Lone Wolf and Child: Assassin on the Road to Hell (1989)

LWaC: Assassin on the Road to Hell (1989)

Dir. Tokuzô Tanaka

Tanaka's film attempts to tell the entire Lone Wolf and Cub story in just 140 minutes, which is an insane undertaking. Nevertheless, it's a valiant attempt and an enjoyable evening's viewing for samurai fans.

Hideki Takahashi stars as the Shogun's one-time executioner, Ōgami Ittō. He does a damned good job at it, able to show compassion when the situation calls for it, but just the right amount because too much might compromise his stoic attitude. He's also deft enough with the dōtanuki to be believable.

Young Daigoro is played by Koji Aeba. It's a wholly subjective view, but for me young kids in Japanese films tend to be much less irritating than young kids are in most American films. Daigoro isn't just a third wheel in the Lone Wolf story, or some kind of amusing gimmick, he's an integral part of the tale and, thankfully, while Koji was likely too young to understand the importance of what he was asked to do onscreen, he at least carried it without fault and without ever being irritating. GJ, kid.

Lone Wolf and Cub: Original Films (1972-74)

Lone Wolf and Cub: Original Films (1972-74)

Dirs. Kenji Misumi [Films 1,2,3,5] / Buichi Saitô [Film 4] / Yoshiyuki Kuroda [Film 6]

Sometimes referred to as the 'Baby Cart' series, the six Lone Wolf and Cub films tell the story of a skilled ronin-for-hire named Ōgami Ittō, played by Tomisaburo Wakayama. When not dishing out vicious and bloody samurai action to the people that deserve it, Ittō wheels his young son Daigoro (Akihiro Tomikawa) from place to place in an iconic wooden baby cart.

Characterised by extreme violence, minimal dialogue, and highly stylised framing that closely resembles the manga they're based on, the films have a well-deserved place in Chanbara history.

The three-disc Criterion collection (pictured) contains the six original films on Blu-ray, restored at 2K from the OCNs. [1]

Discs 01 and 02 have three films apiece, while Disc 03 contains bonus features. Thoughts on each individual film can be found below the cut. Disc 03 also contains the English language dubbed Shogun Assassin (1980), which I'll cover at the end, for completeness sake. [2]