User reviews

Here, in one of Nakadai's best performances, he plays a young, seemingly evil Samurai who lives by his own moral code. He ruthlessly slays anyone who he thinks should die, and it's hard to say whether his killings are unjust or deserved, even though his actions might seem despicable at first. For example, in the beginning of the film, he encounters an ageing pilgrim praying for a quick death. Upon hearing this, Nadakai's character kills him in one swift move. This scene sets the tone for the rest of the movie.

Nakadai's fighting style echo's his attitude to an extent, it's an ultra defensive style in which he never strikes the first blow. In an iconic scene later on in the film, Mifune's older and wiser samurai tells Nakadai, "The sword is the soul. Study the soul to know the sword. Evil mind, evil sword." In Japanese culture, the sword and style of a samurai could be seen as a window to his soul and "Sword of Doom" beautifully yet brutally echoes this sentiment. In the penultimate scene of the film, Nakadai's samurai is haunted by his past actions and starts to hallucinate, he is clearly a broken man and regrets some of his actions.

The ending of the film is surely a controversial one but I personally loved it. Nothing is resolved, apparently there were sequels planned but they never came to light for one reason or another. Nevertheless, it didn't take away anything from the film and for me it actually added to the mystique and moral ambiguity of Nakadai's character.

Impeccably shot and beautifully choreographed, the film is a feast for the eyes. Nakadai's performance as a self destructive samurai was highly intense and full of emotion, his shift in character alone was astonishing and really displayed Nakadai's talent as a versatile actor. Mifune is also in the film and has his fair share of excellent scenes and lines. In summary, an excellent film that I'd recommend to anyone with a remote interest in Samurai movies.

A classic Samurai picture that is as confusing as it is violent. Ryunosuke Tsukue is the main character, a Samurai with a dark and merciless nature. You might even call him evil. The path he takes (with multiple subplots that don't always seem to be resolved) leads him to madness. The confusing aspects may be due to the fact that there were supposed to be sequels, as well as the fact that the story was a famous one in Japan and hence, certain parts were to be assumed by that audience. Nonetheless, it was still a fairly compelling watch, especially with the action, a precursor to the violence in such films as the excellent Lone Wolf and Cub series. Hands and fingers are cut off, blood is shed, and the climatic ending features a body count along the lines of The House of Blue Leaves!

Sword of doom is a truly great and original piece of film-making. As soon as the film had started, and the dark and eerie soundtrack kicked in, I knew I was about to enjoy a gem of japanese cinema. The most original element of the film is that the main character Ryunosuke is a real mean, killing machine, seriously, he is the lead in the film, but whereas in any other samurai/martial arts film he would normally turn up for a few scenes of mayhem, then turn up at the very end for a much deserved death. Well in this film the villain is the lead, Ryunosuke is such an interesting character, that days after watching this film you will find yourself thinking I wonder if... or what if that had happened. Sword of doom is one of those movies that just sticks in your head days after viewing time has ended. It doesn't even matter that the ending comes quite abruptly, that just let's the viewer imagine their own conclusion to the film. Sword of doom is without doubt the darkest and the most mysterious martial arts/samurai film that i've ever had the pleasure of viewing. The action scenes in the film are first rate too, with very believable sword duels. I put this film right up there with the very best that eastern cinema has to offer. 10/10

Imagine your favorite action movie, then take out all the cheesy one-liners ("Asta la vista, baby!"), the irritating sidekick, the love interest, the techno-porn, and the off-handed moralistic ending. Then add a Commando-league body count, incredible swordplay, and great photography, and you've got Sword of Doom. This is a wrenching, visceral drama about an antagonist armed not with a stolen nuclear device, but with the best sword-fighting skills in Japan and a psychopath's indifference to human life. Unlike other more recent movies that try to portray the same raw, killing-machine kind of character, Sword of Doom does not resort to grimy photography or an adolescent delight in visual assault. Instead you get pure, distilled, ultra-kinetic fighting suffused with a thrilling coldness.

The villain of this piece is one of the most memorable in Japanese, maybe even film, history. His crazed looks and more than that his oddness, seem just right for a killer, it's more the look of a dangerous unpredictable animal than a human being.

Much of what's said by others about this movie is true, but I'm writing to give you a few very minor tips that I think will enhance the movie. I'm not really giving anything away, but just to set your perceptions.

