Kozure Ôkami: Shinikazeni mukau ubaguruma

Plot synopsis:
In this third 'Lone Wolf and Cub' movie, Ogami Itto, the disgraced former shogun's executioner, or Kogi Kaishakunin, is travelling by river on a boat with his young son Daigoro floating behind in the baby cart. A young woman at the front of the boat, clearly distraught for some reason, accidentally drops a bundle into the water, which Daigoro retrieves.Itto, meanwhile, draws his sword part way and notices in the reflection on the blade that some bamboo reeds are also trailing the boat. Itto is being followed by operatives of his mortal enemy, the Yagyu Clan; a constant threat that he can never ignore. Later, as Daigoro is relieving himself in a bamboo glade, Itto slices some bamboo stalks, causing some ninja assasins to fall from their perch.According to the voice-over narrator, this is a time in the Edo period in Japan when there are ronin, or at the very least a low-class of samurai termed "watari-kashi"; small bands of fighters who move from job to job, working from one "daimyo" (feud lord) to the next, depending on who's hiring.A group of four watari-kashi are idling along the road. Hot and bored, they spy an attractive young woman and her mother being escorted by a servant. Three of them run off to take advantage, but one of the band Kanbei, the more honorable of the four remains uninterested. The three knock the escort unconscious and proceed to rape the two women. The servant regains consciousness and is furious when he sees the triad violating his mistresses. He attempts to beat them with his bamboo pole, but is slain by Kanbei, who then also slays the two women to silence them. Kanbei then makes his three companions draw straws, saying the one unfortunate enough to draw the short straw will be killed to take the blame for the rapes and murders.Itto happens along this grim scene just as Kanbei is slaying the watari-kashi who drew the short straw. Itto kills the other two rapists when they attempt to attack him. Kanbei recognizes Itto and requests a duel. Itto accepts and they prepare, but at the last second Itto re-sheathes his sword and calls it a draw, leaving Kanbei to ponder his fate alone. "You are a true warrior," Itto says, "One I hope lives on."At an inn, it turns out that the young woman from the boat is to be sold into prostitution. Her pimp tries to have his way with her, but she bites off his tongue, spitting the bloody appendage onto the floor. The pimp dies from the injury.The girl seeks refuge in Itto's room, who steps in to protect her from the local police. But then the town's real authorities show up which are the local Yakuza, led by a young woman named Torizo. Some verbal sparring begins as Itto defends the girl against Torizo's threats. After Torizo pulls out a pistol and fires at shot at Itto's feet to indimidate him into surrendering the girl, Itto agrees to act as a substitute for the young woman and undergo "buri-buri", a form of torture that involves the subject being hogtied and hung in the air and repeatedly dunked headfirst into a tub of water. The subject is then beaten to unconsciousness by men wielding thick rattan canes and shouting "buri-buri". Itto endures the torture with his typical stoicism. This frees the young woman from having to work as a prostitute.Itto, still with a debt to pay for the death of the pimp, agrees to take on an assassination for Torizo and her father, a one-armed man that Itto is acquainted with from his past life as the shogun's executioner - acting as second during the execution of a daimyo who, fear-stricken, struggled dishonourably; Torizo's father had restrained the daimyo, sacrificing his arm to Itto's killing stroke.The target is a corrupt district deputy. Initially Itto is to face the deputy's personal bodyguards, one of whom is a sharpshooter and quick-draw artist who wields a pair of revolvers. Through cunning and guile (and the help of his young son Daigoro, who acts as a decoy), Itto defeats the armed man and takes his guns. The other is defeated by Itto in a sword duel.Itto's battle culminates in his facing the deputy's army perhaps 200 men singlehandedly. For the first time, the true power of the baby cart is revealed as it proves to harbor an entire arsenal of weapons, including spears, daggers, a bullet-proof shield, and a small battery of guns, capable of taking out many enemy soldiers like a heavy machine gun. All of the deputy's men are killed as Itto first takes out half of them with the baby cart's machine gun, and then takes out the rest with his sword and other