When the wife of the Shogun's Decapitator is murdered and he is ordered to commit suicide by the paranoid Shogun, he and his four-year-old son escape and become assassins for hire, embarking... Read allWhen the wife of the Shogun's Decapitator is murdered and he is ordered to commit suicide by the paranoid Shogun, he and his four-year-old son escape and become assassins for hire, embarking on a journey of blood and violent death.When the wife of the Shogun's Decapitator is murdered and he is ordered to commit suicide by the paranoid Shogun, he and his four-year-old son escape and become assassins for hire, embarking on a journey of blood and violent death.
- Daigoro
- (as Masahiro Tomikawa)
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- (as Lainie Cook)
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- Voice of Daigoro
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaMany of the lines from this movie are sampled by hip-hop artist and Wu-Tang Clan member the GZA on his album "Liquid Swords".
- Quotes
Voice of Daigoro: 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
- Alternate versionsShogun Assassin is actually an amalgam of two 1972 films titled Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance (1972) ("Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance") and Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx (1972) (Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx"). The producer decided to join the best bits of these two films (using around 10 minutes of the first film as a pre-credits flashback sequence to introduce the characters) and create "Shogun Assassin". The English-language dubbing included voice-over narration, ostensibly spoken by the child Daigoro.
- ConnectionsEdited from Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance (1972)
I used to listen to Wu Tang CDs when I was a kid and the Genius GZA album Liquid swords borrows a bunch of lines from this movie. I always thought they were cool but I didn't know they came from this movie.
The part that is hard to explain, is that my wife, who doesn't like martial arts flicks or gore, also liked this movie.
This isn't the kind of movie that you see by accident on TV. You'll probably have to buy it on DVD to see it. I waited for it to be on Netflix but eventually gave up and ordered a copy for $10.
I'm glad I did. This movie inspired other movie makers and despite its age, it is very cool from start to finish. I promise you won't get bored. People talk about how the footage from taken from other movies but it is the new sound track that is added that makes it special and deserving of being judged as a movie in its own right.
It ends very suddenly and I wasn't 100% satisfied with where they left it but in general, its and entertaining experience that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to movie fans. In a world where it is hard to find something different, sometimes you have to look to the past to find something new.
- robertbhart
- Oct 6, 2013
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Henker des Shogun
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 25 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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