First Tishiro Mifune has what amounts to a very small part, he's an important part but does not star in the film by any stretch. Also the plot it somewhat confused upon first viewing. The final sword fight is very very good and bloody but....

The problem with the ending is that it doesn't resolve a major subplot. Kinda I suppose like a Cohen brothers movie it sets up stuff that it has no interest, I guess, in dealing with in conventional ways, but in this case as in the case of the rare "lesser" Cohen Brothers movies this time it does hurt the film.

Still memorable, villain saves the day, both in performance and direction. Too bad they didn't quite keep it all together plot wise and ending wise.

"Sword of Doom" is an unusual film. Firstly, it is one of the most brilliantly photographed films I have ever seen, in composition, mise en scene, and the play of black and white.

Secondly, "Sword of Doom" is that rare film in which the aim of the director and the power of the lead mesh together to form an unforgettable portrayal.

Tatsuya Nakadai plays Ryunosuke, a skilled swordsman, who, from the opening moments of the film, proves also to be homicidally indifferent to human life. Ryunosuke is a strange and difficult character. His fighting style is passive, and he remains mostly uninvolved, both with the political turmoil surrounding him, and with his family - from his dying father, who fears the evil in him, to his lover (the wife of an opponent he kills) and his child. Nakadai's performance is magnetic, comparable to Montgomery Clift in it's singleminded, unyielding intensity.

While some of the subplots without Ryunosuke aren't quite as compelling, the ending is memorable and disturbing, and the direction will remind in some ways of Orson Wells.

Three years before The Wild Bunch(1969) and the same year as Django(1966) came a film called Dai-Bosatsu Toge/Sword of Doom(1966) which was one of first body count action dramas in 1966. Not only a terrific samurai film but also a terrifing portrait of a samurai warrior who's on the brink of madness. Tatsuya Nakadai gives one of his best performances that is surpassed only by his excellent performances in the following Kurosawa films, Kagemusha(1980) and Ran(1984). Sword of Doom(1966) contains elements that reminds me of Henry:Portrait of a Serial Killer(1986) because Ryunosuke also kills at random and is a very scary person. Toshiro Mifune is magnificent in his role as the wise samurai teacher, Shimada. The high body count ending would influences people like Sam Peckinpah and John Woo as well as the Lone Wolf and Cub films. Dai-Bosatsu Toge is about a lone samurai warrior who is unable to live outside of his sword. The cinematography is great and the story is very interesting. The film has some scenes of graphic violence that must have shocked Japanese audiences back in 1966. The film ends on an amazing body count blood bath battle that is ahead of its time. One of the most underrated Samurai pics of all time.

Imagine Nakadai's murderous Onosuke from Yojimbo; then raise the level of his single-minded purpose an order of magnitude to the fated dancer of The Red Shoes and you get a vague idea of Ryunosuke, a psychopathic samuari hunted by the righteous and villainous alike. Hiroshi Murai's gritty B& W photography is awesome; and the choreography and staging of the swordfighting sequences are far and away the most rivetting I've ever seen (and I think I've seen most of them) -- not romantically stylized as in Inagaki's Samurai Trilogy -- something like the subtlety of Kurosawa meets the textured action of John Woo. The characters are intense and memorable. The final freeze frame may put you in mind of Butch Cassidy. You'll never forget it.

It captures the feel of Feudal Japan very well. Samurai of that period were so involved with their sword style and technique that it seeped into there personality and very soul. Most upheld strict conduct in their technique. This story is about a man whose style is so devious and frankly brutal that it turns him into a mirror image of his technique. Think Lord of the Rings and Frodo's battle with the ring or Star Wars and the battle betweeen Light and Dark forces. It is much better than Star Wars and is just as deep and creepy as Lord of the Rings. Nakadai' acting is flawless and he draws you right into the story. Toshiro Mifune also has a few good parts and a great battle scene. I have let many friends watch this movie (almost none of which had ever watched a subtitled movie) and every one of them Loved it. It's also one of those movies that draws you you in even more with repeated viewings, as you catch a lot of little things that are integral with the story. BUY IT and watch repeatedly!

I saw this film first, years ago. Must have been 10 or more years back. And it made me think of Kurosawa. And how much more I enjoyed the films of Okamoto over Kurosawa.