weapons from the baby cart. The deputy is the last to fall when Itto, deprived of his sword when it falls out of his hands when he falls down an embankment, takes out one of the pistols he took earlier from the deputy bodyguard and uses it to shoot and kill the deputy. Itto then discards the gun and reclaims his sword, mumbling to himself that firearms are so uncivilized.Word of the fight has been passed to neighboring districts, and the ronin Kanbei shows up just after Itto has slain the deputy, and makes his demand again for a duel. Though battle-weary, Itto accepts the challenge. The fight is over in an instant. Itto is sliced across his back, but Kanbei is mortally wounded, impaled on Itto's Dotanuki battle sword.As Kanbei kneels to the ground, dying, he tells Itto his story and why he became a ronin a tale involving an ambush on his master's convoy. Seeing his side outnumbered, Kanbei seized an opportunity and ran ahead to attack the enemy head on. He surprised the enemy and prevailed in deflecting the hostiles, and saved the lord's life as a result, but since he left his lord's side, he was dishonored and expelled from the clan. He questions Itto whether he had done the wrong thing, and whether being a samurai means to fight and live, or to simply never leave the master's side and die. Itto replied that he would have done the same. "I am glad to hear that," Kanbei says, who then asks the former shogun's executioner to act as his "second" in the act of seppuku. This Itto does with honor.When asked by Kanbei what is the true "Way of the Warrior", Itto replies that it is neither to simply live nor die, but to live through death.As Itto walks away, pushing Daigoro and the baby cart, Torizo begins to runs after him, but is stopped by her men. They implore her not to go to him, saying he is not human, but a monster.

Tags: good versus evil, violence

Review:
Tomisaburo Wakayama is simply without equal..
These movies were infamous for their incredibly brutal and bloody swordplay sequences, but equally impressive IMHO was the leading actor- Tomisaburo Wakayama a.k.a.
"Lone Wolf" was surely the greatest martial arts star ever.
The command and authority with which he wielded a sword (and other weapons) was just phenomenal.
The blade truly was an extension of himself, and his use of it was the definition of lethal, with none of the unnecessary/show-off flourishes so desperately thrown about by today's wannabes.
He had incredible presence and charisma- easily on a par with the likes of say Eastwood or Bronson- with eyes that reflected pure death, and the desolation in his soul.
There were moments in the "Babycart" series where you'd swear he was the personification of his namesake, the Wolf.
You never doubted for one second that he WAS shogun executioner, masterless samurai, assassin for hire.
One look at him in action, and you could readily understand why his enemies trembled at the mention of his name, and ran from him in sheer terror.
Alas, Lone Wolf is one with void now, but his legend will live on forever in these films.
Forget Toshiro Mifune.
Forget Takakura Ken. Forget Sonny Chiba.
Forget Bruce  Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Donnie Yen,  and any of those wire-reliant ballet dancers from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.
And CERTAINLY forget any American martial artists that you could care to name.
Tomisaburo Wakayama was, is, and forever shall be, THE MAN!.
Probably the strongest Babycart *possible spoilers*.
This one and "Peril" are by far my favorites.
In the opening scenes we see Ogami wipe out three ninja and it must be seen to be believed.
I particularly liked the character development in this film.
Itto meets Magomura Kanbei, a disgraced ronin much like himself.
It appears Kanbei has a death wish and the reason is uncertain until the end of the movie.
He is a very interesting character.
Ogami is tortured by yakuza to save a prostitute who killed a pimp in self defense and this is how he is led to his next commission.
Great story, and action that is second to none.
His quick draw in one scene is so fast I swore the film was sped up.
Well, it wasn't.
The man is that good.
Another plus, there's Hamada Yuko.
She is one good-looking woman.
This is a very enjoyable movie that can be viewed many times and it never gets old..
Not as constantly action packed as the previous movies and it seems slower as well but there are other things to compensate for this..
It seems that with this movie, the third out of the Kozure Ôkami-series, they picked a sort of different approach.
