Shogun Assassin (known in Japan as Kozure Ōkami)

This is a very violent jidaigeki film made for the American market and released in 1980.

Shogun Assassin

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Shogun Assassin (known in Japan as Kozure Ōkami 子連れ狼) is a very violent jidaigeki film made for the American market and released in 1980. The film is considered a classic by many fans of the samurai-film genre. In 2006 it was restored and re-released on DVD in North America by AnimEigo.

Shogun Assassin was edited and compiled from the first two films in the Baby Cart series, using 12 minutes of the first film, Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance (Kozure Ōkami: Kowokashi udekashi tsukamatsuru or Wolf with Child in Tow: Child and Expertise for Rent), and most of Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx (Kozure Ōkami: Sanzu no kawa no ubaguruma or Wolf with Child in Tow: Perambulator of the River of Sanzu). Both were originally released in 1972. There were six films in all in the series. These in turn were based on the long-running 1970s manga series, Lone Wolf and Cub, created by the writer Kazuo Koike and the artist Goseki Kojima.

Shogun Assassin was dubbed into English whereas the originals are in Japanese. The film, being compiled from separate stories, uses a much-simplified version of the situation. For instance, any mention of clan war is gone and the opponent Retsudo is simply called "The Shogun." A foreboding synthesizer score of the type popular at the time was applied. Sandra Bernhard provided one of the voices in the dubbed edition.