I like Kurosawa, I'm just not one of the rabid legion of fanatics for his films. The remakes of his Yojimba, Seven Samarai (which really are remakes of John Ford westerns, translated to the east) such as Leone's Dollars movies, and Sturge's Magnificent Seven, I prefer to Kurosawa's films.

While technically a marvelous Director, Kurosawa's work can be cold, distant. There is a standoffishness there, that is similar to Fritz Lang's willingness to stand back and bask in his angles, and patterns, the frame of the story.

Directors like Sturges are about the meat of the story, they are directors of moments rather than motion. Which is why I rate his Magnificent Seven higher than the Seven Samurai. It connects with me more.

Leone, while also a clinical director, concerned with framing, alternates that with a consummate passion for closeups, that makes his spare films, bloody with warmth.

I used to write it off to just East West differences, that accounted for the regimented to the point of distance... films of Japan. However, then I saw this film, SWORD OF DOOM, a film as clinical, and precise as any made by Kurosawa or Lang, but filled with a pathos and passion that dripped from every frame.

A longing... for everything and nothing.

Others have commented on this film: -from the patently odd assertions of this film's protagonist as some "avenging angel sent by God" (if that was the case he would have felt no guilt for his crimes, and the glorious, berserk ending would not have come about. The beauty of this film is that it is about a man... floundering, peering into the last gates of hell, and hoping against hope for something to break his fall. What makes this film interesting, is that sense, given only through the eyes, of inner conflict in everything the Sword Bearer does.) -to the missing the point cries of "explanatory sequel/2nd half needed" and "compromised end". I've seen the films this movie is based off of. They are all, complete, informed, every "I" dotted, and every "T" crossed, and every single one is grossly inferior to this film.

This film doesn't need a beginning, and it doesn't need an end. Doesn't need a sequel or a prequel, it is a Masterpiece for the simple fact of it's open ended nature. It transcends Alphas and Omegas, because it lives in that freeze frame between them. It is forever a film of the now, and one man caught in it.

The best review of all posted, and the one I urge you to read, is one of the earliest. Done back in May of 2000 by tais0.

To that review of the film itself, I cannot add or subtract anything. It is the best of all that I have read, the most brilliant. However I will clarify several mistakes regarding the director.

Someone wrote this film was an aberration for the director, and mentioned NIGHT OF THE HUNTER. Though that is not a comparison that makes sense. NIGHT OF THE HUNTER, a brilliant film, was the only one ever directed by Charles Laughton. Okamoto, who just recently passed away this February, directed 39 films.

And while this is his best, he directed several nearly as good, and just as beautiful. At his heart the Director had a love for musicals, like many of the greatest directors he had the heart of a composer. His early films included three crime/Underworld films with Toshiro Mifune. his two John Ford inspired DESPERADO films (mixing action with humor),and then finally a musical... that bombed horribly.

After that he got into the Samurai genre (the genre that was profitable at the time), but brought to it an editing style, and a use of sound, that was completely musically inspired. What is startling and brilliant about SWORD OF DOOM, is the soundtrack. The use of sound and silence as bold counterpoint to the story unfolding before your eyes.

That style permeates all of his films from 1964 on, to include: Warring Clans(1964), Samurai Assassin (1965), Sword of Doom (1966), Kill! (1968), Red Lion (1969), Zatoichi series Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo (1970).

Two of his films I'm dying to see are later works, infused with the comedy and love of music that characterized his often overlooked career. Dixieland Daimyo(1986)- the story of a quartet of Black jazz musicians lost in 19th-century Japan, and Vengeance for Sale (2001- the director's final film)-light-hearted Samurai tale.

So by no means was Kihachi Okamoto a one hit wonder. I think history will reevaluate his contributions to film, and place his name up there with Kobyashi and Kurosawa and Seijun Suzuki as one of Japan's best.

Through his unconscionable actions against others, a sociopath samurai builds a trail of vendettas that follow him closely.

This film embraces the anti-hero sentiment of the 1960s, as seen in spaghetti westerns and the like. This is violence to a new degree, and a hero we really do not want to stand behind, but cannot help but watch his exploits. This is stylized violence, a kind that was very influential. Notably on Sam Peckinpah, but obviously on future generations such as Quentin Tarantino, as well.

Placing this in the context of the samurai film is not something i am qualified to do. However, of those I have seen, I can certainly say this had far more action and much less ritual than what is often seen (such as in the films of Kurosawa).