This time the movie gets a bit more personal and dramatic, which goes at the expense of the movie its action.
However once you get over this and get more into the movie itself, you'll still be grabbed and entertained by it as well.It's not even fair to say really that this movie does not have enough action in it.
The movie still features quite a lot of fights and at the end Ogami Itto even takes on a whole army by himself.
Still by comparison it's all a bit toned down and there is also less blood.
The entire series is basically known for its fountains of blood but this movie does not provide the best example of this.It's less entertaining but its a more solidly written story than its predecessors, as it seems.
The first two movies were mostly adventurous ones in which lone wolf and cub wandered the country, meeting all kinds of people and getting into all kinds of problems.
This movie does more clearly follow one story-line, that from beginning to end is basically all connected, without ever wandering off with its story and follow some side plots with it.
Not everybody will like this and I must admit that I wasn't too fond about the approach the movie was taking at first but as the movie progresses it becomes more solid and you can also tell what the movie was heading towards to during its first half.It seems like a weaker movie out of the series at first but once things start to take off you should be able to appreciate it different approach and see this movie as simply yet another great once within its great series.8/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/.
Bloody good.
Impressively violent.
Lone wolf is hired to kill a minor official who murdered a madam's sister.
He ends up taking on, and killing an entire army.
An Incredibly high body count.
Very spaghetti western in style.
Good if you like lots of swordplay and rapid evisceration..
Probing the Character of a Masterless Samurai.
A wandering ronin and his young son continue their journey through feudal Japan, taking contracts when afforded the opportunity and facing assassination with each step.
This chapter seems dedicated to clarifying our disgraced samurai's complicated code of honor.
Though he'll gladly slice through an almost unlimited number of strangers in battle, Ittō's vision isn't clouded by a perennial bloodlust.
We see restraint in several dangerous situations, respect for principled opponents, loyalty to his word and, in the film's most memorable scene, a willingness to take vicious punishment in lieu of the innocently accused.
The story feels more episodic than ever, with various scenes playing out like a classic movie serial and an unresolved conflict lingering at the credits.
Given the rate at which they were churning these things out in the early '70s, maybe there's something to that.
The action is reliably good, still fresh and creative after three feature-lengths, though the gigantic slaughter instigated at the climax (ambushed, Ittō single-handedly takes out fifty men and a trio of mounted officers) does stretch things a bit.
Wise, then, that the film went back to basics almost immediately after, closing the action with an eerily quiet, respectful duel amidst the dust of that epic battlefield..
A note on Shogun Assassin 2: Lightning Swords of Death.
This is an AnimEigo re-release of "Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart to Hades" which is the third movie in the Lone Wolf and Cub or "Baby Cart" series.
As far as I could tell, these were the changes from the original movie.1) The English sub-titles were removed and instead the Japanese was dubbed over with English.2) The left and right edges were trimmed off to fit the image on a standard TV set.
This is most obvious at the beginning where the title and related material gets cut off enough that you had to guess at what some words would be.3) The color is excellent and it's apparent AnimEigo worked hard to clean up the original media.The DVD runs for 89 minutes.
Unlike "Shogun Assassin" #1 which combined elements from three of the Lone Wolf and Cub movies Shogun Assassin 2 is just one movie from the original series.
As far as I can tell, nothing was cut..
Notably less bloodspray and vengeance than the Previous.
Notably less bloodspray and vengeanceThe Female Boss of a brothel hires Lone Wolf to kill Sawatari , a man whom sold out the Domain to the Shogunate for personal profit and false position as new governor.
Along the way he saves an innocent village girl sold into prostitution, and befriends a samurai-turned-mercenary.Final battle features Ogami vs 50 man army.
This baby cart has so many features!.
It float, it provide you with fresh blades, it shot like a machine gun, the list goes on and on (or does it?).This is not a story about a formidable warrior and a master of the suiō-ryū swordsmanship but rather a brilliant marketing campaign for a Japanese baby cart full of dangerous features!.
