:02

    nice post I might check it out

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  29. Mr. Cactus21 June 2011 at 18:21

    This looks like it could have some potential for when the old black and white mood hits me.

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  30. Unknown21 June 2011 at 18:50

    Great review Lurker. Thanks for reminding me about this one.

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  31. Skimbosh21 June 2011 at 19:21

    Eye candy indeed. 1966? Good, no wire work.

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  32. Rudolf21 June 2011 at 19:27

    great, post, i like the movie

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  33. Dr. Willett's Workshop21 June 2011 at 19:58

    Well that's my cup of tea, will be checking it, thanks.

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  34. AllenTesch21 June 2011 at 21:23

    I wonder where I can find this.

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  35. Max Silver21 June 2011 at 22:38

    This movie looks great! I'll have to check it out :)

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  36. Malkavian22 June 2011 at 03:49

    Sounds like an epic movie man, got to check this out

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  37. BigMike22 June 2011 at 03:49

    I love the topic and i love movies from this era.. good find man, thanks!

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  38. Copyboy22 June 2011 at 04:01

    Ryunosuke seems pretty complex.

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  39. Unknown22 June 2011 at 04:22

    Toshiro Mifune rocks, many nights we consumed too much sake and watched his movies. he has some interesting techniques for drawing a katana.

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  40. Aaron M. Gipson22 June 2011 at 04:48

    well I definitely have to say that your review of this movie has piqued my interest. It might be a bit tough for me to find out here though LOL. One of my absolute favorite movies is Akira Kurasawa's The Seven Samurai. And I would love to take in more films based on this period, and with actual Japanese actors and directors.

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  41. Major Mack22 June 2011 at 05:41

    ive never heard of or seen this movie. Even if i could find it though, i doubt id watch it. Im a pussy when it comes to stomaching B&W

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  42. Astronomy Pirate22 June 2011 at 05:57

    Sounds fascinating, to bad it was never finished through the trilogy. I gotta hope it is as brutal as you make it sound.

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  43. Anonymous22 June 2011 at 06:27

    I dig these types of movies.. not sure how this one escaped my sight though..

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  44. The Extraordinarii22 June 2011 at 10:07

    Nice review Lurker, big fan of the samurai movies, haven't seen this one but I now intend too.

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  45. Jack of Diamonds22 June 2011 at 10:22

    4 stars eh? I'll check it out!

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  46. Triper22 June 2011 at 10:46

    Great review, i will read more about it.

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  47. Ray Rousell22 June 2011 at 13:10

    Sounds like I'd like this one Fran, I'll add it to my film list that I've gotta borrow from you.

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  48. Avery_Goodgame22 June 2011 at 13:39

    Holy crap, you've got a shitton of hits ._.
    I've seen this movie, pretty awesome.
    Followed for the epicness.

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  49. HOODPHENOMENOM22 June 2011 at 15:21

    Gotta watch this now, samourais make me wet.

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  50. Rudolf22 June 2011 at 16:40

    that was long!

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  51. Warflake22 June 2011 at 23:47

    I like bloody grim =D

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  52. Bart23 June 2011 at 05:18

    but can i kill faster than bullets?

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  53. Solsby Kid23 June 2011 at 13:22

    This film looks awesome!

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