Most of the comments have focused on direction. I'm more interested in the acting. Naturally, that is a function of how the director shapes performances on the set and in the editing suite, but the director has to have something to work with.

Tatsuya Nakadai has, for his long career as a performer and teacher, a justifiably great reputation. But there's an arc to his development as an actor that has him starting out by chewing scenery as a younger performer and gradually becoming a decent, and then sublime, actor.

Sometimes in his early performances a director was able to rein in and/or harness Nakadai's excesses to good effect. For instance, I don't think Kurosawa brought him under control at all in "Sanjuro," but managed to make the best of his hamminess in "Yojimbo," largely by having him channel Elvis Presley's swagger and sneer.

The situation is similar in "Sword of Doom," except in this case Nakadai is channeling James Dean's brooding intensity, but with not nearly the subtlety James Dean was famous for. That sort of subtlety comes a lot later in Nakadai's career, most notably in "Kagemusha," when Kurosawa, or Nakadai himself, found his volume knob and turned it down. We don't realize how fortunate we were to have Dean in full-blown genius mode from the beginning. He was a preternaturally old soul. Nakadai just had to age the normal way in order to uncover that inner core that makes a screen performance transcendent.

"Sword of Doom" is an adaptation of a famous, looong-running serial novel "Dai-bosatsu tôge" ("The Great Bodhisattva Pass") which thrilled Japanese readers in weekly installments for some 30 years, 1913-1941. As you might guess, the scope of the original work was epic, bouncing between dozens of characters and plots, and many filmmakers have attempted to bring it to life with varying degrees of success. But here we have what many agree is the greatest cinematic telling. That's because director Kihachi Okamoto doesn't attempt to give us the full serial but instead he focuses almost obsessively on 1 aspect: the portrait of a serial killer.

"Ryunosuke" (EXCELLENTLY played by Tatsuya Nakadai) is a ronin, a disgraced, masterless samurai who, if you think about it, amounts to a glorified contract killer. We quickly learn that Ryunosuke isn't even motivated by money or status, but he is just fascinated with killing. What makes this a fantastic and chilling portrayal is that we watch him change, at first just curious, then intrigued, then thrilled, obsessed, and ultimately consumed by the "drug" of slaughter. Tatsuya Nakadai is perfectly cast for this role as his cryptic gaze and handsomely plastic looks present someone who is full of conflict inside but reveals almost nothing on the surface. When he kills his first victim in the beginning... what is that emotion that passes over his face? Thrill? Or could it be a hint of disgust? Or regret at knowing he has begun a dark journey that can't end well for anyone?

The plot of this film can be very tricky, due to the scope of the source material. At times it can feel disorienting and outright confusing, especially if you're not up on your 19th century Japanese history and politics (many of the characters in the story are based on historical fact), but I think that disorienting nature works to the film's triumph. Our "protagonist" Ryunosuke doesn't care about politics, even though he gets himself enmeshed deeply in political assassinations and ideological movements. He doesn't give a hoot. We never even see him get paid. As long as he gets to kill someone at the end of the day, all is well. And that's why, for us viewers, it's not important to follow the political intrigue, and in fact maybe we're supposed to not care. Because the film takes us subjectively into the singularly obsessed mind of Ryunosuke as he explores this darkest side of human depravity: the need to kill and harm others (yes, including rape - in a disturbing yet tastefully shot scene early on).

Now let's talk about the action. This is a Samurai flick, 2 hours long, and surprisingly there are only 3 real battle scenes. But oh, are they amazing. Each extremely memorable, artistic, and brilliantly shot in a unique way, they aren't just there for the sake of swords & carnage. Each of the 3 scenes is a successive descent into madness for our main character. The first battle is set in the misty forest, all filmed in 1 shot, a long tracking scene that shows us Ryunosuke from a distance, moving in 1 direction with almost a mechanical, unfeeling purpose like the camera. The 2nd battle scene is set in the snow and has him observing from outside--but in his mind immersed within--a more chaotic, cluttered swordfight featuring the incomparable Toshiro Mifune against a legion of shadowy attackers. And the 3rd battle scene... wow. I won't spoil it. You just gotta see it for yourself. Talk about shadowy attackers. We get the long anticipated psychological climax + physical climax where you realize how the serial killer's entire world is full of demons.