Not the best in the series.
This series has its ups and occasional downs, and the latter is the case, here.
There's an agreeable amount of spatter, with an inventive implementation of the Baby Cart's weapons, but the editing film is a seriously disjointed, the film-making itself rougher than usual.
At times, the action slows to a crawl as the camera follows the wordless wanderings of the "cub," who nearly gets lost early on.
All in all, disappointment.That said, there's a spaghetti eastern quality to the music and action that may win the approval of dedicated viewers.
This installment spends much of its time following the minor misadventures of the little boy, who begins to stare into the abyss of death his father opened for him..
Like the other Lone Wolf films, it's made by the Katsu Production Company--the same Shintaro Katsu who played Zatoichi in so many films mostly during the 1960s and 70s.
This isn't so surprising when you see the movie, as there are a lot of similarities between the two series--though the Lone Wolf is much more amoral and difficult to predict.
Some times, Ogami Itto is like this blind character--helping out the downtrodden.
Yet, oddly, at other times he's going on killing rampages for the money.
I think this occasionally confusing moral ambiguity might explain why the character was popular--though not as popular as Zatoichi.This film is much like the previous additions to the Lone Wolf series.
The movie definitely is adult--with the usual rapes, extreme violence (with huge gaping wounds, severed heads and gallons and gallons of blood) and amazing sword action.
Howoever, it's a tad bloodier than the the previous two films and he manages to outdo his previous amazing battles--taking on about 50 baddies at once near the end of the movie!!
It's all very entertaining, but as I said, very adult--and is not a film I'd recommend to younger viewers.
Overall, its a typical quality production--with an interesting story, tons of swordplay as well as good deeds and bad.
While the exact story doesn't seem to matter, the film has two major plots--Itto putting his life (inexplicably) for a young prostitute and his taking a contract out on a dishonorable, greedy and backstabbing Lord and his samurai/ninja army..
The deepest of the Lone Wolf & Cub series.
The third in the excellent 'Lone Wolf & Cub' series is a lot different to its bloody predecessor as the gruesome action takes a back seat in favour of a stronger focus on plotting and characterisation.
Therefore it's not quite as exciting as the first two films in the series, but it does contain some of the most powerful scenes yet, as well as featuring the most developed supporting roles.
The film adopts the usual formula, with Ogami and his (now noticeably older) son travelling through a remote landscape and getting involved in local intrigues: this time, there are two main sub-plots, the first involving a similarly lawless ex-samurai and the second involving a young woman who's been sold into prostitution.I thought the plotting in this film to be particularly good, seeing as how the different sub-plots intermingle and finally join together very well at the climax.
The musings between Ogami and the rival samurai on "the way of the warrior" are truly profound and among the most thought-provoking of the entire series.
The acting is also focused upon here and seems particularly strong – not just from the peerless Wakayama and the increasingly interesting Tomikawa, but from Kato Go as well in particular.
Mention also has to be made of Yuko Hamada, who's one of the loveliest Japanese actresses I've ever seen on film – she has a really captivating presence.Although the focus isn't on the action here, the film is still punctuated by moments of stylish carnage.
Ogami is stalked by two trios of ninjas in this one, and at the climax has to tackle an entire army – which he does via some brand new technology built into that cart of his.
It may not be as show-stopping as in the first two films, but the gory hijinks still identify this as a superior action-adventure flick..
Excellent insight into Ogami's strongly held samurai code.
The third entry in the Lone Wolf and Baby Cart series moves at a more deliberate pace and has less action and graphic bloodshed than the two previous films, but still stands out as an important movie thanks to the fascinating insights it provides concerning the strongly held and unwavering samurai code of fearsome samurai warrior protagonist Ogami Itto (a typically fine and towering performance by Tomisaburo Wakayama).