The psychosis of a serial killer has been explored in many films in recent years (I suppose due to serial killers being household fixtures these days), but for my money it's the early b&w films that are so affecting, such as Orson Welles' "The Stranger", Hitchcock's "The Lodger", and of course the greatest of them all Fritz Lang's "M". Maybe it's the artistic use of visual contrasts, possible only with b&w, that allows the filmmakers to really exaggerate the bipolar conflict in the mind of the violent lunatic. "Sword of Doom" absolutely takes its place alongside the others and may even be a more indepth portrait because it shows us the evolution/devolution of a psychopath from his own subjective perspective. If you watch it, note how the camera literally adopts Ryunosuke's viewpoint and puts us inside his head. So as he descends into alcoholism, depravity and delusion, we feel it on almost a sympathetic level. Yes, this is a thrilling action violence flick, but if you're paying attention to the message, you may decide to throw out all the sharp metal objects and stick a cork on the end of your fork.

This unconventional samurai flick ostensibly puts you in the point of view of a villain, with its protagonist being a merciless sociopath whose introduction literally sees him cut down an old man in cold blood. 'The Sword Of Doom (1966)' is interesting, not to mention unique, because there really is very little in the way of redemption for our hero. At the same time, though, he has an odd, almost serpentine charm to him. He's beguiling, so - no matter how cruel he gets - you kind of can't help but care what happens to him and want to see him survive, if not succeed. The movie's more heroic and honourable characters are presented as antagonists simply because of the point of view we're in. In any other feature, these would be the heroes. It's really intriguing, to be honest. The protagonist's life is basically an endless stream of violence; he kills someone, then kills whoever seeks vengeance for it, then kills whoever seeks vengeance for that, and so on. It's a self-perpetuating cycle that barely seems to affect our amoral assassin. In fact, he often seems darkly amused by it, a sly smile spreading across his lips in the aftermath of his destruction. Though many of his actions are reactionary (technically self-defence), he isn't just caught up in a series of bad situations; most of them stem from earlier decisions that are themselves inexcusable, meaning that the man can garner no sympathy for lives he later 'must' take to survive. The movie itself is brilliantly crafted, from its sharp and suspenseful choreography to its layered and almost painterly chiaroscuro cinematography. It features a number of fantastic, surprisingly explicit (for the time) fight scenes, from tense one-on-one duals to frenzied one-on-many battles. These are usually as exciting as they are deadly. The movie's highlight is arguably a striking, nightmarish set-piece that devolves into a brutal, bloody battle in which the lead cuts down foe after foe in increasingly vicious fashion. It's the kind of sequence that makes you sit up in your seat, your eyes wide with a mixture of shock and horror. It really is phenomenal. There are quite a few moments that almost match this quality, but much of the second act is surprisingly slow. The picture is often content with allowing you to fill in the gaps, so some of its narrative comes across as a little loose or, even, inefficient. For instance, a B-plot emerges about halfway through that seems unconnected from the main story until the two converge in the final act. It's a fine thing to do, but this side story undeniably impacts the pacing of the main one and, because of the way the picture ends, almost feels irrelevant to a certain extent. That ending is probably the piece's weakest aspect, abruptly bringing things to a halt without any real semblance of closure. The story is left unresolved and ambiguous; its expected finale simply doesn't occur. I mean, it's literally like the movie is missing its final reel. In a way, that's because it is: the film was conceived as the first part in a trilogy based on its source book, which has been adapted many times and is a massively sprawling affair, but its sequels were canned when the powers that be realised those films would have to be even more violent than this one. Yet, though it's certainly somewhat frustrating, I don't dislike the ending. In the moment, it's a bit of a disappointment; in retrospection, it isn't as big a deal as you might first think. Without spoiling anything, it's an appropriate place to leave our protagonist. It's also easy to imagine what would happen after the final freeze-frame. It's bold to end things like it does and I appreciate that. Overall, this is a distinct and entertaining film. Although its mid-section is slow, its ending a little unsatisfying and some of its plot seemingly superfluous, it has some truly amazing sequences and often gets you on the edge of your seat. It's typically enjoyable and is intellectually stimulating, too; the more you think about it, the more you come to appreciate its unexpected approach to morality. It's a strong samurai film that stands the test of time. 7/10.