Ogami's discussions with fellow erstwhile samurai turned mercenary Magomura Kanbei (ably played with quiet strength and dignity by Go Kato) about their deeply felt samurai code of ethics and willingness to be subjected to extreme torture in order to save the life of lowly dejected prostitute Omatso (a touching turn by Sayoko Kato) reveal that Ogami is substantially more than just a formidable killing machine: He's also a man of great honor and humanity.
Moreover, this film still delivers an exciting action set piece at the end with Ogami taking on and taking out a slew of men.
In addition, the final confrontation between Ogami and Magomura packs a potent emotional (and visceral) punch.
A very solid and satisfying film..
Another Brilliant Okami Flick.
As far as I am concerned, the entire "Kozure Ôkami" ("Lone Wolf And Cub")cycle starring Tomisaburo Wakayama is as magnificent as cinema can get, and it is films like these that make me a cinema lover.
The third entry to cycle, "Kozure Ôkami: Shinikazeni mukau ubaguruma" aka.
"Lone Wolf And Cub: Baby Cart To Hades" is not my favorite of the Ôkami films, more precisely it is probably my least of the six, and yet it is an utterly ingenious film, that I couldn't possibly bear to give it a rating lower than a well-deserved 10 out of 10.
Apart from the stunning violent bloodshed, fascinating philosophy, beautiful photography and countless other ingenious qualities, the arguably most brilliant aspect of the "Ôkami" films is the portrayal of the father-son relationship between Ôgami Itto and his son Daigoro, and its depiction once again deepens in this film.Ôgami Itto (Tomisaburo Wakayama) is still following the 'path to hell' with his only son Daigoro (Akihiro Tomikawa) in order to avenge his wife's death and clear his name.
On their way through 17th century Japan, the father and son are once again confronted with a vast number of enemies (above all the Yagyu-clan), and the 'Lone Wolf with child' is once again hired as an assassin (as always for 500 Ryu).
Ôgami Itto, my personal favorite (anti-)hero character EVER in cinema, is, as always, completely fearless and almost invincible.
Not only is he fearless in battle, and following a strict moral code when walking his way of vengeance, however.
In this third entry to the cycle, he is also more selfless than in the other parts.
He voluntarily submits to torture, for example, in order to help out a prostitute to be...
His son Daigoro, who is of equal importance to the series, and an equally great character grows a bit with every one of the movies, and occasionally actively engages in battle.
The baby cart, in which Daigoro sits most of the time, has even more secret weapons and gadgets than in the foregoing films.As I stated above, this is not my favorite film in the cycle.
There are several historical inaccuracies (there is a warrior who has two six-shooters, which are 200 years too early since the film is set in the 1600s), but these inaccuracies cannot really bother, since the other parts are not exactly 'realistic' either.
Tomisaburo Wakayama is once again outstanding in his role and so is Akihiro Tomikawa in the role of Daigoro, positively the coolest child-role in motion picture history.
The stylish swordplay and battle sequences are once again excessively bloody, and while the first two parts were equally violent in their depiction of blood-soaked carnage, the death toll rises to enormous numbers from the third part forth.
The film is once again excellently photographed on beautiful and fascinating locations, the camera-work is simply fantastic and the score is as cool as in all parts.
The entire "Kozure Okami"-cycle ranges high among my all-time favorites, and even though this third part is my least favorite entry to this brilliant cycle, it is an absolute must-see!
Not to be missed!.
More BABY CART Action - Part 3 In The Series.
The BABY CART series are an excellent set of films involving a wandering ronin and his son, Daigoro who were betrayed by their original clan, and are out to seek justice (and a little cash...) along the way.This one has Itto involved in a run-in with a prostitute, where he undergoes torture on behalf of the hooker who killed a pimp.
Other side-stories include Itto's meeting another "disgraced" samurai, and his next "job" - to kill an officer who killed the whore-house madam's sister, and a great fight scene where Itto takes on a whole gang of assassins...Another solid entry in the "classic" BABY CART series - again, beautifully filmed and acted with great story lines and action - and as always, the interaction between father-and-son assassins is a strange and beautiful sight to behold.
Definitely Recommended 8.5/10